Troy Roberts' Days Like These

My latest Vinyl Anachronist music review is now live at Part-Time Audiophile. You can read it here.

Mike Bogle Trio's Dr. B!

It seems like it's been forever since I've had a great organ jazz trio in for review. These jazz genres tend to arrive in waves, and the season for Hammond B-3s must have passed many months ago. But now that there's snow on the ground, this type of jazz is so warm and welcoming--and like magic, the sun came out today once I started listening to Dr.B! Mike Bogle's to blame, and so is that exclamation mark.

Bogle is known primarily as a Texas-based jazz pianist, trombonist and singer, but Mr. B! is his tribute to the B-3, a relaxed and laid-back set with just the right amount of playfulness in the groove. Bogle has teamed with guitarist Rich McClure and drummer Ivan Torres, and while the latter two are actually quite energetic in their approach, it's the Hammond that acts as a musical varnish, a smooth coat of easiness that permeates every track. Moving from piano to B-3 might not sound like a huge leap, but there's an art to adding the unique Hammond textures, those steady growls and flourishes that seem almost impossible to recreate on other types of keyboards. Bogle gets this, and his B-3 is a magical combination of smoothness and light.

Bogle's worked with the best, including Doc Severinsen (who is still cooking at age 91), Jaco Pastorius and Burt Bacharach. He's also a former member of the One O'Clock Lab Band from the University of North Texas. He did all this as a trombonist and pianist, however, so that makes his B-3 "debut" a bit surprising. He's such a confident and distinctive player, especially when it comes to his mastery of the bass pedals. It shouldn't come as a surprise since Bogle plays in so many different ensembles--an experimental rock group, a Caribbean jazz quartet and a big band. He's perhaps most famous for his solo piano recordings, which include everything from Joplin to Gershwin to Brubeck.

Even Bogle's vocals are fun and intriguing. Despite his Texas roots, Bogle's voice is straight out of New Orleans, sometimes bouncing off a Tom Waits half-speak and sometimes reaching deep into a blues baritone. On the last of these five extended jams, an original named "Walkin'," Bogle tells the story of a mystery man walking through unfamiliar neighborhoods and finally coming to the conclusion that it's better to "keep walkin' by." This is an apt metaphor for Bogle's musical prowess, that he can approach something new and walk with a confidence that can carry him safely through the night.

Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein and Bill Stewart's Toy Tunes

Another day, another organ trio. As I've said repeatedly, this is not a bad thing. I'm really digging the preponderance of these ensembles in today's contemporary jazz scene. After listening to a least a dozen of these outfits over the last few months, the thing that strikes me the most is how these simple trios can adopt such a distinctive sound and attitude despite the simplicity of their arrangements--hip, nostalgic, earthy, sinister, whatever else you got. Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein and Bill Stewart have been recording as an organ trio since the early '90s--Toy Tunes is their twelfth release--and they whip up a distinctive mood as well, and that's mellow.

Mellow can be intriguing, of course, if you know how to focus and listen carefully. While there's a certain spareness to their overall sound, bordering on reticent, they teeter along the precarious edges of jazz enough so that they're never boring or indifferent in the way they pursue familiar themes and melodies. This smoothness, always flirting with the adventurous, is usually centered on Bernstein's guitar. It's that classic jazz guitar sound, clear and unfettered with distortion. He plays the lead most of the time, carrying the melody, while Goldings' Hammond B-3 provides the atmosphere. I know I overuse the term texture at times when I'm describing jazz, but it's an essential trait for most B-3s. There's a flow, an almost drone-like layer of feeling and emotion that acts as a canvas for the other players. Stewart, the drummer, invokes much of the excitement with his restlessness and his constant shimmer. As a trio, these seasoned musicians are the proverbial still waters. There's a lot going on that you won't hear from the next room.

Goldings summarizes this unique feel and structure by revealing that "our approach has never been dictated by the 'organ trio' format but rather by our individual personalities." This is precisely right. Toy Tunes is one of those rare organ trio recordings where you can easily follow each musician through the track and keep the other two in the periphery. In other words, you can listen to each song straight three times and have three separate impressions. Despite the calming effect of the whole, Goldings, Bernstein and Stewart are often pursuing separate journeys--they're walking down the road together but seeing and feeling different things. This makes for a sound that begs you to crawl around inside of it.

The trio also specializes in intricate song structures. The first tune, "Fagen," is obviously a tribute to the famous Donald from Steely Dan, and it seems like a natural instinct to pay homage to another individual who prefers innovative song structures. While the majority of tunes are originals, with equal composing credits from each of the three, there are also knowing nods in the form of adaptations from kindred spirits such as Carla Bley ("And Now the Queen") and the title tune from Wayne Shorter. G,B & S is hardly an organ trio for beginners, but these gentlemen are a gift to those who want to think about their jazz as well as float along with it.