The essential gizmo for every guitar player

[JCat]

A Hammond Organ! (complete with a Leslie and an organist)
The coolest instrument ever. I want the kit so bad. A bit heavy to haul perhaps

[wintermoon]

I sold mine last year but kept one of the Leslie 122's
I'm running a Hammond XK2 portable organ through it.
Much as I loved it the old Hammond was taking up too much space.

[citizenk74]

I helped move a B-3 once.

Once.

[MarkRhodes]

Really enjoyed that documentary.

Some Jimmy Smith:

[cosmic gumbo]

I just crank up the vibrato pedal and pretend I'm playing organ, like Charlie Hunter.

[JCat]

I just crank up the vibrato pedal and pretend I'm playing organ, like Charlie Hunter.

Yeah Cosmic, me too, but nothing beats the real deal.
I'm going home, brother:

The fuzz about the "sad state of music" indicates the groove is gone and that the warmth and the soul is gone. I figure there's too little Hammond organ in my life. The roots of Jazz and Soul music are right here in the Gospel. Mama goes old school:

[pingu]

I just crank up the vibrato pedal and pretend I'm playing organ, like Charlie Hunter.

thats great , is that just a vib pedal ?
anyone know what he uses ?

[Alter]

I play with an organ trio quite often. I, too, helped the organ player move his stuff, ONCE.. . He's one of the very few players where i live that doesn't use a Nord or something similar to gig. He's got a smaller hammond for gigs though, but still a real one. There's just no comparing the sound..

I use this for leslie tones, showed it to the organ player and he laughed, but i like it..

Thats the band. I must have asked the organ player a hundred times to sell me that cut down super reverb, he doesn't budge..

[JCat]

I play with an organ trio quite often. I, too, helped the organ player move his stuff, ONCE.. . He's one of the very few players where i live that doesn't use a Nord or something similar to gig. He's got a smaller hammond for gigs though, but still a real one. There's just no comparing the sound..

Thats the band. I must have asked the organ player a hundred times to sell me that cut down super reverb, he doesn't budge..

Great playing man, love the sound of your trio!

[grahambop]

When I saw Larry Goldings recently (with Peter Bernstein), he was using a Hammond borrowed for the gig from UK organist Ross Stanley. Apparently Ross has some amazing powered trolley gadget which they used to ‘walk’ up the stairs with the organ.

I get the impression some of the big name guys tend to rely on the organ being supplied locally when they tour (as Larry did), I guess they specify it as a condition of the tour or something.

Even the vibes player Joe Locke came over to the UK with just a set of bars for his vibes and hired the frame locally, when I saw him a while back.

[wintermoon]

I've been playing in organ bands almost exclusively for about 25 yrs now, can't tell you how many times I moved a B-3. Probably thousands of times until they all switched to modern portable Hammonds in the last few yrs.
Backyard party where we had to cover a few hundred feet of grass, or up a few flights of stairs, or even lift it over the bar, try that one sometime!

[grahambop]

way to go:

[JaxJaxon]

The Leslie is one great amp. They are also one of the heavest.

[Litterick]

way to go:

I would buy one, but I found the generic guitar music off-putting.

[grahambop]

I would buy one, but I found the generic guitar music off-putting.

Someone in the marketing department brainstorming session went ‘hey, powermate, power chord, eureka!’

[Alter]

A thing I really enjoy about the hammond organ is how it matches and compliments jazz guitar, the sound, the attack and dynamics, the space it leaves for comping.. doesn't get any better. I also like that kind of jazz music a lot.

[Bbmaj7#5#9]

Leslie cabinets are one of the best innovations ever made in music history. I can’t think of any gear that can add so much tonal color for so many different instruments as Leslies. Electric guitar and Leslies, what an amazing combination! Lovely!

[MarkRhodes]

A thing I really enjoy about the hammond organ is how it matches and compliments jazz guitar, the sound, the attack and dynamics, the space it leaves for comping.. doesn't get any better. I also like that kind of jazz music a lot.

Agree. Love the sound and vibe of a good, cooking organ combo.
Here's Joey DeFrancesco with Dan Wilson on guitar.

