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Money in the Pocket is the debut studio album led by jazz fusion keyboardist Joe Zawinul released on the Atlantic label in 1966.

Reception

The Allmusic review awarded the album 3 stars. All About Jazz awarded the album 3½ stars, stating, “Money In The Pocket is a remarkable album—remarkable in that it gives absolutely no hint of the shape shifts that would transform Zawinul’s work a few years later. The first of three albums he recorded for Atlantic, it’s a conventional mix of mid-1960s hard bop and soul jazz”. The Guardian’s John Fordham noted, “this session reflects the driving grooves of that popular soul-jazz style – so there are a lot of backbeats, repeating riffs, horn-harmony wailing and stagey stop-time breaks.”

Track listing:
All compositions by Joe Zawinul except as indicated

“Money in the Pocket” – 4:46
“If” (Joe Henderson) – 3:47
“My One and Only Love” (Guy Wood, Robert Mellin) – 3:52
“Midnight Mood” – 6:06
“Some More of Dat” (Sam Jones) – 6:02
“Sharon’s Waltz” (Rudy Stevenson) – 5:06
“Riverbed” – 5:09
“Del Sasser” (Jones) – 3:45

Personnel:
Joe Zawinul – piano
Blue Mitchell – trumpet (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5 & 7)
Clifford Jordan (track 1) – tenor saxophone
Joe Henderson (tracks 2, 4, 5 & 7) – tenor saxophone
Pepper Adams (tracks 2, 4, 5 & 7) – baritone saxophone
Bob Cranshaw (track 1) – bass
Sam Jones (tracks 2 & 4–8) – bass
Roy McCurdy (track 1) – drums
Louis Hayes (tracks 2 & 4–8) – drums

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Released: April 1966
Recorded: February 7, 1966
Studio: Atlantic Studios, NYC
Length: 38:33
Label: Atlantic
SD 3004
Producer: Joel Dorn