It's Hammond B3 Organ Day

I really like After the Rain by John McLaughlin, which features Joey Defrancesco on the B3.

Other than Jimmy Smith I really dig these two: "Live at Club Mozambique", Lonnie Smith; and "Zim Zam Zoom: Acid Blues on B-3", Ron Levy.

NIACIN and anything with Bruce Katz are my favorites.

Having said that.....I can remember Steve Walsh of Kansas doing those hand stands on his B3 while playing & singing. I guess I saw Kansas 8 or 9 times?

Maceo's Roots & Grooves - Advanced Funk and Pass the Peas has some real
funky live Hammond B3 by Germany's Frank Chestenier. I'd also suggest The
anthology collection of The J.B.'s with James Brown playing the organ on several
tracks and simply outstanding on Dirty Harri

Fer yor clarrsick proggy, maist famoouse 'ammond twacks werenae B-3.

B-3s wor varra rare in owd Blightay. Europe alser.
Instaid C-3s wor distribo in Limeyland (frue Boosey & Hawkes.)

Surprizin' muckle werenae ewen 'ammond consoles bur wor th' spinet models:

Genesis "Trespass" =L-122 (alser oan "Foxtrot" n' "Nursery Cryme")
"Cinema Show" - wor a lowlay non-tonewheel, T-202 transistah joabbay

Nice "Same" lp & Artwoods = L-100
M-100s oan Affinity lp n' Floyd "Pompei" n' YES "Time & A Word". Focus "Hokus Pokus".

Ah fink, Procol's 'Whiter Shade of Pale" wor a M-111, bur nort shure.

O' th' consoles, th' twa baist-kenned UK keysmon, Wakeies n' Keefers, usid C-3 (Keef usid an' cheaper L model ter stick knives in.)

Mair den nort, Jon Lord usid C-3. (Hissen white C-3 endit oop oan bottum Hudson River.)

....
Yews gis uz dollah nou.

Danlib1 - I second Joey Defrancesco - he is the greatest of all. He plays on Pat Martino "Live at Yoshi" - one of the better jazz records I know. He came to my small town last fall during thunderstorm and flooding and play to the audience of about only 30 people - it was unreal.

Aye. Fowk ur ignurunt cahnts. (Juist luik art dis forum, fer Crikeys!)

Turdy peoples ter sees Defrancesco! Wot does dis speak o' yor town?

Ah wor art similar free corncert in me 'ometown.
Dennis Keldie iss 'un o' foremaist B-3-mons in Leutonia. ('im wor in mannay '70s Leutonieur rock ban's - doan arsk Wallace ter list dem cos dem ur aw' shoite. Nivvahmynd - iss th' keysmon wot mattahs,nort th' dungus ban'.)

It wor Saturdaay arfternoon an' ainnlay 20 peoples shew oop ter 'ear th' phenominawl Denis Keldie Trio. Performance wor so wic thart ah bleedin' haed tears in me eyen.

'im hus cd oot thas difficult ter git, ah expects. Callit , "Northern Hammond". (Tha's a pun cos durin' WW II Hammond madit B-3s in Belleville, Leutonia an' nemmed 'em's Northern Hammonds.)

Smacky - It doesn't speak bad of my town but rather of popularity of Hammond organs - extremely popular as a solo instrument up to 60's I guess, and loosing popularity afterwards. On the other hand roads were flooded and people couldn't even get there - I was lucky to live nearby (plus big thunderstorm).

Aye, Hammonds lorst popularitay, bur juist loike history iss writtin' by th' victor, becoz Hammonds lorst popularitay doan mean nowt.

Ainnyhoots, Moog Model D lorst popularitay fast (yew culd fynd dems art 1/5th th' origernul 70s price innae erlay 80s) bur NOU dems be bleedin' expensif aygin cos dems bin rediscowerid fer wot dems troolay be.

Sem wif Hammonds - ah canny speak fer jazzbo, bur fer pwog, ah'd venture ter say 'ammonds ur makin' comeback feckin' big toime.
Sum o' baist currant pwog iss bein' pit oot by VA discs frue venture callit Collossus. Dem stipulates ANALOGUE keys ainnlay an' Hammonds ur awl ower thais cds.

Some amazing B3 playing on School's In! by Maceo Parker....try Advanced Funk and the organ playing is just about as funky as it gets...Morris Hayes is on keyboard.

First introduced to the B-3 by one of the truly great underappreciated masters - Merl Saunders. Widely unknown, an unbelievable muscian and an even better human being. We lost him last year. Check out his work with Legion of Mary, especially the Live at Keystone series. Surprised no one mentioned Brent Midland so far. Another amazing B-3 wizard.

Just a quick thanks to all who've contributed here. I usually just go straight to Jimmy Smith when I need a B3 shot, but lurking here I've been jostled into re-considering many records that I own (and need to revisit) and checking out many more that I don't (and need to find).

Marty

If you love the B3 sound, head on over to Amazon and check out a band called Otis Grove.

My fav track of theirs is Pimp Juice.

Booker T. Jones has a new release titled "Potato Hole" check it out.

Booker T. Jones has a new release titled "Potato Hole" check it out.

I intend to.

Meanwhile check this out WDR Big Band & Maceo

There is really some amazing chemistry going on here. Booker's laid back style seems to really contrast to the aggressive guitar riffs by the Truckers. Raw Funk at it's best. Drummer is rock solid on the beat - Brad propels things along like a jet engine...

Check out this great video from a legend - Brian Auger - his playing just flows so naturally.

Baby Face Willette was a personal friend of mine.

qdrone, I own everything I could find by "Face", but nothing even remotely compares to seeing "Face" live.

Given my user name, you can guess I'm a big, big fan of the mighty Hammond. I am predominantly into Prog but also like some modern Jazz-rock bands such as the Big Organ Trio and Bigger Than a Breadbox.
If anyone was seeking out new albums or artists that use the Hammond extensively, here is my Rate Your Music Hammond list. It's quite long but then so it should be!

http://rateyourmusic.com/collection/Crazyworldof/stag/hammond/

My Hammond album of the day is Still Life's s/t. It is not sophisticated but the Hammond tone is superb.

http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/still_life_f1/still_life_f1/

Richard "Groove" Holmes is always in the groove. When I go to heaven I hope they have an organist like the "Groovester".

Do a search and find the "Hammond Organ Radio" station on the internet. Lots of fun.

Maybe I'm showing my age, BUT- has anyone heard of Jimmy McGriff? I saw him live, many times, in Cleveland, O., Back in the 60's. Some samples, here; (http://music.yahoo.com/jimmy-mcgriff/albums/mcgriffs-blues--202254777) Jimmy Smith played some of the same venues, and both smoked those keys! I recently purchased Jimmy Smith, 'Bluesmith', as a 180 gram vinyl reissue(Russian pressing/EXCELLENT presentation). Bruce Katz & his B3 sound exceptional on the Joe Beard/Ronnie Earl and the Broadcasters, 'Blues Union' JVC XRCD. I suppose I should buy the vinyl too, but the XRCD sounds so good......! BTW: The two disc/45rpm reissue of Jimmy Smith's, 'Midnight Special', was a MAJOR disappointment(Hoffman & Grey's mastering sucks).

Yes, I have a number of LP's with Jimmy McGriff. Hank Crawford and Jimmy, Gene Ammons and Jimmy, plus I've seen him live.