4 The late Charles Earland displayed a relentless intensity at the B3 right up until his death on December 11, 1999. To commemorate his latter period, label head Joe Fields put together the posthumous release The Mighty Burner: The Best of his HighNote Recordings. Culling from five sessions cut between 1997 and 1999 (the last coming just two months before his passing), this collection features the Philly native in the company of Eric Alexander on tenor sax and Jim Rotondi on trumpet (on Horace Silver's "Blowin' the Blues Away" and "Sister Sadie" and Earland's "The Count Is in the House") and seasoned organ-group veterans Melvin Sparks on guitar and Bernard Purdie on drums ("Organyk Groove"). Everything feels good here (courtesy of Greg Rockingham's supportive, swinging drumming), and Earland more than lives up to his legendary nickname. true 21 2007-06-07T14:05:44-04:00 15463 88 200502 true 0 98 2005-01-01T00:00:00-05:00

The late Charles Earland displayed a relentless intensity at the B3 right up until his death on December 11, 1999. To commemorate his latter period, label head Joe Fields put together the posthumous release The Mighty Burner: The Best of his HighNote Recordings. Culling from five sessions cut between 1997 and 1999 (the last coming just two months before his passing), this collection features the Philly native in the company of Eric Alexander on tenor sax and Jim Rotondi on trumpet (on Horace Silver's "Blowin' the Blues Away" and "Sister Sadie" and Earland's "The Count Is in the House") and seasoned organ-group veterans Melvin Sparks on guitar and Bernard Purdie on drums ("Organyk Groove"). Everything feels good here (courtesy of Greg Rockingham's supportive, swinging drumming), and Earland more than lives up to his legendary nickname.

2009-03-02T00:24:28-05:00

4 The Deep Blue Organ Trio, featuring guitarist Bobby Broom and organist Chris Foreman, is a tightly knit Chitown unit that is adept at putting an old-school soul-jazz spin on popular nonjazz repertoire on Deep Blue Bruise (Delmark). They turn in a slamming shuffle-swing rendition of Prince's "Raspberry Beret" and swing in a relaxed midtempo mode on the Earth Wind & Fire tune "Can't Hide Love." They also interpret the dramatic Sinatra showcase "It Was a Very Good Year" as a slow, melancholy, minor-key blues, and put a hip slant on the Doors' "Light My Fire." Guitarist Broom, a killer soloist, plays it more restrained here, saving up his most potent blowing of the session for his own swinging title track, for a jaunty uptempo rendition of "Willow Weep for Me" and a brisk reading of Joe Henderson's "Granted" (which sounds like a Grant Green tribute). Greg Rockingham again proves to be one of the steadiest and most reliably swinging drummers around; a supportive pocket-player who knows when to hold it down and when to interact. Organist Foreman is the real find here. His insistently swinging, blues-drenched solo lines are dripping with churchified soul and show a fertile imagination. He also demonstrates a firm command of the bass pedals and an ultrahip sense of comping behind Broom's solos. While Foreman may already be a Chicago legend, he's relatively unknown outside the Midwest. With his superb showing on the Deep Blue Organ Trio's debut, Foreman stands to advance to the front ranks of the elite B3 burners on today's scene. true 21 2007-06-07T14:05:44-04:00 15464 88 200502 true 0 98 2005-01-01T00:00:00-05:00

The Deep Blue Organ Trio, featuring guitarist Bobby Broom and organist Chris Foreman, is a tightly knit Chitown unit that is adept at putting an old-school soul-jazz spin on popular nonjazz repertoire on Deep Blue Bruise (Delmark). They turn in a slamming shuffle-swing rendition of Prince's "Raspberry Beret" and swing in a relaxed midtempo mode on the Earth Wind & Fire tune "Can't Hide Love." They also interpret the dramatic Sinatra showcase "It Was a Very Good Year" as a slow, melancholy, minor-key blues, and put a hip slant on the Doors' "Light My Fire." Guitarist Broom, a killer soloist, plays it more restrained here, saving up his most potent blowing of the session for his own swinging title track, for a jaunty uptempo rendition of "Willow Weep for Me" and a brisk reading of Joe Henderson's "Granted" (which sounds like a Grant Green tribute). Greg Rockingham again proves to be one of the steadiest and most reliably swinging drummers around; a supportive pocket-player who knows when to hold it down and when to interact. Organist Foreman is the real find here. His insistently swinging, blues-drenched solo lines are dripping with churchified soul and show a fertile imagination. He also demonstrates a firm command of the bass pedals and an ultrahip sense of comping behind Broom's solos. While Foreman may already be a Chicago legend, he's relatively unknown outside the Midwest. With his superb showing on the Deep Blue Organ Trio's debut, Foreman stands to advance to the front ranks of the elite B3 burners on...

