Nate Dorward Posted July 12, 2006 Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 Started a thread on this one on Jazz Corner last Sunday & so far it's had 18 views, including my own. Typical of that board nowadays, so I thought I'd repost here. Anyway, I'm sure the organ-players & fans here will be a lot more knowledgable about Ludwig than I am but in any case I thought it worth plugging this small but worthwhile album. * One of those albums which really isn't great but which is definitely, as they say, "very playable". It's an off-the-cuff date from 2000 recorded in a bit of spare studio time after Brooks & Ludwig finished work as sidemen on a Jimmy Ponder album. I didn't know Ludwig before--I'm not really that up on contemporary organists--but he's a 68-year-old veteran who's worked with Pat Martino, Arthur Prysock & Sonny Stitt (I'm cribbing from the liner notes here). Despite the album title, which is a reference to Larry Young's last album, it's an older Jimmy Smith tradition he's referencing--indeed, to my ears mostly "early Smith" (of the 1950s, with more of a cute Errol Garnerish approach) rather than the later work. (In particular the treatment & choice of B-3 setting on "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" is strongly reminiscent of Smith's version--cf. Grooving at Small's Paradise.) -- The choice of tunes is nice: some cheesy standards ("Cute", "Tea for Two", "On the Trail"), a couple lavish/swooning ballads ("You've Changed" & "Serenade in Blue"), Stevie Wonder's "Bird of Beauty" (great charging drums from Brooks here BTW) & a blues for the title-track. I found the blues a little disappointingly tame, but the rest is choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soul Stream Posted July 12, 2006 Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 Yeah, I dig this date and count me as a Ludwig fan for sure. Nothing but much respect for an elder stateman of the B3. Late 68 and STILL hauling the beast around. Anyway, anybody that can do a organ/drum duo is a great organist. Period. Great recording! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Alfredson Posted July 12, 2006 Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 I don't know if whomever named the record was doing so as a tribue to Young. "Double Exposure" is a relatively cliche phrase and they probably named it without even knowing of the Muse date. Ludwig has been around a long time and is a very solid, funky, and grooving player. Does he do anything different from the majority of cats around in the 60s? No, but what he does is genuine since that's the era that he came up in. And he does it with skill and soul. I need to create a seperate part of the forum for organ-related discussions. If we're going to have a seperate forum for the "funny rat" discussions, then we need an Organ Forum!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate Dorward Posted July 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2006 Well, the liner notes do specifically mention the Young/Chambers album... but I'm not sure if the musicians themselves (rather than the note-writer) wanted to make the connection. Yeah, a forum devoted to organs would be great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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