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There was a lot of change in the air in 1967 when Jack McDuff released “Do it Now”, and that is reflected on many of the tracks on this fine soul jazz disc. In 67 James Brown was still developing the new funk sound, he had already hit us with the semi-funk of “I Feel Good”, but had not quite hit the pure funk heights of “I Got the Feelin” and “Say it Loud”. The first and last cuts on side one of McDuff‘s “Do it Now” are not quite full-on funk jazz numbers, but you can clearly hear the influence of James’ recent hits. In fact, side two closer and title cut, “Do it Now“, sounds like its based on that famous walk down riff from “I Feel Good”.
Along with the two lively proto funk numbers, “Do it Now” also contains two tracks with the expected bluesy hard bop swing, an odd country RnB track, a cheezy rendition of “Summer Samba” and a very interesting album closer called “Mutt and Jeff”. This closing track is a sort of up-tempo post bop, almost avant-garde in its odd chord progressions and semi-free rhythm, it sounds a bit like what Larry Young and Tony Williams will be playing in their new Lifetime group.
So you get the picture, there is a lot of variety on here, but almost every cut is good, with the exception of the overly cute version of “Summer Samba”. McDuff’s playing on here is solid, not his flashiest best, but not watered down either. All of the band members get a turn too, but most of the solos go to Jack. The double horn section and electric guitar go a long way in filling out the sound. Fans of Jack McDuff and 60s soul jazz in general will want to pick this up, this isn’t Jack’s best effort, but its far from his worst either. For McDuff fans seeking Jack at his very best, check out the fiery and somewhat experimental “Heatin System”.