Higher Ground

His final album for Kudu before moving to Milestone and switching to the high tech-high sheen of the Mizell Brothers’ sound, there’s none of the synths or string machines that would characterise Hammond’s next albums. Instead, Higher Ground is like the soul jazz funky organ sound of the early seventies distilled into its purest form, as though Hammond was summing up the traditional soul jazz instrumentation band model before moving on. Restricting himself to four lengthy cuts, each track establishes a R’nB/soul music rhythmic groove, states the theme, locks into a vamp, and then soloists take turns to impress and delight. It’s an album that is essentially made of little more than undeniable grooves and high-level improv chops, where there’s always another impressive solo or some more delightfully light-touch rhythmic interplay just around the next corner.