Straight Ahead (Stanley Turrentine album)

Straight Ahead
Straight Ahead
Studio album by Stanley Turrentine
Released	1985
Recorded	November 24 & December 7, 1984
Genre	Jazz
Label	Blue Note
Producer	Stanley Turrentine
Stanley Turrentine chronology

Last updated August 20, 2025

Straight Ahead is an album by jazz saxophonist Stanley Turrentine, released in 1985 on Blue Note Records.^[1] This album peaked at No. 10 on the US Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart.^[2]

Background

Straight Ahead was Turrentine's first album on Blue Note since 1969's Another Story . Artists such as Jimmy Smith, George Benson, Ron Carter, Jimmy Madison, Les McCann, and Jimmy Ponder appear on this album.^[1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[3]

Michael Erlewine of AllMusic, in a 3/5 star review, wrote "Great combination of musicians as on earlier cookers, but time has passed — it does not come off. Pleasant enough though, but lacks high spots".^[3]

Track listing

All compositions by Stanley Turrentine except as indicated

"Plum" (George Benson) - 6:09
"A Child Is Born" (Thad Jones) - 8:03
"Other Side of Time" - 5:25
"Straight Ahead" - 6:25
"The Longer You Wait" (Les McCann, Jon Hendricks) - 8:58
"Ah Rio" (Ron Carter) - 4:54

Recorded at Power Play Studios, Long Island City, NY on November 24, 1984 (tracks 5 & 6) and Sigma Sound Studios, NYC on December 7, 1984 (tracks 1-4).

Personnel

Stanley Turrentine – tenor saxophone
Jimmy Smith – organ (tracks 1, 2, 4 & 6)
George Benson – electric guitar (tracks 1, 2, 4 & 6)
Ron Carter – bass (tracks 1, 2, 4 & 6)
Jimmy Madison – drums (tracks 1, 2, 4 & 6)
Les McCann – piano, electric piano (tracks 3 & 5)
Jimmy Ponder – electric guitar (tracks 3 & 5)
Peter Brown – electric bass (tracks 3 & 5)
Gerrick King – drums (tracks 3 & 5)

References

1 2 Stanley Turrentine - Straight Ahead. Blue Note Records. 1985.
↑ "Top Jazz Albums" (PDF). Billboard . July 6, 1985. p. 63. Retrieved August 15, 2025– via worldradiohistory.com.
1 2 Erlewine, Michael. "Stanley Turrentine – Straight Ahead: Review". AllMusic . Retrieved August 15, 2025.

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[Album-1] 1 2 Stanley Turrentine - Straight Ahead. Blue Note Records. 1985.

[Billboard-2] "Top Jazz Albums" (PDF). Billboard . July 6, 1985. p. 63. Retrieved August 15, 2025– via worldradiohistory.com.

[Allmusic-3] 1 2 Erlewine, Michael. "Stanley Turrentine – Straight Ahead: Review". AllMusic . Retrieved August 15, 2025.

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[2]

[3]

v t e Stanley Turrentine
Years given are for the recording(s), including the soundtrack albums, not first release.
As leader or co-leader	Blue Hour (and The Three Sounds, 1960) Look Out! (1960) Stan "The Man" Turrentine (1960) Comin' Your Way (1961) Up at "Minton's" (1961) ZT's Blues (1961) That's Where It's At (1962) Jubilee Shout!!! (1962) In Memory Of (1964) Mr. Natural (1964) Joyride (1965) Rough 'n' Tumble (1966) Easy Walker (1966–69) The Spoiler (1966) A Bluish Bag (1967) The Return of the Prodigal Son (1967) The Look of Love (1968) Always Something There (1968) Another Story (1969) Sugar (1970) Gilberto with Turrentine (with Astrud Gilberto, 1971) Salt Song (1971) The Sugar Man (1971) Cherry (1972) Freddie Hubbard/Stanley Turrentine in Concert Volume One (1973) In Concert Volume Two (Freddie Hubbard & Stanley Turrentine album) (and Freddie Hubbard, 1973) Don't Mess with Mister T. (1973) Pieces of Dreams (1974) Have You Ever Seen the Rain (1975) In the Pocket (1975) Everybody Come On Out (1976) The Man with the Sad Face (1976) Nightwings (1977) Tender Togetherness (1981) Straight Ahead (1984) Wonderland (1986)
And Shirley Scott	Hip Soul (session led by Scott, 1961) Hip Twist (Scott, 1961) Dearly Beloved (1962) The Soul Is Willing (Scott, 1963) A Chip off the Old Block (1963) Never Let Me Go (1963) Soul Shoutin' (Scott, 1963) Blue Flames (joint leaders, 1964) Everybody Loves a Lover (Scott, 1964) Hustlin' (1964) Let It Go (1966) Queen of the Organ (Scott, 1966) Common Touch (1968) Soul Song (1968)
With Max Roach	Moon Faced and Starry Eyed (1959) Quiet as It's Kept (1959) Long as You're Living (1960) Parisian Sketches (1960)
With others	Freedom (Kenny Burrell, 1963–64) Midnight Blue (Kenny Burrell, 1963) I'm Tryin' to Get Home (Donald Byrd, 1964) Up with Donald Byrd (1964) With the Tenors of Our Time (Roy Hargrove, 1994) Life Flight (Freddie Hubbard, 1987) Flight to Jordan (Duke Jordan, 1960) Only Trust Your Heart (Diana Krall, 1994) Abbey Is Blue (Abbey Lincoln, 1959) Les McCann Ltd. in New York (Les McCann, 1961) Electric Funk (Jimmy McGriff, 1969) Speakin' My Piece (Horace Parlan, 1960) On the Spur of the Moment (Horace Parlan, 1961) The Right Touch (Duke Pearson, 1967) Easy Living /Congo Lament (Ike Quebec, 1962) Comin' On! (Dizzy Reece, 1960) Serenade to a Soul Sister (Horace Silver, 1968) Back at the Chicken Shack (Jimmy Smith, 1960) Midnight Special (Jimmy Smith, 1960) Prayer Meetin' (Jimmy Smith, 1961) A.T.'s Delight (Art Taylor, 1960)

