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Charles Earland

Charles Earland came into his own at the tail end of the great 1960s wave of soul-jazz organists, gaining a large following and much airplay with a series of albums for the the Prestige label.

While heavily indebted to Jimmy Smith and Jimmy McGriff, Earland came armed with his own swinging, technically agile, light-textured sound on the keyboard and one of the best walking-bass pedal techniques in the business.

Though not an innovative player in his field, Earland burned with the best of them when he was on.

Earland actually started his musical experiences surreptitiously on his father's alto sax as a kid, and when he was in high school, he played baritone in a band that also featured fellow Philadelphians Pat Martino on guitar, Lew Tabackin on tenor, and yes, Frankie Avalon on trumpet.

After playing in the Temple University band, he toured as a tenor player with McGriff for three years, became infatuated with McGriff's organ playing, and started learning the Hammond B-3 at intermission breaks.

When McGriff let him go, Earland switched to the organ permanently, forming a trio with Martino and drummer Bobby Durham.

He made his first recordings for Choice in 1966, then joined Lou Donaldson for two years (1968-69) and two albums before being signed as a solo artist to Prestige.

Earland's first album for Prestige, 'Black Talk!', became a best-selling classic of the soul-jazz genre; a surprisingly effective cover of the Spiral Starecase's pop / rock hit 'More Today Than Yesterday' from that LP received saturation airplay on jazz radio in 1969.

He recorded eight more albums for Prestige, one of which featured a young unknown Philadelphian named Grover Washington, Jr, then switched to Muse before landing contracts with Mercury and Columbia.

By this time, the organ trio genre had gone into eclipse, and in the spirit of the times, Earland acquired some synthesizers and converted to pop/disco in collaboration with his wife, singer / songwriter Sheryl Kendrick.

There followed a succession of successful jazz / soul / funk albums including 'Odyssey' in 1976, featuring 'Intergalactic Love Song', 'The Great Pyramid', featuring 'Driftin' and perhaps his best remembered album from this period 'Revelation', featuring the Randy Muller (Brass Construction) produced 'Let The Music Play'.

He moved into the Eighties with 'Coming To You Live' featuring 'The Woman In You' and the title track.

There were further CBS outings with 'Street Themes' and 'Earland's Jam'.

In 1983 he released an odd twelve inch single entitled 'It's A Doggie Boogie, Baby', popular on the UK dancefloors.

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Liner Notes

Lou Donaldson: Say It Loud

Read "Lou Donaldson: Say It Loud" reviewed by C. Andrew Hovan


It's hard to imagine now, but there was a time when the sound of jazz could be heard lingering in the smoky corners of neighborhood bars in every major city from New York to Los Angeles. These ghetto hangouts were on what was often called the 'chitlin' circuit,' a network of predominantly black operated venues that presented organ combos as the norm. Be it at The Smiling Dog Saloon in Cleveland or The Front Room in Newark, jazz and more ...

133
Album Review

Charles Earland: Black Talk!

Read "Black Talk!" reviewed by Jeff Dayton-Johnson


One of the all-time classic soul-jazz records gets its turn at remastering by Rudy van Gelder, the original engineer of the 1969 session. Charles Earland had a strong affinity for the organ, though he didn't start on the instrument. He began his career as a saxophonist, playing in groups with organists like Jimmy McGriff and Gene Ludwig before making his unconventional instrumental switch, eventually joining Lou Donaldson's group. His playing exploits the organ's capacity for sustain and ...

402
Album Review

Lou Donaldson: Say It Loud!

Read "Say It Loud!" reviewed by Germein Linares


Lou Donaldson's Say It Loud! is finally on CD. Recorded for Blue Note in '69, this is one of several late-'60s albums by the legendary alto saxophonist that tend to get little respect. That's too bad, really. Apart from sporting a very capable band in trumpeter Blue Mitchell, guitarist Jimmy Ponder, organist Charles Earland and drummer Leo Morris, the five selections on Say It Loud! are undeniably fun.True, there aren't great answers on God or the circle of ...