2009-03-02T00:24:28-05:00

4 Columbus, Ohio native Tony Monaco is a monster B3 player with a penchant for blazing Jimmy Smith-style blues excursions with his right hand. The aptly named The Fiery Blues (Summit) is an exhilarating collection of slow blues (Hank Marr's "Greasy Spoon," T-Bone Walker's "Stormy Monday"), jump blues (Memphis Slim's "Every Day I Have the Blues"), shuffle blues (Don Patterson's "Goin' to a Meetin'," Leon Spencer's "The Hooker") and swinging blues (Patterson's "Mellow Soul," Miles Davis' "All Blues," Horace Silver's "The Preacher") that showcase Monaco's formidable technique and real-deal feeling. With the exception of Joey DeFrancesco, no one else can burn a blue streak as hot as this monster Monaco. true 21 2007-06-07T14:05:44-04:00 15465 88 200502 true 0 98 2005-01-01T00:00:00-05:00

Columbus, Ohio native Tony Monaco is a monster B3 player with a penchant for blazing Jimmy Smith-style blues excursions with his right hand. The aptly named The Fiery Blues (Summit) is an exhilarating collection of slow blues (Hank Marr's "Greasy Spoon," T-Bone Walker's "Stormy Monday"), jump blues (Memphis Slim's "Every Day I Have the Blues"), shuffle blues (Don Patterson's "Goin' to a Meetin'," Leon Spencer's "The Hooker") and swinging blues (Patterson's "Mellow Soul," Miles Davis' "All Blues," Horace Silver's "The Preacher") that showcase Monaco's formidable technique and real-deal feeling. With the exception of Joey DeFrancesco, no one else can burn a blue streak as hot as this monster Monaco.

2009-03-02T00:24:28-05:00

4 From the sublime to the ridiculous, Manzel is a trio led by organist Manzel Bush. Their Midnight Theme (Dopebrother) is a collection of monotonous, incredibly dated and inherently cheesy tracks from the '70s that sound like outtakes from failed blaxploitation flicks of that era. Somebody thought it was a good idea to remix and repackage this dreadful hunk o' cheddar. Fact is, Manzel has as much chance of becoming a hit today as the short-lived NBC police drama Manimal did back in 1983. In the words of Leonard Pinth-Garnell from Saturday Night Live's "Bad Theatre" skit: "Stunningly bad...positively awful!" true 21 2007-06-07T14:05:44-04:00 15466 88 200502 true 0 98 2005-01-01T00:00:00-05:00

From the sublime to the ridiculous, Manzel is a trio led by organist Manzel Bush. Their Midnight Theme (Dopebrother) is a collection of monotonous, incredibly dated and inherently cheesy tracks from the '70s that sound like outtakes from failed blaxploitation flicks of that era. Somebody thought it was a good idea to remix and repackage this dreadful hunk o' cheddar. Fact is, Manzel has as much chance of becoming a hit today as the short-lived NBC police drama Manimal did back in 1983. In the words of Leonard Pinth-Garnell from Saturday Night Live's "Bad Theatre" skit: "Stunningly bad...positively awful!"

