On the surface,
Headin' South is another set of bluesy soul-jazz, but it actually finds the
Horace Parlan trio stretching out a little. Adding conga player
Ray Barretto to his usual rhythm section of bassist
George Tucker and drummer
Al Harewood,
Parlan decides to take chances with his standard-heavy repertoire. "Summertime" features some evocative bowing from
Tucker, and the solo sections on "The Song Is Ended," "Prelude to a Kiss," and "My Mother's Eyes" offer probing, intriguing tonal textures that make the selection of
Ahmad Jamal's "Jim Loves Sue" understandable.
Barretto's "Congalegre" is a fun, Latin-inflected number, and
Parlan's "Headin' South" is a strong, swinging blues, but the slow blues "Low Down" is nearly undone by his incessant circular arpeggio, which lasts for over a minute. Still, that's not nearly enough to sink the record, which is another understated but solid effort from
Horace Parlan.