All Activity

October 29, 2025: Chuck Redd, Parker Jazz Club, Austin November 5, 2025: Cory Weeds, Parker Jazz Club, Austin November 9, 2025: Artemis, House of Blues, Houston Julius Rodriguez, Eldorado Ballroom, Houston November 10, 2025: Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Walton Arts Center, Little Rock, Arkansas November 12, 2025: Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, Meyerson, Dallas November 14, 2025: Nicholas Payton Quartet, Wortham Theater, Houston Wynton Marsalis, Grand Opera House, Galveston Mike Stern, Guitar Sanctuary, McKinney Shelley Carrol, Scat Jazz, Fort Worth November 15, 2025: Wynton Marsalis, Hogg Auditorium, Austin Mike Stern Band, Walton Arts Center, Little Rock, Arkansas Kunal Gunjal (Santoor) & Amit Kavthekar (Tabla), Kathak Dance Studio, Plano November 16, 2025: Wynton Marsalis, Hobby Center, Houston November 21, 2025: Anat Cohen, The Clarion at brazosport College, Lake Jackson November 22,2025: Jim Snidero, Scat Jazz, Fort Worth January 10, 2026: Jackie Venson, Antone's, Austin January 11, 2026: Brandon Woody's Upendo, Eldorado Ballroom, Houston January 17, 2026: Jackie Venson, Antone's, Austin January 24, 2026: Jackie Venson, Antone's Austin January 31, 2026: Jackie Venson, Antone's, Austin February 22, 2026: Branford Marsalis Quaret, Wortham Theater, Houston March 7, 2026: Pat Metheny Side-Eye, Wortham Theater, Houston March 13, 2026: T.K. Blue and African Rhythms Alumni, A Tribute to Randy Weston, Walton Arts Center, Little Rock, Arkansas March 20, 2026: Sarah Hanahan, Monk's Jazz Club, Austin March 21, 2026: Sunny War, Anne Harris, Buffalo Nichols, Jake Blount, Fort Worth African American Roots Music Festival, Southside Preservation Hall, Fort Worth March 22, 2026: Sarah Hanahan, Eldorado Ballroom, Houston March 26-29, 2026: Pat Metheny Side-Eye III, Chucho Valdes Royal Quartet, John Scofield Trio, Marc Ribot, Shabaka, Mary Halvorson, Julian Lage Quartet, John Zorn (Various), Chicago Underground Duo, Marquis Hill Blacktet, Brandon Woody, Brian Marsella, Chad Taylor Quintet, Ches Smith Clone Row, Darius Jones Trio, Dave Douglas Gifts Quartet, Either/Orchestra, Harriet Tubman & Georgia Ann Muldrow, Isaiah Collier, Marilyn Crispell & Harvey Sorgen, Matt Mitchell's Zealous Angles, Miles Okazaki: The Compete Monk, Miles Okazaki Trickster, Nate Smith, Nik Bartsch, Nik Bartsch Ronin, Openness Trio, Orchestre Baobab, Patricia Brennan Septet, Sullivan Fortner Trio, Tim Berne, Tom Skinner, William Hooker Quartet, Ned Rothenberg, Yasmin Williams and William Tyler, Thomas Fujiwara: Dream Up, Big Ears Festival, Knoxville, Tennessee April 1, 2026: Samara Joy, Winspear Opera House, Dallas April 2, 2026: Kaia Kater, Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, Little Rock, Arkansas Samora Joy, Austin City Limits April 4, 2026: Samora Joy, Tobin Center, San Antonio April 10, 2026: Coltrane at 100 (Joe Lovano, Melissa Aldana, Ndudzo Makhathini, Matt Garrison, Jefftain Watts), Cullen Theater, Houston April 23-26, 2026: New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival April 30-May 3, 2026: New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival May 9, 2026: Hiromi's Sonic Wonder, Cullen Theater, Houston May 16, 2026: Chucho Valdes, Paramount Theater, Austin May 17, 2026: Lucia, Eldorado Ballroom, Houston

Church, ballpark, skating rink, etc are all large venues. Organs and organ playing in those days were designed to reach a large audience with one loud instrument. They were loaded up with overtones and throbbing vibrato to create an all-encompassing sound in places where the acoustics might not be that good and audibility trumped subtlety. I remember in skating rinks it was like a wall of continuous sound. Very little space. You could barely make out the tune (and then it would turn out to be the Hokey Pokey) but there was a beat of sorts. That style does not work all that well in a jazz setting. It has to be toned down a bit or it overwhelms everybody else playing. All those overtones are muddy! For me the organ didn't really come into its own in jazz until Jimmy Smith.

All I had hoped for from the Jays was that they keep it interesting. Exceeding expectations!

And then there was Compost...

These guys!

Three organists on the Quebec date are Edgar Swanston, Sir Charles Thompson, and Earl Van Dyke. Swanston was an unknown to me, but research shows him to be a Harlem native. Sir Charles had long been a fixture in Harlem, and Van Dyke was a Detroiter who went on to become a Motown stalwart. So...roller rink or church? Like that man says, do the math! Ask Junior! Ballpark!!!

After spinning the "Special Edition" box I'm listening to some more offbeat recordings with Jack: The duet with Foday Musa Suso Bill Evans Trio At the Montreux Jazz Festival Nick Brignola On a Different Level (my favorite Brignola album)

As I understand it the Hammond organ was invented as an instrument for the church to be as compact as a harmonium, but approaching the sound of a pipe organ. So it's no wonder it has that sound capacity. Name me an organist that has not played in a church!

I quite enjoy that Jackeyboard album. “Jazz” is in a weird place and it’s not only one instrument (or set of instruments) that has a blandness problem. But that’s another thread!

Yes! And especially with Jaki Byard on piano. There was a fairly recent thread (which is slightly off the current topic) here

Larry Young and Elvin Jones!

RIP. Papa Joe, Buddy, Klook, Roy, Art B, Art T, Max, Sherry, Philly Joe, Elvin, Tony, Billy, Paul, and now Jack... each had their own distinct personality, and you could tell who it was just by hearing them play. They're all gone now. Am I the only one who thinks drums have become so bland lately? I also quite like Jack as a modal pianist.

I was a season ticket holder with the Boston Celtics for close to a decade and in the old Boston Garden, they most definitely had a "basketball organist".

Alan Dawson & Richard Davis were locked and loaded for quite a few years with Booker Ervin for his "books".

Peeter Uuskyla, Peter Brötzmann: Holy Drinker. Omlott MLR7002 [Sweden 2016]

He even recorded and gigged with the Bill Evans Trio back in 1967-68. RIP.

Kenny Barron - Live at Fat Tuesdays (1988) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_at_Fat_Tuesdays

What about Armstrong?

YES!!!!