"Brother" Jack McDuff
"Brother" Jack McDuff, American soul-jazz organist (1926–2001, dates pending a dedicated source). A pivotal figure of the soul-jazz organ tradition: he switched from piano to Hammond in the 1950s and toured regularly throughout the 1960s and 1970s.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-hammond-organ.md]
Why he matters
- The player who turned a young Keith Emerson on to the Hammond with "Rock Candy" — Emerson's own origin story names McDuff as the trigger.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-keith-emerson.md]
- "Rock Candy" also appears among the jazz-blues organ recordings that shaped Jon Lord.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-jon-lord.md]
- Listed by Hammond Organ Co. among the sixties soul-jazz legion (with Jimmy McGriff, Charles "The Burner" Earland, Don Patterson, "Groove" Holmes, Dr. Lonnie Smith) that swung with ferocious fervor behind Jimmy Smith as Top Cat.^[raw/articles/hammondorganco-hammond-story.md]
- Among the Jimmy Smith disciples named by the Vinyldiscovery soul-jazz survey; a Blue Note/Prestige staple whose records (e.g. Ain't No Sunshine: Live in Seattle) remain collector favorites.^[raw/articles/vinyldiscovery-organ-jazz-soul-jazz.md]
- Listed among the great jazz organists in the Leslie story — his name is inseparable from the classic Hammond + Leslie rig.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-leslie-speaker.md]
- His band's guitarist Dr. Lonnie Smith met young George Benson — McDuff's band was a proving ground for future stars.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-dr-lonnie-smith.md]
Related
- jimmy-smith / jimmy-mcgriff — the soul-jazz organ legion
- dr-lonnie-smith — came up in his band
- Keith Emerson — his most famous convert