Food references are entirely appropriate, because Cookin’ with Jaws and the Queen: The Legendary Prestige Cookbook Albums is a thoroughly delicious feast of greasy sounds. Compiling three 1958 sessions with tenor saxophonist Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis and Hammond B-3 organist Shirley Scott, this terrific four-disc set is a prime example of soul jazz, the funky hybrid blending blues, r’n’b and hard bop. Soul jazz, which flourished in the ‘50s and ‘60s, offered a visceral, rather than cerebral, experience guaranteed to induce a state of mellow wellbeing. Davis’ burly sax is the perfect foil for Scott’s sumptuous organ on both sultry originals and standards like “Stardust” and “Pennies from Heaven.” Also featuring Jerome Richardson (sax and flute), George Duvivier (bass) and Arthur Edgehill (drums), Cookin’ with Jaws and the Queen is a refreshing antidote to the stresses of reality. Turn it on and prepare to relax.
