JACK WILKINS
WINDOWS (1973)
LP on WEWANTSOUNDS
Release Date: 28 Sept 2018
LP WWSLP13 3700604716570
Jack Wilkins‘ highly sought-after album “Windows“ finally gets reissued on vinyl 45 years after its inital release on Wewantsounds. Produced by Bob Shad in 1973 the album is cult for his rendition of Freddie Hubbard's classic "Red Clay," sampled by A Tribe Called Quest on (“Sucka Nigga“) and Chance The Rapper. The album will be released in a deluxe gatefold sleeve featuring never-seen session photos and new liner notes by UK journalist Kevin Le Gendre.
Recorded in 1973 at New York’s Record Plant studios, this superb session produced by Bob Shad, sees guitarist Jack Wilkins in a trio setting accompanied by his accomplice Mike Moore on bass and young seasoned West Coast drummer Bill Goodwin who can be found on albums by Gabor Szabo, Gary Burton, Paul Horn and is also the drummer on Tom Waits’ superb live session Nighthawks at the Diner.
Together the trio plays mix of classics including John Coltrane’s “Naima”, Wayne Shorter’s “Pinocchio” and Chick Corea’s “Windows”, showcasing their instant connivance. Jack Wilkins is an underrated guitarist and, although he’s accompanied such stars as Stanley Turrentine, Ray Charles, Sarah Vaughan and Sammy Davis Jr. he’s remained more of a musician’s musician. This Mainstream Records album has reach cult status for the fact that its slow funk version of Freddie Hubbard’s CTI classic “Red Clay” has been sampled by no less than A Tribe Called Quest in 1993 for “Sucka Nigga” found on their masterpiece “Midnight Marauders”. ATCQ’s jazz samples have always garnered huge amount of attention from DJs and hip hop fans and this one has had an instant effect on Wilkins’ album popularity, making it one of the most sought-after LPs from the label. Coincidentally - or not - Chance the Rapper has also sampled “Red Clay” twenty years after ATCQ, in 2013 in the song “Nana” which featured on his his second mixtape “Acid Rap.” These are just a great opportunity to (re)discover a great guitarist.
The release will also be crammed with many unissued session photos and features new liner notes by radio DJ and journalist
Kevin Le Gendre (Jazzwise, Echoes, BBC Radio3 Jazz Line Up)