v t e Les McCann
Years given are for the recording(s), not first release, except where noted. As Les McCann Ltd is often used in the titles for the albums up to 1964, this has been omitted.
Albums as leader or co-leader	It's About Time (with Teddy Edwards, 1959) The Truth (1960) The Shout (1960) In San Francisco (1960) From the Top of the Barrel (1960) Groove (with Richard "Groove" Holmes and Ben Webster, 1961) In New York (1961) Plays the Shampoo (1961) New from the Big City (1961) Pretty Lady (1961) Les McCann Sings (1961) Somethin' Special (with Richard "Groove" Holmes, 1962) On Time (1962) The Gospel Truth (1963) Soul Hits (1963) Jazz Waltz (with The Jazz Crusaders, 1963) A Bag of Gold (1963–64) McCanna (1964) Spanish Onions (1964) McCann/Wilson (with Nancy Wilson (1964) But Not Really (1964) Beaux J. Pooboo (1965) Live at Shelly's Manne-Hole (1965) Les McCann Plays the Hits (1966) Bucket o' Grease (1966) Live at Bohemian Caverns - Washington, DC (1967) Much Les (1968) Swiss Movement (and Eddie Harris, 1969) Comment (1969) Invitation to Openness (1971) Second Movement (with Eddie Harris, 1971) Layers (1972) Live at Montreux (1972) Talk to the People (1972) Another Beginning (1974)
With others	Tell It Like It Tis (Richard "Groove" Holmes, 1962) Stormy Monday (with Lou Rawls, 1962) That's Where It's At (Stanley Turrentine, 1962) Straight Ahead (Stanley Turrentine, 1984) Go Tell It on the Mountain (The Blind Boys of Alabama, 2003)
Soundtracks	Soul To Soul (1971)

v t e Jimmy Smith
Years indicated are for the recording(s), not first release.
Blue Note albums	A New Sound... A New Star... Volume 1 (1956) A New Sound A New Star: Jimmy Smith at the Organ Volume 2 (1956) The Incredible Jimmy Smith at the Organ (1956) At Club Baby Grand (1956) A Date with Jimmy Smith Volume One (1957) A Date with Jimmy Smith Volume Two (1957) The Sounds of Jimmy Smith (1957) Plays Pretty Just for You (1957) Jimmy Smith Trio + LD (1957) Groovin' at Smalls' Paradise (1957) House Party (1958) The Sermon (1958) Softly as a Summer Breeze (1958) Cool Blues (1958) Six Views of the Blues (1958) Home Cookin' (1958–59) Crazy! Baby (1960) Open House (1960) Plain Talk (1960) Midnight Special (1960) Back at the Chicken Shack (1960) Straight Life (1961) Plays Fats Waller (1962) I'm Movin' On (1963) Bucket! (1963) Rockin' the Boat (1963) Prayer Meetin' (with Stanley Turrentine, 1963) One Night with Blue Note (1985)
Verve albums	Bashin': The Unpredictable Jimmy Smith (1962) Hobo Flats (1963) Any Number Can Win (1963) Blue Bash! (with Kenny Burrell, 1963) The Cat (1964) Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1964) Christmas '64 (1964) Monster (1965) Organ Grinder Swing (1965) Got My Mojo Workin' (1966) Hoochie Coochie Man (1966) Peter & the Wolf (1966) Jimmy & Wes: The Dynamic Duo (with Wes Montgomery, 1966) Further Adventures of Jimmy and Wes (1966) Respect (1967) The Boss (1968) Groove Drops (1970) The Other Side of Jimmy Smith (1970) Root Down (1972) Bluesmith (1972) Damn! (1995) Angel Eyes: Ballads & Slow Jams (1995) Dot Com Blues (2000)
Albums for other labels	Black Smith (1974)
With others	The Original Jam Sessions 1969 (Quincy Jones & Bill Cosby, 1969) Smackwater Jack (Quincy Jones, 1971) Ellington Is Forever (Kenny Burrell, 1975) Ellington Is Forever Volume Two (Kenny Burrell, 1975) Straight Ahead (Stanley Turrentine, 1984) L.A. Is My Lady (Frank Sinatra, 1984) Bad (Michael Jackson, 1987) Love and Peace: A Tribute to Horace Silver (Dee Dee Bridgewater, 1994)