Like many of my generation, I first became aware of organ jazz through Jimmy Smith. The title track on his album The Sermon sustained twenty minutes of improvisations on a basic riff which he shared with a generous number of major players on trumpet (Lee Morgan), alto saxophone (Lou Donaldson and George Coleman), tenor saxophone (Tina Brooks), and guitars (Kenny Burrell and Eddie McFadden). Rhythm was provided by Art Blakey and Donald Bailey on drums.
Cover of the album being discussed (from its Amazon.com Web page)
The recent release of Refuge gave me a chance to return to the organ jazz genre. Where resources are concerned, this is a more modest combo with Mitch Towne on organ performing with guitarist Tetsuya Nishiyama and Jeffrey Johnson on drums. Six of the seven tracks are Towne originals. The other is a tribute to pianist Kenny Kirkland, who died on November 12, 1998, with a performance of his “Steepian Faith.”
Refuge is an album of energy and intricacy. Towne may be the composer, but he is definitely generous to Nishiyama’s capacity for imaginative riffs. Towne’s own solo work is at its most imaginative in “Some Work of Noble Note, May Yet Be Done.” This starts off as a waltz, but the solo work asserts itself in 5/4 time. Taken as a whole, each track on the album has its own way of establishing a thematic base and then pursuing it with imaginative interpretations. Some might dismiss this as “cerebral,” but my guess is that those familiar with the organ jazz genre will both accept and enjoy Towne’s capacity for invention.
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