Jamey Aebersold Jazz, Volume 120: Feelin' Good!: Book & Online Audio

Bobby Floyd's B-3 organ ownership comes through immediately; this rhythm section doesn't just accompany, it leads with swagger and conviction. The stereo separation design gives you real flexibility in rehearsal and practice, letting students isolate sections or hear the full blend depending on what the moment requires. Blues and funk forms can feel like background material in jazz programs, but this volume treats them as serious harmonic and rhythmic territory worth exploring.

Greasy, grounded, and undeniably soulful. These are blues and blues-adjacent forms played with the kind of ease that comes from decades of working gigs. The organ sits warm and thick in the mix, the drums push just enough to make you want to move, and the guitar floats over everything with conversational phrasing that invites interaction.

Intermediate to advanced jazz students working on blues language and funk-adjacent grooves. This is essential for organists exploring the B-3 tradition, but saxophonists, trumpeters, and trombonists benefit equally from hearing how the rhythm section approaches bluesy material with this specific kind of pocket and swing.

• Start with the stereo tracks separated so your students can lock onto their preferred voicings without fighting the full sound. Once confident with the form, flip to hearing the complete group to internalize the ensemble feel.
• Let the boogaloo and shuffle blues charts sit for a few rehearsals before tackling the modal and more abstract blues heads. The progression builds naturally toward greater harmonic freedom.
• Have your rhythm section players pay close attention to how Stryker voices his guitar lines over Floyd's organ comping. The interplay shows how two harmonic instruments can coexist without stepping on each other.

Slot this into a blues intensive unit or dedicate it to a week of small group study. It works particularly well in the spring when your ensemble might benefit from a stylistic detour before the season ends. This also makes a natural bridge if your jazz ensemble is moving from a standards-focused curriculum toward deeper exploration of American vernacular forms.

• Blues form navigation (12-bar blues with variations)
• Groove-based improvisation (funky and shuffle feels)
• Listening for and responding to rhythm section comping
• B-3 organ timbre and idiomatic voicing choices
• Balancing call-and-response phrasing within ensemble texture
• Translating straight eighth-note jazz swing into shuffle and boogaloo rhythmic feels