Two Reviews

Folk Music
Deep Blue Organ Trio
Origin # 82489

The tradition of the organ trio in jazz goes back to at least the 1950’s. Much of the history of this distinctive sound was made in the clubs and bars of Philadelphia. It is groups such as the Deep Blue Organ Trio that are keeping the tradition alive.

As guitarist Bobby Broom puts it, “What we do is kind of a folk music because of the legacy of organ combos in jazz.” Broom says, “The organ used to be in all the clubs. We used to groove to it, go out to the neighborhood tavern and hang out, sit at the bar, listen to the organ groups, and have a good time.”

For their latest release, Folk Music, the Chicago-based trio digs into the heart of the music and serves up nine tasty tracks. There are several standards on the disc like Johnny Mercer’s “I Thought About You” which chugs along at a medium tempo in delightful fashion. To my ears this is the proper pace for the organ, guitar, drums group. No finger-busting tempos will be found here, just a steady stroll through the melody.

Taken at a quicker pace is the Hank Mobley bebop anthem “This I Dig Of You.” However, guitarist Bobby Broom, keyboard wizard Chris Foreman and drummer Greg Rockingham allow the melody to shine through with the correct amount of embellishment.

Folk Music is a worthy addition to the lexicon of the Hammond B3 in jazz.

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Last week I promised a look at some software designed for bringing order to the chaos of a wide-scattered media collection. The program in question is called Media Monkey and it contains all the tools necessary to put your digital house in order.

I’ve been using Media Monkey for several months to digitize and catalog my music collection. The program has a built in CD ripper that makes adding tracks or entire discs a one or two step operation.

With direct connections to the CDDB database of recorded music as well as Amazon.com’s catalog, it’s a simple process to tag your tracks for sorting. The collection can be sorted by artist, album title, individual song title, genre, date recorded and a host of other variables.

The program includes a music player, playlist generator and many other features too numerous to mention. At $19.95 Media Monkey is a bargain worth considering when the music collection threatens to take over your life.