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| Thom Rotella: Side Hustle: High Note Records |
I have to admit, I am a sucker for good jazz organ trio music. There is something so soulful about this music. The organ can strike you in a deeply visceral way that seems to be hard wired into your nervous system and to my way of thinking the guitar is perhaps the most perfect instrumental foil in this setting. It goes back to hearing the great matchings that we, the listeners, have been treated to over the years.
Organist Pat Bianchi, in an article from Jazz Guitar Today from 2020, offered some dream or "matches made in heaven," combinations that stood out to him, "...focusing on the dynamic between the guitarist and the organist." Bianchi chose ten combos that did it for him. They include an eclectic group in no particular order: Grant Green/Larry Young, Joey DeFrancesco/Paul Bollenback, Melvin Rhymes/Wes Montgomery, Jack McDuff/George Benson, Don Patterson/Pat Martino, Jan Hammer/John Abercrombie, Larry Goldings/Peter Bernstein, Jimmy Smith/Kenny Burrell, Dr. Lonnie Smith/Jonathan Kreisberg, and Charles Earland/Melvin Sparks. As you can see there are many incendiary possibilities when you match two like-minded musical spirits. Of course there are many other combinations that could easily be considered in this same category. Bianchi's work with Pat Martino and Paul Bollenback come to mind, as does Dave Stryker's work with Jared Gold, Brian Charette's work with Ben Monder and Larry Young's fusion work with John McLaughlin.
Recently, I discovered another matching that seems to possess that same magical dynamic that can exist between the guitarist and the organist, Thom Rotella's latest release Side Hustle, on High Note Records. Despite the fact that the group Rotella takes into the studio is more expansive than the trio format, this tasty gem, matches LA based guitarist Rotella with Columbus, Ohio based Bobby Floyd. Through eleven of the twelve compositions on this satisfying outing, Rotella and Floyd find an almost telepathic sense of how to play together in such a way that they seem to anticipate each others moves.
Rotella originally hails from Niagara Falls from a musical family where he took lessons from a local teacher, John Morell, who by chance previously taught studio guitar legend Tommy Tedesco. With Wes Montgomery and Tedesco as inspirations, Rotella eventually honed his skills and attended Berklee where he was taught by, amongst others, vibraphonist legend Gary Burton. By the early seventies, Rotella made his way into Los Angeles where he started becoming a regular in studio sessions. Eventually, he met Tedesco who showed his fellow Niagara native the ropes about that side of the music business. Rotella's talent eventually made him too a first call studio guitar artist on the LA music scene.
Bobby Floyd (photo credit unknown)
Organist and Ohio native Bobby Floyd, a new name to me, started playing piano at the age of two. From 1984-85, Floyd played piano and organ in Ray Charles' Band across Europe and US until he left when his daughter was born. Floyd took over the piano chairs for both the Columbus (Ohio) Jazz Orchestra in 2004 and the Count Basie Orchestra in 2012 besides manning his own organ/piano trios.
Besides the obvious simpatico Rotella and Floyd have on this album, the music is propelled by drummer legend Roy McCurdy's unfailing groove, the percussive nuance of Lenny Castro and is accentuated by the inventive horn men, Eric Alexander on tenor and Jeremy Pelt on trumpet.
Catchy "Who Dat?" is a tasty Rotella composition that showcases the guitarist's mellow octave playing, a direct lineage to Wes Montgomery. Floyd's soulful organ solo captures this musician's ability to evoke heart-felt expression. Don't forget McCurdy's roiling addition at the coda. There's something here for everyone from an easy swinging "Love for Sale" that will have you tapping your feet and feelin' so good, to Rotella's bossa-like "Pick Pocket" which features some infectious percussion by Castro and blues tinged work by Rotella and Floyd.
Lenny Castro (photo credit unknown)
"Side Hustle" is the title Rotella composition that carries references from both Kenny Barron ("Voyage") and Wayne Shorter ("Speak No Evil"). This quick paced song offers an appearance by the talented tenor man Eric Alexander, who adds another effective voice to the mix of Floyd and Rotella. Hoagy Carmichael's "Georgia On My Mind" has a respectful, gospel-like organ intro from Floyd before Rotella takes the slow-burner into a blues-based journey that is sensitive and precise. Floyd's organ replies in return with some scorching lines that announces the gospel lesson is over and the blues has arrived.
The album continues with two Rotella compositions. The angular "Not So as the three soloists feed off each other's ideas. The moody, loose feeling "Mr. Moontanda," features the trio, and offers some of Rotella's more adventurous solo explorations. This one simmers with an understated confidence. A quiet gem, Floyd is also inspired to expand on his solo by the noirish feel of this one.
Marvin Gaye's "Don't Mess With Mister T." is a 70's soul based acknowledgment of tenor titan Stanley Turrentine's influence on the music. Castro's percussion and McCurdy's nuanced drum work set the breezy feel. Rotella gets a chance to release his own side of guitar soulfulness on this one and boy does he feel it here. Jeremy Pelt's muted trumpet and Floyd's modulating organ just compliment this smoky piece to perfection. Soulful blues that doesn't quit.
Roy McCurdy (photo by Leon James)
As if we needed a rejuvenating reminder of McCurdy's legendary shuffle, "Roy's Groove" give the album a joyous adjourn into pure groove. Rotella and Floyd are invigorated here and you can't help but feel that dance is in the air.
Tadd Dameron's "On A Misty Night" has a slow-paced vibe that has an inherent swing to it. Rotella's guitar is so breezy and loose here, effortless. Floyd always finds a way to come at his solo at a different angle that surprises but never strays too far. When these guys play in unison, you feel like they have been playing together for years.
The classic "Alone Together" always seems to make it to many guitarists' rotation. With a unique repeating, staccato-like entre line before these guys get into the familiar melody at a swinging pace, the trio also takes a decidedly different way of treating the arrangement along the way. There is a lot of inventiveness at display here, making this classic both modern and a vehicle for expansion. Floyd offers the first solo, accentuating the changes and making this a cooker at what is an accelerated pace, before Rotella gets his turn to offer his own angular solo . McCurdy's groove over Floyd's bass lines is the armature on which these guys operate and man do they feel it here.
The closing composition is a creative matching of two songs, Jaco Pastorius' "Three Views of a Secret" and Charles Mingus' Goodbye Pork Pie Hat." This arrangement is just soooo good it's hard to imagine why these two songs were never matched before. The opening has an eerie, ethereal feel with Rotella's airy, moaning guitar lines-reminiscent, to me, of some of John Abercrombie's work-being overdubbed by his own gently strummed chords. Jeremy Pelt's muted trumpet enters here, just perfect, like a Siren's hypnotic voice drawing you into to the expanse of the unknown. Castro's percussion sets the pace with some modulating organ by Greg Karukas and drum work by Kendall Kaye. The organ slowly rises the intensity of the proceedings before handing it off to Rotella. Rotella's guitar pierces the air with some slow, piquant lines that build the tension with a master's grace and with a blues inspired bite that is unmistakable. Just beautiful. The music returns to the clouds with Rotella's guitar before the group play the progressively fading coda in unison, Pelt's urgent, muted trumpet in conversation with Rotella's wispy guitar. Side Hustle will be on your repeat play cycle for some time. It's just that good to listen to.