In all but name, 1961's
Hip Soul is a duet album between organist
Shirley Scott and her new husband,
Stanley Turrentine (playing under the name
Stan Turner to avoid contract issues), whose excellent bop tenor dominates the entire album to the extent that sometimes
Scott seems like a sideman on her own date. However, when she lets off with a characteristically joyous solo like the one at the heart of the standard "By Myself,"
Scott's immense charms are obvious. An underappreciated master of the Hammond organ,
Scott is one of the few players of her generation who declined to simply ape
Jimmy McGriff,
Jimmy Smith, or
Jack McDuff (although she does cop to a clear
Smith influence on the funky walking groove of the title track) in favor of creating her own distinctive sound. Highlights on this session include
Turrentine's
Brubeck-influenced "Stanley's Time" (with some of the couple's fiercest playing) and a meditative 11-minute take on
Harold Arlen's ballad "Out of This World" that sounds like they'd been listening intently to
Kind of Blue. ~ Stewart Mason