[cosmic gumbo]

I played a few blues gigs in a pick up band with a guitarist that used a leslie bottom cab, doing a SRV thing. BTW, CBS owned both Fender and Leslie in the late 60s and Fender made the Vibratone amp which was actually a Leslie.

[AKA]

JCat - Great stuff! Over the years I've played with some outstanding organ players at church.

AKA

Yeah Cosmic, me too, but nothing beats the real deal.
I'm going home, brother:

The fuzz about the "sad state of music" indicates the groove is gone and that the warmth and the soul is gone. I figure there's too little Hammond organ in my life. The roots of Jazz and Soul music are right here in the Gospel. Mama goes old school:

[mr. beaumont]

thats great , is that just a vib pedal ?
anyone know what he uses ?

Hughes and Kettner Tube Rotosphere about the time of that record, I think. At one time it was just an old Ross Phaser. Not sure what Charlie uses now.

[JCat]

I sense warmth and soul, a good spirit

Electric Guitar and Hammond Organ are meant to be together, a marriage made in heaven, sticks like white on rice, a golden couple...

Horace Silver wrote the song for us. It's so fun to play:

I'm gonna buy me Hammond, haul it up and down the road and play like Joey DeFrancesco.

[JCat]

Agree. Love the sound and vibe of a good, cooking organ combo.
Here's Joey DeFrancesco with Dan Wilson on guitar.

Mark, I really enjoyed that performance, inspiring and...organic, yes! Joey is great and Dan Wilson too.

[pingu]

Hughes and Kettner Tube Rotosphere about the time of that record, I think. At one time it was just an old Ross Phaser. Not sure what Charlie uses now.

Thanks Mister

[Doctor Jeff]

The Fender SuperChamp XD has a Leslie emulation. Sure it's not the real thing, but fun to play around with.

Oh, and I have an EHX B9 pedal. It's no real B3, but it's pretty cool. Every now and then I play it with our group, and listeners scratch their head trying to figure out how the keyboard player can play both grand piano and B3 at the same time...

[MarkRhodes]

A great blues head. Love the way Bill Jennings played, and Brother Jack McDuff, well, what can you say?

[MarkRhodes]

This was a fairly popular recording. (Billy Butler on guitar)

[MarkRhodes]

[cosmic gumbo]

[Alter]

Richard Groove Holmes with Jimmy Ponder, a guitarist I dig so much!

[JCat]

Richard Groove Holmes with Jimmy Ponder, a guitarist I dig so much!

I could play that music all day and night, trading fours and never stop....one more time...one more, once...look, the kid is going for one more!...

[dot75]

Saw Joey DeFrancesco last month, great gig...

In the five years or so since I last saw him he's added Tenor Sax to his arsenal. I'm assuming he just watched someone play it & went & bought one. There's a video on you tube where he says the trumpet came easy because he'd watched where Miles put his fingers before he bought the horn.

My practise regime needs a shake up, maybe more watching where other guitarists put their fingers & less playing is the way to go...

[MarkRhodes]

Saw Joey DeFrancesco last month, great gig...

In the five years or so since I last saw him he's added Tenor Sax to his arsenal. I'm assuming he just watched someone play it & went & bought one. There's a video on you tube where he says the trumpet came easy because he'd watched where Miles put his fingers before he bought the horn.

Joey D is amazing. Here he is with Frank Vignola.
About all the organ trio tracks in this thread: if I had to choose between bebop and organ trio sounds to listen to for the rest of my life, I would choose the later, hands down.

[dot75]

The best of all possible worlds, Italy, Joey D, Martino, Sco, I doubt my ability to survive a whole gig of this ..

[MarkRhodes]

More Martino with Joey D, from the 2001 "Live at Yoshi's" record. (There's another live at Yoshi's set by Pat, so if you're interested, make sure you buy the right one!)

(No video here, just audio.)

[ronjazz]

Hammond organ killed Wes, for real!

[2bornot2bop]

Absolutely essential for a keyboard player. I've owned a Hammond XK5 and Leslie Studio 12 for the past 2 years. This setup gets the groove on.

[JCat]

Hammond organ killed Wes, for real!

