Jazz Organ Records & Albums

#1

I was thinking that maybe we could add a separate organ category for “What Record Are You Listening To Today?” We have the generic here. There’s already a funk section which obviously includes all keyboards. It seems that most are here for the piano, but it might be helpful to create an organ specific entry for those seeking help with the organ. I’ve added a few organ links before, but there’s no way to find them as such. Just a thought.

And now that I’ve got your attention :wink::

Jerry Bergonzi, the brilliant saxophonist, has a new album, Nearly Blue (Savant Records 2020). One reviewer said, “This is a must-have for any jazz listener, and that’s the short of it!” Don’t know about that, but it’s an organ-based trio with Renato Chicco on Hammond C-3 and Andrea Michelutti on drums., and it’s very good.

Here’s the title cut. I assure you, the rest of the album has fascinating organ work.

#2

Great idea Scott.

I have created this new “Jazz Organ” section in the “Records, Albums, & Musicians” category.

I will revisit the category icon later to get it looking a little better :grinning:

Nice record… thanks for kicking off this thread.

I posted a few Jimmy Smith records a while back. I will re-post them in this thread as I found them to be nice recordings when ‘getting my toes wet’ in the genre.

Cheers!

#3

A while back I started compiling a jazz organ playlist to familiarise myself with the genre. At the time I was sidetracked and the initiative was quite short lived, but below are the 3 recordings I bookmarked.

I’m sure this thread will provide ample inspiration to develop my playlist further!

Jimmy Smith - Back at the Chicken Shack

Jimmy Smith - Ode to Billy Joe

Jimmy Smith - Midnight Speical

#4

Johnny Griffin, Kenny Burrell, Jimmy Smith.

Great recording.

#5

Here’s one of my favorites from Larry Young, “Ritha” (Into Somethin’. Blue Note 1964), with
Grant Green (g) and Elvin Jones (d). Here’s a blurb from The New Yorker about him:

Influenced by John Coltrane, Young made an extraordinary series of recordings from 1964 to 1969, for the Blue Note label, in which his original ideas and avant-garde tendencies came to the fore. Then he went electric, recording (uncredited) with Miles Davis on “Bitches Brew,” with the drummer Tony Williams and the guitarist John McLaughlin in the hard-edged jazz-rock band Lifetime, with McLaughlin on “Devotion,” and with McLaughlin and Carlos Santana on “Love Devotion Surrender.” Young then recorded his own free-jazz-slash-fusion-jam album, “Lawrence of Newark,” in 1973, followed by some funk-styled albums that weren’t big hits. He died (officially of pneumonia) at the age of thirty-seven, in 1978.

Enjoy :musical_keyboard:

#6

Looking for something else, I luckily happened on Gary Versace, an incredible jazz organ player. Maybe you already know him, but at any rate here are two cuts from his album “Reminiscence” (Steeplechase, 2007), “For Bill” and “Theolonius”. It’s a very fine ablum with nods to McCoy Tyner and Lennie Tristano as well. Enjoy :musical_keyboard: