(Robert Walter, B-3 & piano; James Singleton, bass; Johnny Vidacovich, drums)
Robert Walter has been described as the definitive soul-jazz organist of his generation – and it’s a young generation. His previous CD was titled Super Heavy Organ – inspired by the struggles even someone youthful and strong has to face lugging a heavy Hammond B-3 up fire escapes or tight doorways after removing the frames. Robert says he just loves the instrument, and you can tell it in his playing – he shows deep familiarity with those four sets of drawbars and the 18 presets, and he uses some attention-getting stops, both in the highest frequencies and the lowest rumbling growls. He moved from the West Coast to New Orleans, where his previous CD was recorded. I don’t know where this new release was recorded, but the New Orleans slant is immediately noticeable. Robert’s work is modern and innovative, but it never loses the feeling of that New Orleans tradition. I thought I didn’t like the funky sound that much, but he has a way of being in a fresh modern groove and funky at the same time that’s infectious.
The quartet with a saxist of his previous CD has shrunk to a trio setting for this new release, and puts even more of a spotlight on Walter’s very heavy organ work. But he breaks it up by switching to the piano for some of the tracks – a nice touch. On a few, such as the percolating Box of Glass, he mixes it up going from one keyboard to another. The album’s title tune is a real barnstormer on the B-3. The closing track – T – is a bit of a surprise, sounding like a slow quiet ballad from an ECM European piano trio with perhaps a touch of Tabasco sauce.
TrackList:
1. Snakes and Spiders
2. Money Changes
3. Cure All
4. Coupe
5. Scores of Spores
6. Parts and Holes
7. Rivers of Babylon
8. Maple Plank
9. Box of Glass
10. Measure Up
11. Hillary Street
12. Bulldog Run
13. T
— John Henry
