Originally released September 1969
Reissued October 28, 2022
Blue Note
1xLP (Classic Vinyl Series)
One of the countless collaborations between the husband and wife team of saxophonist Stanley Turrentine and organist Shirley Scott, Common Touch finds the couple in a laid-back mood with the tempo rarely venturing above a shuffle throughout. A funkier vibe is brought to this album than many of the earlier Scott/Turrentine collaborations with tracks like their interpretation of Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” bringing in a looser, more freewheeling style of play from the pair. The backing band includes jazz-funk legend Idris Muhammad holding down the drums and guitarist Jimmy Ponder (a fellow native of Turrentine’s hometown of Pittsburgh) contributing to the looser vibe and helping to make this be one of the most straight-ahead fun albums of Turrentine and Scott’s respective outputs.