Stick-Up!

Vibraphone master Bobby Hutcherson's 1966 release Stick-Up! is probably the jazz giant's most straightforward, swinging hard-bop album of the '60s. While the heads of the tunes occasionally take a knotty turn, as on "Black Circle" and "Blues Mind Matter," even the most complex cuts on the record quickly give themselves over to a visceral, steadily grooving feel and plenty of bop-based licks from pianist McCoy Tyner and sax man Joe Henderson. As for Hutcherson himself, he puts down his marimba mallets to concentrate strictly on the vibes here; Stick-Up! contains some of his most lyrical performances ever. On tunes like the insistently surging "8/4 Beat" and the simmering, blues-baked "Verse," Hutcherson stretches out by reaching deep inside and tapping into his own soulful inner flow, proving himself to be jazz's quintessential poet of the vibraphone. It's a rare artist who can find greater sophistication in simplification, but Hutcherson has the process down cold.