michel devos

Yeah...just another byproduct of distortion. Are you frequently exposed to it..?

Agree, same here...which concur with my opinion that distortion (or saturation as you call it) is simply the result of a lack of power: true that in those days, it was easy to go over the top of the amps, even with high efficiency speakers. And probably this became a habit for the listeners to believe distort' (even the "nice" one from tubes) is a mandatory component of the Hammond/leslie sound...which it shouldn't of course be. The instruments I used were taking the B3 output to feed it into a custom crossover unit duplicating Leslie's specs and thereafter into high power tube amps from Fender and then into a leslie 910 fitted with JBL drivers of high efficiency. On top of that, there was an extra bass cabinet containing 12 units of JBL 12'' speakers going down flat to 30Hz...The second organ (a heavily modified CV) was connected to a Leslie 760 and a Hammond HR40 cabinet. Some players produced no distotion at all, other ones plenty...so what the heck..? Some

The maximum allowed size here is really too small, even for a very short sample. So please follow this link to download the sample : http://rapidshare.com/files/413475492/Moanin_2.mp3.html

I might prepare a short sample illustrating the matter...but I would like some help on how to proceed with the attachments. Can you help while I check with the online help? Thanks

Hi Danasgoodstuff and Allen, The distortion I'm talking about is all tube... And, yes, I can imagine there is room for discussion about this subject, but I have my own ideas and would like to compare them with a fair panel of opinions coming from knowledgeable people such as those found on this forum. Of course we do not need to get too deep into the finest details, but I'm curious to see what the general opinion is and, for this purpose, some kind of synthesis will be quite acceptable. Thanks in advance for the discussion I hope will take place here.

In the recent months, I have made several recordings of organ groups, mostly with B3's, but also older vintage models like the CV or newer models like the XK3 and the new B3. Speakers where the usual 122 or 147, 760 or 3300 from Leslie, but also heavily modified speakers using JBL drivers associated with Fender , Marshall or Ampeg amplifiers. With the notable exception of the new B3, almost all other set-ups showed variouus degrees of distortion. I made sure none of these could have been generated by the recording equipment or a misadjustment of it : in every case, the dynamic range was around 144 cB with a headroom of minimum 22 dB from the mixer output. I understand from the talks I had here and there that distortion seems to be a fashionable part of the hammond/Leslie aesthetics, which I find rather hard to swallow...However, just to have more opinions on the subject, I have started this thread ans let us see what your feelings are over this topic! I'll be glad to discuss all aspects of it.

Just done : this is the least we could do for the great man.

Very sad news ...the guy deserved a wider recognition worldwide. Let's keep listening to his records and not forget him

Very sad to learn the passing of organist Gene Ludwig last week on the 14th of july. I hope to read some more posts on him here, he was really a great player.

Agreed, this is a splendid player : I got to know him thru guitarist Bob Devos who played regularly with him and even recorded : check Groove organization. Other CD's are excellent, such as Live in Las Vegas and I concur on Soul Serenade, my favorite.

On the 20th of June, a very unusual evening has been set up in St Nicolas, Belgium, by a collector/technician specialized in the years 1950-1980 musical audio equipment. Benjamin Massy owns several Hammond organs produced in 1945 and later such as the CV, BV and the infamous B3. These instruments were connected to Leslies 910 and 760 thru vintage Fender amplifiers of very high power, some of them feeding an extra bass cabinet fitted with JBL speakers in the spirit of Bill Beer's mods. Bass guitar was accomodated by an Ampeg amp of 800 watts, the guitar by a Fender Twin. All the organs had been fitted with percussions which made them virtual B3's. The music program was in the capable hands of, among others, Dirk Van der Linden, the undisputed master of the jazz organ in Belgium, Paolo Negri, a top italian player performing with his Link quartet, Simon Rigot, rather rock-oriented and a young italian player, Cedric Malvetti who played a repertoire of theatre organ music from the 40's in the spirit of Ethel Smith. Dirk Van der Linden played a battle with his top student, JJ Louis with incredible drive. Also featured was an Antwerp Jazz Conservatorium graduated of high calibre, Nick Puylaert. For those of you reading some french, you might find more technical details in the article thru this link but everybody will hear some exciting samples of the equipment used by these players that I had the privilige to record that evening and that are included for musical illustration. Here is the the link to Hammond Buzz : http://hammondandco.com/buzz once there, click Hammond en Belgique The sound of these Leslies mods was so great that I would like to get as many informations as you all people have about Bill Beer and the likes : please let me know. Thanks Michel

Disappointed to read the word "boring" next to Eric Alexander's....i'm trying to save some money to buy the Venus Ballads albums : is there anyone else who would have an opinion about them? Thanks

I'll remember Earl Wild as one of the few pianists capable of playing at least some of the Beethoven symphonies in the Liszt transcriptions. A remarkable achievement.

