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Tribute to Big John Patton


Jim Alfredson

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EDIT: The project is live! http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1364188191/the-way-i-feel-a-tribute-to-big-john-patton


John Patton is one of my favorite organists and incredibly underrated. I never had the honor of seeing him live but his style influences my own playing in a profound way. He passed almost 11 years ago and I am not aware of any tributes to him, which is a damn shame.

The idea for this project has been rolling around in my head for years and I want to make it a reality. The plan is to record a handful of songs from Patton's canon, as well as some originals in that vein. I have recruited the inimitable Randy Gelispie to play drums. Mr. Gelispie played with Big John as well as Bill Heid, Jack McDuff, Larry Young, and Gene Ludwig. And that's just on the organ side. He's also played with Wes Montgomery, Pat Martino, Sonny Stitt, Lou Donaldson, Gene Ammons, Tommy Flanagan, Barry Harris, and a slew of other musicians known and unknown. Randy is a completely unique voice on his instrument and I've been wanting to record him and record with him for years.

Ralph Tope will be on guitar. Ralph was the guitarist for organissimo on our latest CD (Dedicated) but has left to pursue other avenues. I love his playing; it's funky and visceral and fearless. I also want to use Jim Cooper on vibraphone. Jim is originally from Chicago and was on the Delmark label for several years.

I'm currently deciding on a couple horn players for some tunes but the bulk of the songs will be the quartet of organ, vibes, guitar, and drums.

I'll be tracking this in my humble home studio (where the last two organissimo studio albums were tracked) which will save money but I do need to pay the musicians. I'm thinking of doing another crowd-source campaign, probably Kickstarter, to raise $3k to $6k. I'm just trying to gauge if the interest is there.

Any thoughts are appreciated, including what songs associated with Big John you'd like to hear.

Thanks!

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I'd like you to see if Marvin Cabell is available and affordable...that's a bit more of a request than a particular song, I know. :g

That would be a trip, wouldn't it? I'll look into it.

Just as importantly - who is the new guitarist for Organissimo?

Mr. Larry Barris from Detroit. Very accomplished player who used to be on the road with Groove Holmes in the late 80s.

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I'd like you to see if Marvin Cabell is available and affordable...that's a bit more of a request than a particular song, I know. :g

That would be a trip, wouldn't it? I'll look into it.

in case it's needed, here's a recent phone number of (the?) Marvin Cabell

http://indymusicians...lforweb2012.pdf

Wow...Indianapolis!

If Marvin Cabell is up for the gig (in terms of time, chops, interest, and money) and if there's interest on the production end, definitely put this on Kickstarter or whatever it is. I'd be contributing anyway, but I'm a significantly more incentivized contributor if the chance to hear Marvin Cabell playing John Patton tunes is on the table!

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fwiw...Marvin Cabell did a solo album several decades ago that was already aiming in the smooth/R&B direction pretty strongly. He still sounded like Marvin Cabell, though, sounded great, I love that album.

As for the "variety" thing, hey, you know how it is if you want to "stay local" and make a living as a musician, especially someplace where there's not a really jumping local jazz-club thing going on...which is almost anywhere these days. You get a "presentation" together so you can play whatever gigs are out there.

No idea if this actually is the same guy (or what shape his chops are in now), but that listing alone would not be discouraging in and of itself, I'd say.

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I always had a special place for John Patton in my Hammond heroes universe...I remember his first LP when it came ou "Along came John" : it was offered to me by my Dad, a nice, heavy Blue Note vinyl in its blue greenish artcover...I still play it from time to time.

And, yes...in short I'll definitely back this project. My fav' tune, maybe "Just 3/4" or "I want to go home".

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Got confirmation that it is indeed the same Marvin Cabell in Indy as from the Blue Note John Patton records. Now the question is if he can still play?

...and if he's a little rusty, how long would it take him to shake off that rust...

But jeez, dude, if all this gets aligned right, you will be an underground hero for sure. The Man Who Rediscovered Marvin Cabell. And expect a little bump in sales as a result. Maybe not a HUGE bump, but Accent On The Blues was a "cult favorite" even back in the '70s, at least with people I knew. Some of that was because of the presence of Blood Ulmer, but there were those, myself included, who found Marvin Cabell's contributions...spellbinding.

You might think I'm kidding, but I'm not.

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Got confirmation that it is indeed the same Marvin Cabell in Indy as from the Blue Note John Patton records. Now the question is if he can still play?

...and if he's a little rusty, how long would it take him to shake off that rust...

But jeez, dude, if all this gets aligned right, you will be an underground hero for sure. The Man Who Rediscovered Marvin Cabell. And expect a little bump in sales as a result. Maybe not a HUGE bump, but Accent On The Blues was a "cult favorite" even back in the '70s, at least with people I knew. Some of that was because of the presence of Blood Ulmer, but there were those, myself included, who found Marvin Cabell's contributions...spellbinding.

You might think I'm kidding, but I'm not.

Wow - this could be BIG!

... in an 'underground/cult way,' of course. :cool:

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