Junior Mance - That Lovin' Feelin' (Milestone, 1973)

This record, aside from being a decent piano-driven jazz album, has a kind of interesting story to it. According to the notes on the back of the sleeve, this is the same set of songs that appear on the LP The Good Life, issued on Tuba records in 1965, but these are different versions featuring drums and percussion that were overdubbed long after the original session. I noticed when I first got this that the drums sounded pretty amazing and more upfront than usual for this type of album but the overdubs are very well done and you probably wouldn't know without reading the sleeve.

Anyway, have a listen below and if you want to check out the rest, grab it here.

Boomp3.com

Review from Alex Henderson at Allmusic here:
As a rule, people who appreciate Ray Bryant and Gene Harris have an easy time getting into Junior Mance. That's because Mance is, like Bryant and Harris, a very lyrical and blues-minded soul-jazz/hard bop pianist -- and he has never been one those elitist, myopic jazz snobs who believes that rock, R&B, and gospel have no right to exist. In fact, Mance makes an effort to attract rock and R&B fans on That Lovin' Feelin', a 1972 project that finds the pianist joined by Bob Cranshaw, Aaron Bell, or Bob Cunningham on bass; Harold White, Oliver Jackson, or Jimmy Lovelace on drums; and Ralph MacDonald on percussion. Gratefully, Mance doesn't reach out to rock and R&B fans by running away from his jazz background. That Lovin' Feelin' is essentially an album of acoustic-oriented jazz, but it is acoustic-oriented soul-jazz/hard bop that grooves in a funky, churchy, down-home fashion. Thankfully, That Lovin' Feelin' is not the sort of album that finds the artist playing note-for-note covers of rock and R&B hits and calling it "jazz" -- when Mance tackles Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" and the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," he brings a real jazz mentality to the table. Mance is as swinging on major rock and soul hits as he is on Ray Bryant's "Cubano Chant" and bluesman Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup's "Mean Old Frisco Blues," which is an interesting choice for a jazz instrumentalist. Originally released on vinyl in the early '70s, That Lovin' Feelin' was reissued on CD in 2002 -- that year, Fantasy reissued That Lovin' Feelin' and 1961-1962's orchestral The Soul of Hollywood back-to-back on a 69-minute Milestone CD. Although not quite essential, That Lovin' Feelin' is an enjoyable, swinging effort that deserves credit for having an interesting variety of material.