The Lyman Woodard Organization - Saturday Night Special (1975) - Reissue LP - 2008

Lyman Woodard (March 3, 1942 – February 25, 2009) was a Detroit-based jazz organist noted for fusing his music with Latin and Afro-Cuban-inspired rhythms. From the late '60s, Woodard recorded with a number of Motown acts, and served as musical director for Martha and the Vandellas. But seminal releases – like his 1975 cult-classic Saturday Night Special – and the legacy of his namesake outfit, the Lyman Woodard Organization, helped define Motor City's lesser-known jazz-funk heritage.

Before establishing the Lyman Woodard Organization, he comprised a jazz trio with drummer Melvin Davis and guitarist Dennis Coffey; the ensemble made its reputation playing numerous shows at a nightclub called Cobb's Corner. In 1979, Woodard returned to Cobb's Corner with the Organization to record his magnum opus, Don't Stop the Groove, for the Corridor label.

In March 2009, Wax Poetics Records reissued a limited pressing of Saturday Night Special as a double LP on 180-gram vinyl.
The Sound of Detroit is the sound of a city on the move - from the narrow neighborhood streets to Woodward and the Boulevard, from Davison to the Chrysler to the Edsel Ford and the John C Lodge, into the city and out to the suburbs or the factories. Detroit is the crossroads where native energy meets the industrial crunch, and the music this city has produced is known the world over for it’s intensity and drive.

The Lyman Woodard Organization, Saturday Night Special LP, put out in 1975 on the Strata label, is one that gets better with further listening. With further listening, I mean that it needs more attention. Like a 1975 Cadillac, it needs to be driven right - cruised, as it takes you over those streets Sinclair describes. At first, it seems slow. But it demands a good sitting down and letting go, and then it explodes in sonic Motor City nightscapes and textures.

There’s a lot to this album, it’s well planned. It sits on a certain vibe throughout - you can hear the Yusef Lateef influences, but then also the Dennis Coffey style percussion breaks and drawn out drum solo arrangements. It’s high energy and mellow at the same time, with a subtle funk edge that keeps it going. The contrasts between the percussion and the mellow organ, electric guitar, bass, and even mellotron work beautifully. I picture a strange light-night hipster party in the 70s, with like-minded people lurking behind smokey shadows, moving to the grooves. It’s an after hours record, is what I’m trying to say.

This is Detroit jazz all the way - raw and real, gritty and pretty - with a side of funk, blues and soul.

The last song on side A has a vocal, although it’s not Lyman Woodard, it’s the drummer, Leonard King. He sings: Creative musicians, keep on rolling right along…