2009-03-02T00:24:28-05:00

4 Far more relevant, particularly for today's hip-hop and jam-band crowds, is Soulive's Live in NYC (Pirate Entertainment/DiscLive). Recorded at the intimate Tribeca Rock Club on July 30, 2004, this two-CD set is a kind of beat-the-bootlegs project. Made available to fans for download almost immediately after the gig at Disclive.com, the double CD sets were shipped just one week later, complete with full artwork in a limited edition Digipak-which, strangely, offers no credits whatsoever, not even song titles. Together guitarist Eric Krasno, drummer Alan Evans and his brother Neal Evans on B3 and Clavinet create a visceral brand of organ-fueled funk and blues that the audience seems to go nuts for, though I find it all fairly mediocre. As instrumentalists, drummer Alan is a pedestrian timekeeper, Krasno rarely rises above the level of a decent funk rhythm guitarist and blues soloist and organist Neal is certainly not in the same league with the Jimmy Smiths, Tony Monacos and Joey DeFrancescos of the B3 world. Indeed, this stuff sounds closer in spirit to Billy Preston meets the Average White Band-and apparently that's just how the screaming horde at the Tribeca Rock Club likes it. true 21 2007-06-07T14:05:44-04:00 15467 88 200502 true 0 98 2005-01-01T00:00:00-05:00

Far more relevant, particularly for today's hip-hop and jam-band crowds, is Soulive's Live in NYC (Pirate Entertainment/DiscLive). Recorded at the intimate Tribeca Rock Club on July 30, 2004, this two-CD set is a kind of beat-the-bootlegs project. Made available to fans for download almost immediately after the gig at Disclive.com, the double CD sets were shipped just one week later, complete with full artwork in a limited edition Digipak-which, strangely, offers no credits whatsoever, not even song titles. Together guitarist Eric Krasno, drummer Alan Evans and his brother Neal Evans on B3 and Clavinet create a visceral brand of organ-fueled funk and blues that the audience seems to go nuts for, though I find it all fairly mediocre. As instrumentalists, drummer Alan is a pedestrian timekeeper, Krasno rarely rises above the level of a decent funk rhythm guitarist and blues soloist and organist Neal is certainly not in the same league with the Jimmy Smiths, Tony Monacos and Joey DeFrancescos of the B3 world. Indeed, this stuff sounds closer in spirit to Billy Preston meets the Average White Band-and apparently that's just how the screaming horde at the Tribeca Rock Club likes it.

2009-03-02T00:24:28-05:00

4 The 68-year-old Melvin Rhyne, a key member of Wes Montgomery's original Riverside trio from 1959 to 1964, still sounds on top of his game as evidenced on Tomorrow, Yesterday, Today (Criss Cross). Joined by guitarist and frequent collaborator Peter Bernstein and ubiquitous session drummer Kenny Washington, Rhyne swings forcefully on snappy renditions of "Lover Come Back to Me" and "Tangerine" as well as on two separate versions of Wes Montgomery's "Jingles" (which Rhyne recorded with the guitarist in 1959). They are joined by tenor saxophonist Tad Shull on Kenny Dorham's rollicking shuffle "Buffalo" and on straightforward ballad readings of "Darn That Dream" and "Easy Living." true 21 2007-06-07T14:05:44-04:00 15468 88 200502 true 0 98 2005-01-01T00:00:00-05:00

The 68-year-old Melvin Rhyne, a key member of Wes Montgomery's original Riverside trio from 1959 to 1964, still sounds on top of his game as evidenced on Tomorrow, Yesterday, Today (Criss Cross). Joined by guitarist and frequent collaborator Peter Bernstein and ubiquitous session drummer Kenny Washington, Rhyne swings forcefully on snappy renditions of "Lover Come Back to Me" and "Tangerine" as well as on two separate versions of Wes Montgomery's "Jingles" (which Rhyne recorded with the guitarist in 1959). They are joined by tenor saxophonist Tad Shull on Kenny Dorham's rollicking shuffle "Buffalo" and on straightforward ballad readings of "Darn That Dream" and "Easy Living."

