1LP Vinyl RGM-1286

On his second Black Jazz release, the unjustly under-appreciated saxophonist Rudolph “Rudy” Johnson shows confidence in his direct, emotional approach to jazz. Staying true to John Coltrane and various hard bop inspirations, he’s unconcerned with the soul, funk, or rock that so many other jazz artists brought to their sound in the early 1970s. Originally from Ohio, the Los Angeles-based musician works hard to get across his heavy, thick prose here with an exciting new group of musicians in place of the journeymen who were on his Spring Rain album a year earlier. The Second Coming does indeed benefit from the contributions of upright bass player Kent Brinkley, drummer Doug Sides, and pianist Kirk Lightsey all world-class musicians on the Los Angeles jazz scene with Johnson.