The pop-era of Jazz had come to an end. But the electric organ and the electric guitar marched on, hand in hand, to conquer the world and we got acts like Deep Purple. There have been countless of guitar hero front men after Wes, the keyboard player was as often a sidekick. Remember that players like Jimmy Smith and Joey deFranseco are truly outstanding musicians, main acts, just like Wes and Sco. Putting these guys together draws a crowd. I believe the cooperation helped both Wes and Jimmy at the time.
The only front men you see in pop today are the singers. In the world of contemporary pop we're all sidekicks, so we better stick together.

[Marty Grass]

I heard this as a kid and was hooked on jazz. The richness of the musical expression is unsurpassed.

Take any musical element and follow it. For example, check out the just the volume modulation between the two. It's respectful, polite, and smooth. One fades while the other enters. Then follow the volume modulation during a single solo. Wes "talks" softly, then punctuates, falls back for moment, pushes forward, and eventually yields the space to Jimmy. He does the same.

The Hammond and L-5 are jazz soul mates.

[grahambop]

Also great playing blues together:

[MarkRhodes]

Remember that players like Jimmy Smith and Joey deFranseco are truly outstanding musicians, main acts, just like Wes and Sco.

My first jazz guitar teacher once told me that Jimmy Smith was underrated as an improviser because non-musicians dug him. Jimmy did incredible work, and a lot of it, without ever losing the groove. So much easier said than done!

Here's a story about Jimmy told by Russell Malone.

[MarkRhodes]

For those who don't know anyone with a B3 to jam with, Aebersold has two volumes of standards featuring Joey DeFrancesco.

Volume 118 is called "Groovin' Jazz" Includes: Big Easy, Love For Sale, Laura, On Green Dolphin Street, How High The Moon, Fallin In Love With Love, 'Round Midnight, Softly As In A Morning Sunrise, I Can't Get Started, Bb Blues, I'm Gettin' Sentimental Over You, East Of The Sun, Rhythm (Bb.)

Volume 123 is called "Now's the Time" and has Paul Bollenback on guitar. Includes: Now's The Time, Four On Six, The More I See You, Mercy, Mercy, Mercy, Lunch Portion, I Fall In Love Too Easily, Bye, Bye, Blackbird, Gee, Baby Ain't I Good To You, Indiana, February 14th, Anthropology, Summertime, I'm Getting Sentimental Over You, Slow Blues in Bb, Obama Nation

Other Aebersold volumes have an organ instead of a piano but these are the only two which can boast of Joey DeFrancesco.

[grahambop]

I don’t use BIAB much these days, but when I do, I tend to use the organ real tracks (recorded by Mike LeDonne). They are a lot more enjoyable to play along to than the piano tracks, which I often find too clunky and obtrusive.

[dot75]

Great interview - thanks for posting that...

[2bornot2bop]

I heard this as a kid and was hooked on jazz. The richness of the musical expression is unsurpassed.

Take any musical element and follow it. For example, check out the just the volume modulation between the two. It's respectful, polite, and smooth. One fades while the other enters. Then follow the volume modulation during a single solo. Wes "talks" softly, then punctuates, falls back for moment, pushes forward, and eventually yields the space to Jimmy. He does the same.

The Hammond and L-5 are jazz soul mates.

Yes, one can easily hear the reason behind your being hooked. This music was like on a hot summers day viewing a beautiful brunette in a sultry red dress strollin' down the avenue. She's stopped you in your tracks. Your eyes locked upon her every high heeled step. Hooked! Stop embarrassing yourself, you're drooling all over the sidewalk!

Jimmy and Wes were musical soul mates too...for sure!

[cosmic gumbo]

One of the greatest organ/guitar teams for the past decade or so...

[JCat]

My first jazz guitar teacher once told me that Jimmy Smith was underrated as an improviser because non-musicians dug him. Jimmy did incredible work, and a lot of it, without ever losing the groove. So much easier said than done!

Here's a story about Jimmy told by Russell Malone.

Great interview - thanks for posting that...

Yeah, what a great interview. I love the story and the way Russel shares the moments with us. In less than ten minutes he gets down to the very core of what jazz is about; Connection and the meaning of being connected. Beautiful.

[JCat]

One of the greatest organ/guitar teams for the past decade or so...

These guys are connected. - connected to each other, connected to the moment, connected to the audience, connected to the legacy, language, culture, tradition and history. Connected by hearts and minds, by soul. Beautiful.