Tagged: organcombo

My shaky video of Melvin Rhyne performing at the Indianapolis Jazz Fest, 2011.

I've seen Trombone Shorty in concert three times now — four, if you count this spring's New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival when I couldn't get close enough to see him — and I'm convinced that he's the most dynamic live performer in the world. Gogol Bordello's the only act that's even close. Troy "Trombone [...]

Bassist William Parker recorded "Uncle Joe's Spirit House" for his aunt and uncle's 65th wedding anniversary last summer. If anyone's ever given a finer present, I haven't heard of it. In the liner notes, Parker calls the title track a head-bobbing shuffle that shifts like a boxer in training. It's an apt description, but, really, [...]

I've seen Bobby Broom play live more than a dozen times over the years and I always leave his shows convinced he's one of the top two or three guitarists still grooving this earth. I love hearing him play with Sonny Rollins, certainly. Pharez Whitted, too. But I think he might be at his best when he performs with the Deep Blue Organ Trio. The group gives him a chance to mine the core of both jazz and blues, and I'm not sure anyone does that better, unless it's organist Chris Foreman and drummer Greg Rockingham — Broom's [...]

On two albums in the mid-'90s, Dr. Lonnie Smith used jazz to explore both the manic and the cerebral sides of Jimi Hendrix, often with surprising results. The albums — "Foxy Lady: Tribute to Jimi Hendrix and "Purple Haze: Tribute to Jimi Hendrix" — use Hendrix' music as a starting point, but Smith on organ, John Abercrombie on guitar and Marvin "Smitty" Smith on drums hardly stop there. On "Foxy Lady," Smith starts blasting meaty organ licks right away. The amazing thing, at least to me, is that he also coaxes [...]

I've been listening on lala.com this morning to Federico Conti's "Organic B3 Groove!" Apparently, Conti's main gig is making remixes and running his own label, but he once studied with organist Shirley Scott and pianist James Williams, and that's a pretty fine jazz pedigree. "Organic B3 Groove!" is aptly named. Check out these videos:

I love jazz guitarist Bob DeVos' last two albums, "Playing for Keeps" and "Shifting Sands." Both feature tasteful playing from tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, organist Dan Kostelnik and drummer Steve Johns. But I find myself spinning his 2003 release, "Devos' Groove Guitar," more often, mostly because Gene Ludwig, one of my favorite groove merchants, is manning the Hammond B3 organ. DeVos and Ludwig explore both the funky and soulful sides of Herbie Hanock's "Cantaloupe Island." They caress every note of Thelonious Monk's "Round Midnight." And they settle into a slinky blues groove on Percy Mayfield's "Praying for Your [...]

Lately, I've been devoting a few minutes every Sunday morning to Peter Blue's tranquil guitar meditations. I find the bluesy videos on Youtube help me chill as I sip my morning coffee and prepare for another week. Below, you'll find a clip of Blue's latest "morning tune-up" and another with his B3 combo, Blue Star, which he formed with organist Elizabeth Star.

The members of The Harlem Art Ensemble formed a supergroup of sorts, a dream team of groove. That's clear from the opening notes of "Keep Talkin'," which opens "Live in New York," a gig recorded in 1990 but released just last year. Dr. Lonnie Smith's Hammond B3 organ notes start rolling out with an earthy soulfulness. Guitarist Jimmy Ponder joins in with some riffs that are as light and pure as Smith's are thick. Add Harold Ousley's funky saxophone and Bruno Carr's exquisite drum fills and you have a soul jazz tune as good as anything [...]