2009-03-02T00:24:28-05:00

4 Like his excitable and extremely gifted son Joey, "Papa" John DeFrancesco likes to build to big crescendos and dive headlong into the blues, as heard on Walking Uptown (Savant). The Philly patriarch radiates chitlin' circuit charm at the console, and he comes armed with a whole bag of showman tricks: the droning, wailing high-note pedal-point shtick on the raucous opener "One for Jack Mac"; the proverbial "pulling out all the stops" for dramatic effect on Curtis Mayfield's churchy "People Get Ready"; the percussive comping on the superfunky "160 Million Dollar Chinese Man." DeFrancesco's definitely more grits 'n' gravy than hard bop, as evidenced by his greasy performances of Booker Ervin's "Mojo," the shuffling title track and the soul-jazz boogaloo "Delaware Fox." Papa John's eldest son, John Jr., contributes some blues-drenched guitar work throughout (more Gatemouth Brown and B.B. King than Wes Montgomery and Grant Green) and Joey makes guest appearances on trumpet ("Walking Uptown") and on Fender Rhodes for the smooth-jazz closer "What Happened," which is strangely out of place amongst the rest of this funk 'n' blues repertoire. Tim Warfield adds strong contributions on tenor sax, particularly with his gutsy-soulful performances on "One for Jack Mac" and "People Get Ready." true 21 2007-06-07T14:05:44-04:00 15469 88 200502 true 0 98 2005-01-01T00:00:00-05:00

Like his excitable and extremely gifted son Joey, "Papa" John DeFrancesco likes to build to big crescendos and dive headlong into the blues, as heard on Walking Uptown (Savant). The Philly patriarch radiates chitlin' circuit charm at the console, and he comes armed with a whole bag of showman tricks: the droning, wailing high-note pedal-point shtick on the raucous opener "One for Jack Mac"; the proverbial "pulling out all the stops" for dramatic effect on Curtis Mayfield's churchy "People Get Ready"; the percussive comping on the superfunky "160 Million Dollar Chinese Man." DeFrancesco's definitely more grits 'n' gravy than hard bop, as evidenced by his greasy performances of Booker Ervin's "Mojo," the shuffling title track and the soul-jazz boogaloo "Delaware Fox." Papa John's eldest son, John Jr., contributes some blues-drenched guitar work throughout (more Gatemouth Brown and B.B. King than Wes Montgomery and Grant Green) and Joey makes guest appearances on trumpet ("Walking Uptown") and on Fender Rhodes for the smooth-jazz closer "What Happened," which is strangely out of place amongst the rest of this funk 'n' blues repertoire. Tim Warfield adds strong contributions on tenor sax, particularly with his gutsy-soulful performances on "One for Jack Mac" and "People Get Ready."

2009-03-02T00:24:28-05:00

4 More so than most, Bruce Katz takes a rough roadhouse approach to the Hammond B3 organ group on A Deeper Blue (Severn). The shuffles are greasier, and the playing is more primal and cathartic, especially by guitar killer Michael Williams. And the overall vibe is looser, nastier and more grooving. This is one great bar band. Katz himself is a killer on the B3, as he proves on the shuffle "Greasy Sticks," the uptempo swinger "Poptop" and the hip boogaloo "(Why Don't You Just) Go Home!" Guitarist Ronnie Earl makes guest appearances on two tracks, stinging in his inimitable fashion on the chugging Texas blues "Yeah, Maybe" and on a toe-curling rendition of Earl Hooker's slow "Blues in D Natural." Katz also offers up some accomplished Pinetop Smith-styled piano work on "Stovepipe Boogie" and a touch of N'awlins piano on "The Stroll," but it's mainly the B3 that we're interested in here. true 21 2007-06-07T14:05:44-04:00 15470 88 200502 true 0 98 2005-01-01T00:00:00-05:00

More so than most, Bruce Katz takes a rough roadhouse approach to the Hammond B3 organ group on A Deeper Blue (Severn). The shuffles are greasier, and the playing is more primal and cathartic, especially by guitar killer Michael Williams. And the overall vibe is looser, nastier and more grooving. This is one great bar band. Katz himself is a killer on the B3, as he proves on the shuffle "Greasy Sticks," the uptempo swinger "Poptop" and the hip boogaloo "(Why Don't You Just) Go Home!" Guitarist Ronnie Earl makes guest appearances on two tracks, stinging in his inimitable fashion on the chugging Texas blues "Yeah, Maybe" and on a toe-curling rendition of Earl Hooker's slow "Blues in D Natural." Katz also offers up some accomplished Pinetop Smith-styled piano work on "Stovepipe Boogie" and a touch of N'awlins piano on "The Stroll," but it's mainly the B3 that we're interested in here.