Would anybody help me in providing links to don patterson recording activities for Prestige ans subsequent labels? Many thanks for your help Michel

I only bought the Jimmy Smith one :it was recorded in Paris in 1969, where Smith and his trio gave 2 concerts the same day in the salle Pleyel. I must admit I am rather disappointed by the performance in general, but also by the sound quality, which is not very good to say the least. Eddie McFadden plays some laborious solos, difficult to say whether his comping is better, since it is most of the time overloaded by the organ. Charles Cosby is adequate, Jimmy plays is usual virtuosic parts, rather uninspiringly in my opinion, but he's still great. The positive part here is the programm : well established tunes which are part of the standard trio repertoire of Jimmy (Sonnymoon, Sermon,Satin doll...) and some fresh air with Alfie, Days of wine and roses. The camera shooting angles are quite good, showing generous amounts of the keyboard and the guitar playing. So, altogether a good DVD, but I expected MUCH more from this...why the hell didn't we get the 1965 concert in Paris, instead?...THAT was quite a one!

If we except the Jazz scene USA and a more recent one recorded somewhere in the Florida Keys, this is the only testimony we have from JOS concerts...that alone should be enough reward. but on top, there are concerts excerps, sound checks, conversations with his agents, taxi driver, concert management etc... Great to have a look inside the life of one's heroes in music, but some parts are sometimes on the longuish side. So my final comment is that I like it very much, but this is a film targeted at Jimmy's unconditionals...Maybe not so attractive for the rest. Every Jimmy's fan definitely shoud look at this one .

Hi Jim, I sent my payment thru PayPal this morning. Michel

Hardbopjazz has been SO helpful in this matter that I'll gladly send a copy to anybody who didn't won the battle again the downloading procedure! Living in Europe, I would prefer to keep this below the 5000 copies mark... Cheers

I urge you to attend a Rhoda Scott performance whenever possible (she plays in the Bay area on the 20th august), you will certainly add Rhoda to the list! Otherwise, I agree, I wasn't too excited by Barbara on CD and when I heard her live, it was all there, including the greaze! One might probably not like too much some of her originals, but there are excellent ones (Funkish) and when she plays in duo, things really start to happen and i'm very happy I had the opportunity to hear her live, it definitely makes an incredible difference. for more info on Rhoda Scott's concert, you might check Pete Fallico's Doodlin' website.

DAT was indeed successful in professional studios and in broadcast operations. I recorded a lot of music using DAT machines - both in-studio and on-location - when I was at WCFE-FM, Mountain-Lake Public Radio in the early to mid-1990s. I don't recall the brand or model of the DAT recorders we had, but they were far from foolproof. In fact, they were downright squirrelly little monsters. I still use on a regular basis the DAT medium : it is very convenient and reliable. Some of my DAT tapes are 16 years old ans show no degradation signs. When used with high grade professional machines such as the Sony 2300 and 2700, they are still an excellent alternative for 16bit recordings.

Do you know if she has any recent recordings? It's been a good while since her last American CD release.

I had an opportunity to meet her and discuss at a Hammond Jazz festival I recorded last month : she is a very enjoyable personality, extremely refined and with a top class classical training, I think she was a student of the great Friedrich Gulda. Her technical abilities are beyond par and she seems now able to restrain from playing so many notes in a row, just like JOS used to do in his early days : result is she plays simply the blues with feeling but also with enough inventivity to avoid boredom...a difficult challenge, but she succeeds. Superb duo playing with Rhoda Scott...having heard these two ladies, one can die contended (not too soon..)

I have always liked Groovin' at Small's, as well as Jimmy Smith Vol.3 (BLP1525) and crazy baby. Some of his later albums should not be disregarded such as Live at Pleyel or in Hamburg. Also like Angel eyes.

Thursday night, I hope to attend a dinner party with André Brasseur, a player who gained some reputation in the 70ies with tracks like Early Bird, Ballade on the Beach, the Kid etc...He's now 70 and still goin' strong (kind of local Booker T) Did his name get into the US..?

last month, a small city in Belgium, Zottegem, set up a hammond Jazz festival to celebrate the Hammond organ 75th birthday. The concerts took place in one day and included talented local musicians such as Dirk van der Linden (a really excellent player) and Carlo d'Wys, from The netherlands, as well as international stars like Rhoda scott and Barbara Dennerlein. The musical level of this event was constantly at an incredibly high level, as well as a perfect organisation. A wide and enthusiastic audience cheered the musians until late in the night, with a fantastic finale showing the four organists playing together . I was really smashed by the power ans presence of Barbara Dennerlein : she sounds even better than on Cd's. Rhoda Sott gave us her usual soulful performances of well established standards. Both ladies wre phenomenal, a very exciting moment! Having made the recording of the event, I was asked to write a short technical report for a hammond organ website and I thought it might interest some of you (I know there are some people from France around this forum) althought the text is written in french. There are some pictures, though. I'll be glad to answer any questions in english. here's the link : http://hammondnco.free.fr/hammondandbuzz/