Hailing from Dallas, TX, Alvin Hemphill and his 7″ single, The Jug, might be some of the best in North Texas’ soul-jazz output. With its tall, walking bass, splashy drums, and funky Hammond organ groove, Alvin released this single on the local Big C label (likely his own custom imprint) and vanished into relative obscurity. As far as I know, this is his only known release, but a mighty fine one at that. Though the Gulf Region has a considerable amount of diverse, cross-cultural sounds, independently produced soul-jazz is considerably unique to Texas’ Great Plains (at the very least, of lesser quantity). With little information to go on, I’ll leave you now with Alvin’s delectable organ swinger.

LISTEN: Alvin Hemphill-The Jug