"Brother" Jack McDuff (September 17, 1926 - January 23, 2001) was a jazz organist and bandleader prominent during the soul jazz era of the 1960s. Born Eugene McDuffy in Champaign, Illinois, McDuff began playing bass, appearing in Joe Farrell's group. Jazz is an original American musical art form that originated around the start of the 20th century in New Orleans, rooted in African American musical styles blended with Western music technique and theory. ... An organist is a musician who plays the organ, whether pipe or electronic. ... A bandleader is the director of a band of musicians. ... Soul jazz was a development of hard bop which incorporated strong blues and gospel influences in music for small groups featuring keyboards, especially the Hammond organ. ... A view of Champaign from above (see wider view). ... Official language(s) English Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Area  Ranked 25th  - Total 57,918 sq mi (149,998 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 390 miles (629 km)  - % water 4. ... Martin EB18 Bass Guitar in flight case. ... Joe Farrell (born, Chicago Heights, Illinois, USA 1937 - died, Los Angeles, California, 1986) was a jazz saxophonist (plus flute and other woodwinds). ...

Encouraged by Willis Jackson in whose band he also played bass in the late 50s, McDuff moved to the organ and began to attract the attention of Prestige Records while still with Jackson's group. McDuff soon became a bandleader, leading groups featuring a young George Benson, Red Holloway on saxophone and Joe Dukes on drums. Willis Gator Jackson (25 April 1932 - 25 October 1987) was an American jazz saxophonist. ... Prestige Records was a record label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock (October 2, 1928–January 14, 2006). ... This is an article about George Benson, Jazz musician. ...

McDuff recorded many classic albums on Prestige including his debut solo Brother Jack in 1960, The Honeydripper (1961), with tenor saxophonist Jimmy Forrest and guitarist Grant Green, and Brother Jack Meets The Boss (1962), featuring Gene Ammons, and Screamin’ (1962). Eugene Jug Ammons (April 14, 1925 - August 6, 1974) was an American jazz tenor saxophone player, and the son of boogie-woogie pianist Albert Ammons. ...

After his tenure at Prestige, McDuff joined the Atlantic Records label for a brief period and then in the late 70s recorded for Blue Note. To Seek a New Home (1976) was recorded in England with a line-up featuring some of Britain's top jazz musicians of the day. Atlantic Records (Atlantic Recording Corporation) is an American record label that operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Music Group. ... In jazz and blues notes added to the major scale for expressive quality, loosely defined by musicians to be an alteration to a scale or chord that makes it sound like the blues. ...

The decreasing interest in jazz and blues patent during the late 70s and 80s meant that many jazz musicians went through a lean time and it wasn't until the late 80s, with The Re-Entry, recorded for the Muse label in 1988, that McDuff once again began a successful period of recordings, initially for Muse, then on the Concord Jazz label from 1991. George Benson appeared on his mentor’s 1992 Colour Me Blue album.

Despite battling health problems, McDuff continued working and recording throughout the eighties and nineties. Captain Jack McDuff, as he later became known, died of heart failure at the age of 74 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Sources

Obituary in The Last Post (www.jazzhouse.org) [1]