Don Wilkerson - Preach Brother! - UHQCD

2024

The soulful Louisiana-born tenor saxophonist Don Wilkerson made his Blue Note debut in 1962 with Preach Brother!, one of the most exuberant yet under-recognized soul jazz classics of the Blue Note catalog. The album featured the Ray Charles alum with Grant Green on guitar, Sonny Clark on piano, Butch Warren on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums.

...Preach, Brother! finds Don Wilkerson in top form, running through a set of hard-driving soul-jazz, R&B, swing, hard bop and blues....Wilkerson works up a hot groove on each of these six songs, which are mainly instrumental. His playing is vigorous and aggressive on the uptempo blues and shuffles, and surprisingly nimble on the ballads. Clark and Green match their leader with alternately forceful and sensitive accompaniment and solos, and the rhythm section keeps a steady, attractive groove. The result is another fine record that proves Wilkerson was one of the best, hardest-hitting soul-jazz saxophonists of the early '60s.

Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic.com, 4/5 stars