Guitarist Thom Rotella's "Side Hustle" A Magical Dynamic

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.

Miss Nancy Wilson Live at BB King's Times Square

Review of Ms Nancy Wilson at BB King’s Blues Club & Grill;

Times Square at night, resplendent in its pixelated luminosity, was clogged with tourists as well as the curious, this despite the recently thwarted bomb attempt on May 1st. The massive showing of police on the scene made it seem like a surreal sequence from a Bruce Willis action film; a city waiting for something ominous to happen.

Despite the eerie mood, the marquis at BB King’s Blues Club & Grill announced to the world that Miss Nancy Wilson was making her first New York appearance in several years. An orderly line of well-dressed, sophisticated New Yorkers spanned from the box office, halfway down forty-second street, patiently awaiting entrance to this sold out show. 

BB King’s is a spacious venue, seating approximately five hundred patrons, located  at 42^nd street between 7^th & 8^th Avenues. It has an excellent sound system with unobstructed viewing from almost any vantage point.

Her long-time rhythm section of Llew Mathews on piano, John B. Williams on bass and Roy Mc Curdy on drums, accompanied the classy and beautiful Miss Wilson. As the house settled in, the trio warmed up with a swinging version of “Yesterdays”. The tight interaction of these fine musicians showed their mutual affinity.

Miss Wilson entered the stage in a sleek and clinging red gown in great form, looking both radiant and beautiful, belying her true age (she is seventy three this year).

Her mobility was somewhat hampered by a broken ankle which was girded by a soft, black cast which she proudly displayed on her right ankle. This display of gritty showmanship endeared her even more to her already enraptured audience.

The set started off with the Van Morrison classic “Moondance”, with Ms Wilson inflecting her voice in her own special way, having  only slight difficulty on some of the higher passages. She prefers to be thought of as a “song stylist” as opposed to a singer.

True to this concept, she seems to be able to internalize the lyric of a song, personalizing it with carefully placed changes in intonation, sometimes introducing subtle growls or wavering inflections to give the words a life of their own. The magic is due in no small part to the accompaniment of Mr. Mathews on piano, who seems to know how to deftly fill in the spaces that Miss Wilson deliberately leaves between words.

On “I Wish I’d  Met You”, Ms. Wilson  engages her audience with the personal footnote that it was dedicated to her husband. Her voice gives the  listener a glimpse into her own inner most thoughts and feelings about the song and its relevance and the audience responds accordingly. She is scrupulous in her choice of material. She has easy conversationalist manner which is totally disarming. A case in point is her introduction to Duke Ellington’s “ Take Love Easy” where she quips to the audience that at her age that is the only way to take love, nice and easy.  Her vocal control became increasingly more refined as the evening progressed; by her own account she has not sung in public for several years.

Perhaps the most moving song of the evening was “Come Home to Me”, a slow blues that she was able to drench in emotion, pathos and sensuality.  She followed this with a slow moving ballad “Don’t Misunderstand” and then as if to prove she hadn’t lost her swing she sang “ I Thought About You” with up beat solos by bassist Williams and pianist Mathews. For most of the evening drummer Roy McCurdy was content to anchoring the beat only occasionally breaking out and soloing briefly. Llew Mathews switched to electric piano for Ms Wilson’s version of Bonnie Raitt’s poignant “I Can’t Make You Love Me”, which for me caught Ms. Wilson a bit out of her element.  

On “Day in Day Out” Ms Wilson’s voice was strong and spunky provoking memories of her ability to work fronting a big band as she once did with the Dizzy Gillespie All Star Big Band on this number.

A duo on “Blame it on My Youth”, with bassist John B. Williams using his upright electric bass, featured a playful interchange, as Williams penchant for sliding bass lines seem to put a smile of Ms. Wilson’s face.

Ms. Wilson made it a point of telling the audience that her rhythm section band members had been with her for at least the last twenty years, quipping with a wink that “…she knew how to hold ‘em, and she didn’t mean poker.”  She is the consummate entertainer and on her next number “Guess Who I Saw Today”, a song she first recorded on her Capitol record Something Wonderful from 1960, she becomes the master storyteller. A sly song of deception, infidelity and discovery, she sings the lyrics with a telling feigned naivete that pulls the listener into the scene she creates with her fetching vocals.  

On the final three songs “How Long Has this Been Going On”, “Teach Me Tonight”( a request that she did with some trepidation)  and “If I Could” her voice was surprisingly elastic, and wonderfully controlled, despite some loss of range. She creates urgency without ever breaking into a screech, knowing full well her own limitations, with Mr. Mathews obligingly lowering the key to accommodate her range when she deemed necessary.I was somewhat disappointed that she didn't sing my personal favorite "Save Your Love for Me" from the seminal album with Julian "Cannonball" Adderley. 

Nevertheless  the show was superb.If there were any doubts as to Ms. Wilson’s vitality and her ability to enthrall her audiences, they were put to rest on Sunday at BB King’s.One look at the line of gentlemen fans that waited for a chance to talk to her or get her autograph at the end of the show left little doubt about her retained popularity. She remains one of the most engaging performers, a true treasure and her return to New York after so many years was nothing short of triumphant.