2009-03-02T00:24:28-05:00

4 Guitarist Sheryl Bailey offers an alternative to the old-school organ-trio approach on Bull's Eye! (Pure). On her third outing as a leader, the gifted Berklee College of Music grad and her cohorts Gary Versace on organ and Ian Froman on drums take a decidedly different direction, more in the manner of post-Larry Young organ groups like Barbara Dennerlein's or John Abercrombie's trio with organist Jeff Palmer and drummer Adam Nussbaum. A modernist burner with an abundance of Pat Martino-style chops, Bailey prefers angular lines, odd harmonies and the occasional touch of dissonance as she sails up and down the fretboard with fluid abandon. Standout tracks here include the twisted second-line funk of "Swamp Thang," the free-flowing bluesy meditation "Elvin People" (which she calls "an anthem for the new generation of postboppers"), the haunting and gentle lament "Song for All Souls" and the pyrotechnic title track, which closes this particularly strong sophomore outing in high-flying fashion, giving organist Versace a chance to really stretch out and burn. true 21 2007-06-07T14:05:44-04:00 15471 88 200502 true 0 98 2005-01-01T00:00:00-05:00

Guitarist Sheryl Bailey offers an alternative to the old-school organ-trio approach on Bull's Eye! (Pure). On her third outing as a leader, the gifted Berklee College of Music grad and her cohorts Gary Versace on organ and Ian Froman on drums take a decidedly different direction, more in the manner of post-Larry Young organ groups like Barbara Dennerlein's or John Abercrombie's trio with organist Jeff Palmer and drummer Adam Nussbaum. A modernist burner with an abundance of Pat Martino-style chops, Bailey prefers angular lines, odd harmonies and the occasional touch of dissonance as she sails up and down the fretboard with fluid abandon. Standout tracks here include the twisted second-line funk of "Swamp Thang," the free-flowing bluesy meditation "Elvin People" (which she calls "an anthem for the new generation of postboppers"), the haunting and gentle lament "Song for All Souls" and the pyrotechnic title track, which closes this particularly strong sophomore outing in high-flying fashion, giving organist Versace a chance to really stretch out and burn.

2009-03-02T00:24:28-05:00

4 The Alexandre Huber Trio is almost painfully polite on Organic Sound (TCB). While organist Huber and his Swiss compatriot, drummer Alain Petitmermet, are both accomplished musicians, and the Belgian guitarist Bernard Dossin follows in the tradition of great Belgian jazz guitarists from Rene Thomas to Toots Thielemans to Philip Catherine, there is nary an ounce of grease on this entire live outing (recorded at the Chorus Club in Lausanne, Switzerland, in March 2003). Sure, the waltz-time number "Exploring the Dance" is tasty, the bossa "Sweet Cherry Music" is kinda cute and their rendition of "My Foolish Heart" is respectfully straightahead-but where's the beef? This cat Huber could take a few lessons from "Papa" John DeFrancesco and Bruce Katz in how to put up the funk 'n' blues on the B3. true 21 2007-06-07T14:05:44-04:00 15472 88 200502 true 0 98 2005-01-01T00:00:00-05:00

The Alexandre Huber Trio is almost painfully polite on Organic Sound (TCB). While organist Huber and his Swiss compatriot, drummer Alain Petitmermet, are both accomplished musicians, and the Belgian guitarist Bernard Dossin follows in the tradition of great Belgian jazz guitarists from Rene Thomas to Toots Thielemans to Philip Catherine, there is nary an ounce of grease on this entire live outing (recorded at the Chorus Club in Lausanne, Switzerland, in March 2003). Sure, the waltz-time number "Exploring the Dance" is tasty, the bossa "Sweet Cherry Music" is kinda cute and their rendition of "My Foolish Heart" is respectfully straightahead-but where's the beef? This cat Huber could take a few lessons from "Papa" John DeFrancesco and Bruce Katz in how to put up the funk 'n' blues on the B3.

