Omnivore Readies New Releases From Soul Man Winfield Parker, Jazz Great Maynard Ferguson

February 4, 2016 By Joe Marchese — 1 Comment

Winfield Parker at Ru-JacOmnivore Recordings continues to heat up winter 2016 with releases coming from R&B titan Winfield Parker and late jazz giant Maynard Ferguson.

Throughout his long career which happily continues to this day, Winfield Parker has shared stages with the illustrious likes of James Brown, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Little Richard, Etta James, Carla Thomas and Lloyd Price.  Parker began his singing career at Baltimore’s Ru-Jac label, one of America’s first African-American-owned record labels (active from the early 1960s through the early 1970s).  In 2015, Omnivore acquired the pioneering Ru-Jac label and its publishing assets, and on March 25, the first title from that acquisition will see release.  Mr. Clean: Winfield Parker at Ru-Jac features 23 tracks of prime 1960s East Coast soul from Ru-Jac’s premier artist.  It will initially be available on CD and digital download, and a vinyl edition will be coming in the future, with the first run to be pressed on orange vinyl!

Winfield Parker released seventeen sides on Ru-Jac, all of which are included here.  Omnivore has also excavated a further six previously unreleased bonus tracks which premiere on this collection.  All told, Mr. Clean presents released masters, alternate takes, demos and backing tracks, all restored and remastered by Michael Graves for their best sound ever.  This release from a soul man you won’t soon forget will likely be joined later in 2016 by another title from the Ru-Jac archives.  Omnivore’s Cheryl Pawelski explains in the press release, “By the end of the year we’re hoping to have at least one additional artist collection available, as well as a label overview. The Ru-Jac story centers around its founder, Rufus Mitchell, a promoter of live shows in the Baltimore area, including one of the first African American-controlled beaches, Carr’s Beach. The 45s that spun out of Ru-Jac offer a tantalizing, never-before told, audio history of a time and place that we can’t wait for everyone to hear.”  We can’t wait to hear it, too!

Maynard Ferguson - Big Bop NouveauOn March 11, Omnivore will release two additions on CD and digital in its series dedicated to revisiting the late career oeuvre of Maynard Ferguson (1928-2006).  The old met the new on 1986’s Body and Soul.  Ferguson reshaped the makeup of his band, removing some brass from the line-up and adding guitar and percussion to create a new sound.  Though the 1930 standard “Body and Soul” titled the album, the remaining six songs were all original compositions.  Omnivore adds three previously unreleased bonus tracks (including session outtakes and a live track) plus new liner notes from Denis DiBlasio of the Ferguson band and Steve Wiest.  Body and Soul is joined by 1989’s Big Bop Nouveau.  During this period, Ferguson had taken a rest from his fusion band, High Voltage, and recruited some of his favorite horn players for his 60th Birthday Big Band Tour.  He and his big band entered Santa Barbara’s Sound Design Studios in 1989 to record the album that became Big Bop Nouveau.  Ferguson and co. recorded five tracks “as live as possible” in the studio, while the sixth track, “The Maynard Ferguson Hit Medley” was recorded in-studio at the Jacksonville Jazz Festival in fall 1988.  (The medley revisited such staples as “Chameleon,” “Frame for the Blues,” “Maria,” “Birdland,” and “MacArthur Park.”)  Omnivore’s reissue boasts one bonus track, Steve Wiest’s composition “Compared to You,” plus new liner notes by Wiest.

You can pre-order all three titles at the links below!

Maynard Ferguson - Body and Soul

Maynard Ferguson, Body and Soul (Blackhawk BKH 50101, 1986 – reissued Omnivore, 2016) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

  1. Expresso
  2. Body and Soul
  3. O.T.
  4. Mira Mira
  5. Last Drive
  6. Beautiful Hearts
  7. Central Park
  8. Flight 108 (previously unreleased bonus track)
  9. Blues from Space (previously unreleased bonus track)
  10. O.T. (Live) (previously unreleased bonus track)

Maynard Ferguson, Big Bop Nouveau (Intima 7 73390, 1989 – reissued Omnivore, 2016) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

  1. Blue Birdland
  2. Cherokee
  3. Caught in the Current
  4. But Beautiful
  5. Cruisin’ for a Bluesin’
  6. The Maynard Ferguson Hit Medley (Chameleon/MacArthur Park/Frame for the Blues/Maria/Birdland)
  7. Compared to You (Live)

Winfield Parker, Mr. Clean: Winfield Parker at Ru-Jac (Omnivore, 2016) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

  1. My Love for You – Little Winfield Parker
  2. One of These Mornings – Little Winfield Parker
  3. When I’m Alone
  4. Rockin’ in the Barnyard
  5. I Love You Just the Same (Version 1) – Winfield Parker with The Shyndells Band
  6. My Love – Winfield Parker with The Shyndells Band
  7. Go Away Playgirl
  8. Wondering
  9. Sweet Little Girl – Winfield Parker with The Shyndells Band
  10. What Do You Say? – Winfield Parker with The Shyndells Band
  11. She’s So Pretty
  12. Oh My Love
  13. I Love You Just the Same (Version 2)
  14. A Fallen Star
  15. Clean (Part I)
  16. Clean (Part II)
  17. Funkey Party
  18. Nothin’ (Take 4)
  19. Go Away Playgirl (Stereo)
  20. Go Away Playgirl (Backing Track)
  21. My Love for You (Alternate Take)
  22. My Love (Alternate Take)
  23. My Love (Demo) – Wesley Aydelett

Tracks 18-23 are previously unreleased bonus tracks

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Joe Marchese
Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song and beyond, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with labels including Real Gone Music and Cherry Red Records, has released newly-curated collections produced and annotated by Joe from iconic artists such as Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Spinners, Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Meat Loaf, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Liza Minnelli, Darlene Love, Al Stewart, Michael Nesmith, and many others.

Joe has written liner notes, produced, or contributed to over 200 reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them America, JD Souther, Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, BJ Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, Petula Clark, Robert Goulet, and Andy Williams.

Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray.

Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

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1 thought on “Omnivore Readies New Releases From Soul Man Winfield Parker, Jazz Great Maynard Ferguson”

  1. Rodney

    Would like to know more about Gene and Eddie in Baltimore Maryland they had a big sound here in Philadelphia The name of the tune was It’s so hard…

    Reply

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