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Sam Lazar - Organ Grooves


mjzee

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Release date October 18:

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It seems that Sam Lazar only made three LPs during his musical career and all of them were for Chicago's Chess family of labels and released on their now largely forgotten but hugely important jazz imprint Argo Records. On this new CD from Jasmine opens with Sam Lazar's recording debut "Space Flight Parts 1 and 2" and includes the first two LPs Space Flight and Playback. The Space Flight single that opens this set is a totally different version to the one that appears on track 8 and features the great jazz guitarist Grant Green who is possibly making his recording debut on this track. It is also worth noting that Track 11 "Big Willie" is a rerecording of Space Flight Part 2 and renamed in honour of Willie Dixon who recorded bass for the session. Lazar is certainly an early pioneer of the soul/blues drenched genre of organ players and his albums are highly collectable amongst Hammond B3 collectors.

https://www.amazon.com/Organ-Grooves-Complete-Albums-Tracks/dp/B07XW8DX5W/ref=sr_1_12?fst=as%3Aoff&qid=1570408560&refinements=p_n_date%3A1249114011&rnid=1249111011&s=music&sr=1-12

 

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  • 5 weeks later...

I'm listening to it now.  Sound quality is fine.  The first two tracks had to have been copied from the Cawthron 45, but it sounds fine - no clicks or pops.  I'm now in the midst of the Space Flight LP tracks.  It doesn't sound like an LP rip.  The sound quality and style of recording are like the Baby Face Willette Argo LPs rather than something recorded at Rudy's, but it's perfectly acceptable.  Lots of echo on the organ and guitar.

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5 hours ago, mjzee said:

I'm listening to it now.  Sound quality is fine.  The first two tracks had to have been copied from the Cawthron 45, but it sounds fine - no clicks or pops.  I'm now in the midst of the Space Flight LP tracks.  It doesn't sound like an LP rip.  The sound quality and style of recording are like the Baby Face Willette Argo LPs rather than something recorded at Rudy's, but it's perfectly acceptable.  Lots of echo on the organ and guitar.

How's the music?

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34 minutes ago, felser said:

How's the music?

It's an interesting tour.  The earlier album, "Space Flight" (the one with Grant Green), is the more uninteresting of the two.  It's probably of it's time: more R&B than jazz, like a dumbed-down version of Baby Face Willette's Blue Note albums.  A lot of it is what a friend of mine used to call "stripper music."  You probably have a lot of this type of music already in your collection.  Lazar plays an aggressive style of organ, and GG plays every lick you've already heard of his.  I had always wanted to hear the album, and now I've heard it.  

I was pleased and surprised that "Playback," the second album, is much better.  There's much more of a supple rhythm, the material is more sophisticated, and the overall blend of instruments is more listenable.  There's much more jazz content on this one.  I liked Joe Diorio on guitar more than GG, Phillip Wilson is the drummer (I'm assuming he's the Art Ensemble drummer), and the tenor saxist is Miller Brisker (misspelled in the CD booklet as Miller Brisket).  The sound quality and mix are much better than on "Space Flight"; it's a more modern-sounding recording, with less echo.

So what we have here is an enjoyable album, an historically-important album, and a rare 45.  Not too bad a deal.

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10 hours ago, mjzee said:

It's an interesting tour.  The earlier album, "Space Flight" (the one with Grant Green), is the more uninteresting of the two.  It's probably of it's time: more R&B than jazz, like a dumbed-down version of Baby Face Willette's Blue Note albums.  A lot of it is what a friend of mine used to call "stripper music."  You probably have a lot of this type of music already in your collection.  Lazar plays an aggressive style of organ, and GG plays every lick you've already heard of his.  I had always wanted to hear the album, and now I've heard it.  

I was pleased and surprised that "Playback," the second album, is much better.  There's much more of a supple rhythm, the material is more sophisticated, and the overall blend of instruments is more listenable.  There's much more jazz content on this one.  I liked Joe Diorio on guitar more than GG, Phillip Wilson is the drummer (I'm assuming he's the Art Ensemble drummer), and the tenor saxist is Miller Brisker (misspelled in the CD booklet as Miller Brisket).  The sound quality and mix are much better than on "Space Flight"; it's a more modern-sounding recording, with less echo.

So what we have here is an enjoyable album, an historically-important album, and a rare 45.  Not too bad a deal.

Thanks, good summary, and I'll pick it up at some point soon.

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30 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Original AEC drummer and the prime Paul Butterfield Blues Band drummer. Same guy.

Yes, though I would argue that Billy Davenport was the drummer for the prime Paul Butterfield band (though the albums with Wilson are also really good).  I would NOT argue that Davenport was the better drummer :).

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Edited by felser
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That East-West thing seems to me to be very much a time/place/demographic/nostalgia thing. I have yet to feel whatever pull of it there is, and probably won't have the time to try any further.

Pretty much true of all Butterfield for me, although I do dig the guy's thing, a lot more than his actual music. And this one is All Time!

or, if you prefer:

Besides, if NOTHING else, then this:

I mean, THAT, you couldn't make up, even if you wanted to!

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