2009-03-02T00:24:28-05:00

4 A complete anomaly when he hit the scene in 1956, Jimmy Smith created an unprecedented post-Bird blowing vocabulary on the Hammond B3 organ that was light years beyond what pioneers like Wild Bill Davis, Bill Doggett and Milt Buckner had previously done on the instrument. Back in 1956, Smith came out of the gate on his Blue Note debut, A New Sound, A New Star: Jimmy Smith at the Organ, and blew everybody away. The impression that he made on the jazz scene in subsequent years was staggering. Through the sheer force of his own personality on the bandstand and his pyrotechnic command of the keys and foot pedals, Smith single-handedly brought the 400-plus pound instrument to the forefront of jazz. Blue Note's four-CD Retrospective documents the organ genius at the very peak of his awesome powers, from 1956 through 1963. The final track of the boxed set, "Fungii Mama," fast forwards to a session from 1986, when Smith recorded Go for Whatcha Know with Stanley Turrentine, Kenny Burrell and Grady Tate for the reactivated Blue Note label. By then, Smith's powers had diminished somewhat, but he's on fire throughout the rest of the box set, particularly in his exhilarating exchanges with Art Blakey, Kenny Burrell and Lou Donaldson on sessions from 1957's Jimmy Smith at the Organ. Smith's 10-minute face-off with Blakey on "The Duel" reaches some outre peaks, while the great organist's duet with Donaldson on "Summertime" is a marvel of melodic improvisation. Smith's sanctified blues phrasing and single-note burn is prominent throughout "Willow Weep for Me," where he also highlights some adventurous tonal colors in his unique drawbar choices. Another standout track is a bristling rendition of "Get Happy," recorded live at the Baby Grand in Wilmington, Del., with Smith's longtime sideman Donald Bailey on drums and Thornel Schwartz on guitar. The distorted, overdriven tone of Schwartz's guitar here-reminiscent of George Freeman's edgy guitar work on the 1950 Savoy release An Evening at Home With the Bird-gives this raucous live outing a decidedly punk appeal. Elsewhere on this set are classic renditions of Horace Silver's "The Preacher," Dizzy Gillespie's "The Champ" and the organist's own hits like "The Sermon," "Back at the Chicken Shack" and "Midnight Special." Smith went on to enjoy more commercial success at Verve through the '60s, but for pure, unabashed burn, these early Blue Note sessions can't be beat. true 21 2007-06-07T14:05:44-04:00 15266 88 200502 true 0 98 2005-01-01T00:00:00-05:00

A complete anomaly when he hit the scene in 1956, Jimmy Smith created an unprecedented post-Bird blowing vocabulary on the Hammond B3 organ that was light years beyond what pioneers like Wild Bill Davis, Bill Doggett and Milt Buckner had previously done on the instrument. Back in 1956, Smith came out of the gate on his Blue Note debut, A New Sound, A New Star: Jimmy Smith at the Organ, and blew everybody away. The impression that he made on the jazz scene in subsequent years was staggering. Through the sheer force of his own personality on the bandstand and his pyrotechnic command of the keys and foot pedals, Smith single-handedly brought the 400-plus pound instrument to the forefront of jazz. Blue Note's four-CD Retrospective documents the organ genius at the very peak of his awesome powers, from 1956 through 1963. The final track of the boxed set, "Fungii Mama," fast forwards to a session from 1986, when Smith recorded Go for Whatcha Know with Stanley Turrentine, Kenny Burrell and Grady Tate for the reactivated Blue Note label. By then, Smith's powers had diminished somewhat, but he's on fire throughout the rest of the box set, particularly in his exhilarating exchanges with Art Blakey, Kenny Burrell and Lou Donaldson on sessions from 1957's Jimmy Smith at the Organ. Smith's 10-minute face-off with Blakey on "The Duel" reaches some outre peaks, while the great organist's duet with Donaldson on "Summertime" is a marvel of melodic improvisation. Smith's sanctified blues phrasing and single-note burn is prominent throughout "Willow...

2009-03-02T00:24:18-05:00