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2010 Wintergames

Today is Monday December 7, 2009

Organ Orgy (CD reviews)

By phum Fri, Nov 20 2009 Jazzblog.ca

To coincide with the organ-band invasion of Ottawa happening tonight and Saturday night -- the
invaders are guitarist Jake Langley at Cafe Paradiso and vocalist Kimberly Gordon at Wall Space
Gallery -- I have to-the-point reviews of five organ-band CDs for you.

I dig organ bands. Who doesn't? The 1960s saw the rise of the Hammond B3 in jazz, thanks to the
blues-drenched virtuosity of Jimmy Smith and peers such as Jimmy McGriff, Brother Jack McDuff.
Larry Young brought Coltrane-inspired modality into the mix soon after, and then in the 1990s and
2000s, players such as John Medeski, Larry Goldings, Sam Yahel, Gary Versace and Dan Wall
emerged to re-affirm the viability and currency of organ bands.

At the same time, the templates for what constitutes an organ band and what kinds of material it
tackles -- bluesy bop, modal thrashing, funky grooving -- have been so clearly drawn that there's a
danger too that a less than scintillating organ band will quickly sound generic. I don't know if a so-so
piano trio is so quickly trapped in a similar box.

Fortunately, the discs below rise above any constraints of instrumentation or otherwise.

The Canadian disc of this batch comes from Alberta

saxophonist Jerrold Dubyk. It's called The Maverick,
although its hard-bopping attitude is more mainstream than
subversive as far as the jazz world goes, and it features three
stalwart B.C. players -- trumpeter Brad Turner, organist
Chris Gestrin and drummer Jesse Cahill. All eight tracks
were written by Dubyk, who studied jazz at Rutgers
University in New Jersey, and solos throughout with

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muscular authority. Gotham, appropriately enough is a

bright-tempo swinging romp, with persuasive solos all
around. I like the lope of The Low Road, while the title track is a boogaloo blues, which is a kindof
tune that has become practically obligatory for self-respecting organ bands. As good as Dubyk, Turner
and Cahill are, the disc's MVP is Gestrin, who knocked me out last year playing piano and electric
piano on James Danderfer's CD Accelerated Development.

From another powerful saxophonist, the New York tenor player

Wayne Escoffery, comes the organ CD Uptown (Posi-Tone), This
quartet outing has a nice live feeling to it, which is only natural
given that it features one of his working groups. Escoffery as a
writer and player leans towards modal thrashing, as on the opener
No Desert, Cross Bronx and Gulf of Aqaba, but his disc offers other
kinds of tunes too, including the harmonically involved Maya's
Waltz and the funk of Nu Soul. There are also nice change-ups too --
a spang-a-lang version of I Got It Bad, a classy rendition of Duke
Pearson's ballad You Know I Care. and the short blues Easy Now to
send close the disc and send folks home. Escoffery, who also plays
in the top-notch post-bop ensemble of trumpeter Tom Harrell, is an
energetic, long-line player in the Coltrane/Brecker tradition. Organist Versace sounds -- as is usually
the case -- very tasty, inspired and completely connected to what the other musicians are doing, while
guitarist Avi Rothbard and drummer Jason Brown fulfill their functions impeccably.

Versace appears again on drummer David Ashkenazy Out With It

(also on Posi-tone), which features the same tenor/organ/guitar
/drums lineup as did Uptown. Ashkenazy's running with fast
company, including saxophonist Joel Frahm, Versace, and guitarist
Gilad Hekselman. My feeling is that while he's the group's leader,
he's chosen -- wisely, that is -- to just let his bandmates loose. They
all sound strong, but on occasion, Ashkenazy's drumming does feel
a bit detached from what the others are doing.

The disc opens with Wayne Shorter's early 1960s charger Children
of the Night. It's one of several covers on the disc, along with Frank
Foster's waltzing minor blues Simone, The Beatles' I Want You, Bill
Frisell's Strange Meeting. I don't think that the version of Children of the Night is the most distinctive
or strongest track on the album, but it Frahm and Versace are burning. The disc's follow-up,
Ashkenazy's original Dadi-Yo, feels more open and interesting to me, as do I Want You and strange
meeting. The best tunes on the disc have a strong sense of playfulness on the part of Ashkenazy's
heavyweight hires and that also goes for the disc's closer, a 7/4 romp through Too Young To Go
Steady.

I wasn't familiar with organist Jared Gold before I received his trio
disc Supersonic (Posi-tone), but I'm certainly glad for the
introduction. The CD is a happy, funky celebration for organ, guitar
and drums featuring Gold with guitarist Ed Cherry and drummer
McLenty Hunter. The playing is assertive and grooving throughout,

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with a fine kick-off: Gold offers an irrepressible version of Welcome

Back, setting up a irresistable '70s vibe by funking up the TV show
(Welcome Back Kotter) theme. The rest of Supersonic explores
different shades of funk. Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You simmers
nicely. Angel Eyes is set to a Poinciana groove, and on it guitarist
Cherry reminds me a bit of John Scofield. Battle of Tokorazawa is a
minor-key, high-energy excursion with Gold tearing up a fast 7/4 vamp.

Here's a video of the guys on Supersonic, only "rebranded" as the Ed Cherry Trio, injecting a whole
lot of soul into In My Life. It's very much in keeping with the vibe of Supersonic.

Alto saxophonist Loren Stillman's Winter Fruits (Pirouet) is the most enigmatic of these releases -- by
a country mile. Versace is back, but in a more cryptic mode, as suits Stillman's intriguing originals.
The music is more abstract and exploratory, much less beholden to the organ-band conventions that
the four discs above whole-heartedly embrace. Here are the musicians from Winter Fruits -- Stillman,
Versace, guitarist Nate Radley, drummer Ted Poor -- playing Stillman's palindromic tune Evil Olive
(which does not appear on Winter Fruits). If you're confused by the band being referred to as The
Bad Touch, well, don't be. The quartet did go by that name, and it might still, but it doesn't on
Stillman's CD.

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Winter Fruits is a puzzle box of a disc, loaded with unpredictable

turns as the musicians take tremendous liberties, altering the moods
and colours of tunes, masterfully juggling harmonic and rhythmic
complexities all the while. Compared to the discs above, which
offer obvious instant gratifications, Winter Fruits offers more but
most likely demands more from a listener, with its esthetic of less
charted, choppier waters. I like Stillman's gradual wail on Man of
Mystery. It dissolves into the counterpoint of Versace and Radley,
before the song turns sparse and tender. With You is a ballad whose
loose, at times stumbling delivery almost flirts with parody.
However, Versace and Stillman are persuasive soloists, never at sea
as they solo even as Poor keeps the music rumbling and roiling.
Like A Magic Kiss (which was the title of The Bad Touch's 2008 CD) featuring triumphant Radley and
Stillman solos, racing through the shifting-sands grooving of Versace and Poor. After an oblique
organ introduction, A Song To Be Played is a wafting tone poem that gives way to a spacious drum
solo. The rocking, raucous title track is, in a way, the most straightforward selection of the bunch, as
the musicians layer some joyfully organized noise. Puffy, the disc's closer, is a solemn little slip of a
song, vulnerable enough to break a heart or two.

While Winter Fruits pretty much steers clear of all the moves listed in the organ-band playbook, its
continual novelty and immediacy are disarming. Given half a chance, the music on Winter Fruits will
haunt you.

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