People & Love (Remastered) Johnny Lytle

• 1 Where Is The Love? 05:04
• 2 Libra 08:59
• 3 Family 03:49
• 4 Tawhid 07:00
• 5 People Make The World Go 'Round 11:57
• Total Runtime 36:49

Info for People & Love (Remastered)

"People & Love" is an album by vibraphonist Johnny Lytle recorded in 1972 and originally issued on the Milestone label.

"The early-70s was an interesting time for jazz. With record sales waning, many of the music's top stars began incorporating a more marketable sound. Certainly, rock had made its way into the jazz idiom by this time, as had R&B, and any number of international influences, so one never really knew what to expect from even the genre's most predictable names. This wasn't necessarily the case with vibist Johnny Lytle. Everybody knew he was a soul man from the word "go," and People & Love finds him diving ever deeper into the soul-jazz groove. The results are successful, to say the least. The term 'soul-jazz' commonly invokes visions of dripping Hammonds and syrupy guitars, but by 1972 things had changed a bit. The kind of soul-jazz represented here is a hazy, swirling, and ultimately much deeper vibe than that heard on, say, the classic Blue Note and Prestige sessions usually associated with this tag. One might compare it with Big John Patton's more psychedelic dates, like Accent on the Blues, for example, or Bobby Hutcherson's Patterns session, had it employed more funk rhythms. Among the album's five tracks, especially rewarding are "Libra" -- during which Lytle plays a muted two/four lick over the rest of the band in a manner befitting a comparison to dub reggae delay effects -- and the seriously dope funk of "Tawhid." The album's third track, "Family," was sampled by Organized Konfusion in 1997, and one gets the impression that just about every one of these cuts would make a fine hip hop sample in some way, shape, or form. That said, any self-respecting soul-jazz or jazz-funk fan would likely pick this title up based on the fantastic back cover alone. Fortunately, unlike so many other promising jackets, the tunes found inside are just as strong. Recommended for fans of downtempo jazz-funk." (Brandon Burke, AMG)

Johnny Lytle, vibraphone
Marvin Cabell, flute, alto flute, tenor saxophone
Daahoud Hadi (Butch Cornell), organ, electric piano
Bob Cranshaw, electric bass
Josell Carter, drums
Arthur Jenkins, Jr., congas, percussion
Betty Glamann, harp

Recorded August 1972 at Mercury Sound Studios in New York City
Produced by Orrin Keepnews

Digitally remastered

Please Note: we do not offer the 192 kHz version of this album, because there is no audible difference to the 96 kHz version!

Johnny Lytle
(1932-1995) was one of the most promising young vibraphonists to emerge during the early 1960s. Influenced by Lionel Hampton and Milt Jackson, he had a particularly percussive approach and a distinctive brittle sound.

Lytle started out on drums, playing with his father’s band when he was only nine. He worked with Ray Charles in 1950 and with Gene Ammons’s band while also having a career as a Golden Gloves boxing champion. After switching to vibes in the mid-1950s, Lytle worked with Boots Johnson during 1955-1957. He led his own groups in various jazz clubs in the East and Mideast before he began to record. During 1960-1964 he led six albums for Jazzland and Riverside.

Nice and Easy finds Lytle in heavy company, leading a quintet also including tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin, pianist Bobby Timmons, bassist Sam Jones, and drummer Louis Hayes. They form a strong group sound on standards, ballads and blues. Got That Feeling/Moon Child includes all of the music from two former LPs featuring organist Milt Harris. The vibes-organ front line is a bit unusual but also very appealing and it works well on the soulful period.

Most famous of Lytle’s record dates is The Village Caller!, another outing with Milt Harris that is most notable for the hypnotic title cut. Years later, in the early 1970s when Lytle recorded a pair of albums for Milestone, The Soulful Rebel record included “The New Village Caller.”

In addition to leading his trio (which appeared along the way with Wes Montgomery and Nancy Wilson), Johnny Lytle was very involved in community affairs, winning awards for the “good vibes” that he accomplished through public service.

This album contains no booklet.