With its mix of pop covers and jazz material,
The Look of Love could be considered a typical
Turrentine album from the late '60s. What sets this and a few other of his Blue Note titles apart, though, are the full yet tasteful string and band arrangements by jazz flügelhorn player and composer
Thad Jones. With his flexible phrasing and muscular tone,
Turrentine dives into the lush arrangements, especially on the sweeping rendition of
Burt Bacharach's "Look of Love." Other pop selections bring mixed results: The plodding arrangement on "McArthur Park" garners a lukewarm response from
Turrentine, while the tender settings for "Emily" and another
Bacharach number, "This Guy's in Love With You," elicit the kind of velvety vaporous tone and sincere romantic phrasing
Turrentine usually killed with on ballads. More upbeat, straight-ahead material like "A Beautiful Friendship" and the blues swinger "Blues for Stan" keep the date well balanced and set the table for some masterful
Turrentine solos. Again, special mention should be made of
Thad Jones who, along with
Oliver Nelson (
Nancy Wilson's Welcome to My Love in particular) and
Duke Pearson, supplanted the usual syrupy arrangements found on "cross-over" dates with intelligent, complimentary charts.
Turrentine certainly appreciated it, as evidenced by his strong work here. Purists who usually cringe at late-'60s jazz dates like this (yes, there is a
Beatles cover here) might be pleasantly surprised. For those who feel
Bacharach and
Jimmy Webb provide fine material for jazz, then
The Look of Love is a must. ~ Stephen Cook