And on Hammond B-3 organ, please welcome Brother Jack McDuff! Born Eugene McDuffy in Champaign, Illinois, on this day in 1926, the jazz organist/bandleader was known as one of the swingingest organ players of his time and the man who gave a young George Benson his first break in 1963. This 1964 clip from Antibes, France, shows McDuff and Benson in action with drummer Joe Dukes and tenor saxophonist Red Holloway. That doesn’t mean Benson had an easy time with his boss, according to Flophouse Magazine. McDuff died at age 74 in 2001.
