Tell It....

AMG Review of Tell It....

Richie Unterberger
All Music Guide

Tell It... was recorded at the same March 21, 1964, session at New York's the Allegro that yielded the better-known LP Soul Night Live!. In fact, Tell It... has been combined with Soul Night Live! for a 2002 CD reissue, or rather basically added on to the other album, as that two-fer package also bears the title Soul Night Live!. It's staunch mid-'60s soul-jazz, the most important of the backup players being Pat Martino on guitar and Carl Wilson on organ. The songs touch rather predictable if pleasing bases: Ray Charles covers ("One Mint Julep" and "I Can't Stop Loving You"), standards ("Up a Lazy River," "Secret Love," and "Ebb Tide"), straighter jazz (Lester Young's "Jumpin' With Symphony Sid"), and a Jackson original ("Blue Gator"). Most memorable is when the tempo hits its fastest and breeziest and Pat Martino lets loose with a op-like solo, as on "Tangerine," while Jackson sounds at his best and bluesiest on "Blue Gator."