275
Album Review

Charles Earland: Black Drops

Read "Black Drops" reviewed by Derek Taylor


“The Mighty Burner” isn’t the kind of moniker bestowed on just any man. Charles Earland earned it by cultivating one of the grittiest and greasiest organ attacks of the early Seventies. His skills behind the B-3 are in full effect on this smoldering slab of fusion-laced funk from '70. Regular sidemen like Pruden and Jones take their place beside surprise reed wild card Jimmy Heath in the horn frontline and dig into an eclectic set of standards from the jazz, ...

162
Album Review

Charles Earland: The Almighty Bu rner

Read "The Almighty Bu rner" reviewed by John Sharpe


Jazz/funk organist Charles Earland, who died on December 11, 1999 of a heart attack at age 58, began his musical career playing saxophone in a high school dance band. Earland switched to the Hammond B-3 in 1963 and like so many who have taken up that instrument he would never scale the heights or escape the comparisons to organ maestro Jimmy Smith. However, Earland did enjoy limited commercial success with a series of fine records during the late-60s and early-70s ...

232
Album Review

Charles Earland: The Almighty Burner

Read "The Almighty Burner" reviewed by Mark Corroto


The organ-jazz revival of the 1990s brought a flood of reissues from Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff, and John Patton along with the new stars of the organ Joey DeFrancesco, Larry Goldings, and John Medeski. Charles Earland’s career got a boost too, reviving his 1960’s soul sound. Earland a bop-ishly straight-ahead B-3 man, died last year at the age of 58. His beginnings, with Pat Matino and Lou Donaldson, established a theme of the saxophone/organ and guitar/organ sound that could be ...

200
Album Review

Charles Earland: The Almighty Burner

Read "The Almighty Burner" reviewed by Mark Corroto


The organ-jazz revival of the 1990s brought a flood of reissues from Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff, and John Patton along with the new stars of the organ Joey DeFrancesco, Larry Goldings, and John Medeski. Charles Earland’s career got a boost too, reviving his 1960’s soul sound. Earland a bop-ishly straight-ahead B-3 man, died last year at the age of 58. His beginnings, with Pat Matino and Lou Donaldson, established a theme of the saxophone/organ and guitar/organ sound that could be ...

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Video / DVD

Backgrounder: Charles Earland

Backgrounder: Charles Earland

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Maybe you're cooking today for the holiday weekend. Or perhaps you're driving a long distance to attend a family gathering or visit the house of a friend. Or you may just be going for a long bike ride or working over the long weekend. How does three hours of uninterrupted Charles Earland sound to you? I thought so. Known as the Mighty Burner, the Philadelphia soul-jazz organist began playing the Hammond in 1968 and went on to form some of ...

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Recording

Charles Earland: Front Burner

Charles Earland: Front Burner

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Many fans of organist Charles Earland favor his late 1960s and early '70s recordings, such as Black Talk!, Black Drops and Living Black! And rightfully so, since Earland's leadership albums from this period burnished his “Mighty Burner" moniker. But don't neglect his later period. Case in point, Front Burner. Recorded in June 1988 for Milestone and produced by Bob Porter, the album featured Virgil Jones (tp), Bill Easley (ts,sop), Charles Earland (org), Bobby Broom (g), Buddy Williams (d) and Frank ...

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Video / DVD

Keyboard Event: 1981

Keyboard Event: 1981

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers


Keith Pray
saxophone
Fabio Fonseca
organ, Hammond B3

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Earland's Street...

P.S.F. Records
2012

buy

Earland's Jam...

P.S.F. Records
2012

buy

Leaving This Planet

P.S.F. Records
2008

buy

Black Talk!

Prestige Records
2006

buy

All Star Tribute

BCS Records
2005

buy

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