Soul Symphony is the final album by jazz group The Three Sounds

The Three Sounds

The Three Sounds were an American jazz trio that formed in 1956 and disbanded in 1973. The trio played and recorded with Lester Young, Lou Donaldson, Nat Adderley, Johnny Griffin, Anita O'Day, Bucky Pizzarelli, Stanley Turrentine and Sonny Stitt among others.The band formed in Benton Harbor,...

 featuring performances with an orchestra arranged and conducted by Monk Higgins

Monk Higgins

Milton Bland better known as Monk Higgins, was an American musician and saxophonist who was born in Menifee, Arkansas....

 recorded in 1969 and released on the Blue Note

Blue Note Records

Blue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...

 label.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 3 stars stating "Soul Symphony is far from a throwaway; it's a deeply grooved-out tough record with all of the Three Sounds magic on full view, and is highly recommended to any fan of soul-jazz or beat hunting".

Track listing

All compositions by Monk Higgins except as indicated

1. "Soul Symphony" - 25:55
2. "Repeat After Me" - 6:43
3. "Upper Four Hundred" (Dee Ervin, Higgins) - 4:04
4. "Popsicle Pimp" (Ervin, Higgins) 2:57
5. "Black Sugar" (Ervin, Higgins) - 4:15
   • Recorded at Liberty Studios in West Hollywood, California on August 26 (tracks 2-6) and August 26 (track 1), 1969

Personnel

• Gene Harris
  Gene Harris
  Gene Harris was an American jazz pianist known for his warm sound and blues and gospel infused style that is known as soul jazz....
  
   - piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  
• Henry Franklin
  Henry Franklin
  Henry "Skipper" Franklin is an American jazz double-bassist.- Biography :Franklin played on Hugh Masekela's 1968 number one single, "Grazing in the Grass," as well as with Masekela's band at the Monterey International Pop Festival in June 1967...
  
   - bass
  Double bass
  The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
  
  
• Carl Burnett - drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  
• Monk Higgins
  Monk Higgins
  Milton Bland better known as Monk Higgins, was an American musician and saxophonist who was born in Menifee, Arkansas....
  
   - arranger
  Arrangement
  The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
  
  , conductor
  Conducting
  Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
  
  
• David Duke, Art Maebe - french horn
• Buddy Collette
  Buddy Collette
  William Marcel "Buddy" Collette was an American tenor saxophonist, flautist, and clarinetist. He was highly influential in the West coast jazz and West Coast blues mediums, also collaborating with saxophonist Dexter Gordon, drummer Chico Hamilton, and his lifelong friend, bassist Charles...
  
   - flute
  Flute
  The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
  
  , alto flute
  Alto flute
  The alto flute is a type of Western concert flute, a musical instrument in the woodwind family. It is the next extension downward of the C flute after the flûte d'amour. It is characterized by its distinct, mellow tone in the lower portion of its range...
  
  
• Fred Robinson
  Abu Talib (musician)
  Abu Talib was an African American blues and jazz guitarist, singer, and harmonica player.-Career:...
  
   - guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  
• Alan Estes - percussion
• Unidentified string section
  String section
  The string section is the largest body of the standard orchestra and consists of bowed string instruments of the violin family.It normally comprises five sections: the first violins, the second violins, the violas, the cellos, and the double basses...
  
   led by Jim Getzof (track 1) and Sid Sharp (tracks 2-6)
• Alex Brown, Mamie Galore, Clydie King
  Clydie King
  Clydie Crittendon is an American singer, best known for her session work as a backing vocalist....
  
   - backing vocals