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.

Evolution of a Giant: Larry Young in Paris the ORTF Recordings

Larry Young in Paris The ORTF Recordings Resonance HCD-2022

It is not hyperbole to say that Larry Young was perhaps the last great innovator on the Hammond B3 organ. His trailblazing fusion work with Tony Williams, John McLaughlin, Miles Davis, Carlos Santana and as a leader in his own right would all be part of a seemingly un-matchable legacy that catapulted the organ from the confines of the groove to limitless possibilities of the stratosphere. Tragically he passed away at the age of thirty-eight while being treated for pneumonia, but it leads one to speculate on the endless possibilities his continued development would have brought to the music has he lived.

Thankfully, producer Zev Feldman, of Resonance Records along with executive producers Michael Cuscuna and George Klabin, uncovered this gem of a discovery at the INA (Institut national de audiovisual of France) which oversees the RTF/ORTF (Radiodiffusion-Television Francaise and Office de Radiofussion-Television Francaise) archives that document an important part of his development as a player. This beautifully packaged two-disc set captures Young in Paris sometime between 1964 and 1965 and features a series of ten songs played with different line ups and broadcast over French public radio.

Importantly it marks the period just preceding Young’s Blue Note Years and you can hear the sound that Young was developing, one that would later be honed with such precision on the groundbreaking album Unity. Young, just twenty four years old during these recordings and  is predominantly a sideman on these sessions; a key figure in tenor saxophonist Nathan Davis’ quartet along with fellow Newark, New Jersey band mates Woody Shaw- an amazing nineteen years old at the time- on trumpet and Billy Brooks on drums. These are inspired young black musicians in a pivotal time for Black Americans, ogether these guys just cook, driven by Young’s pulsing B-3 moan and Brooks relentless traps. The music is electric like on Davis’ “Trane of Thought,” which shows how well Young’s left foot bass line could just drive the rhythmic heartbeat of the band. Woody Shaw’s fabled intervallic leaps are on grand display and saxophonist Davis shows his strong Coltrane influence.

The band is also featured on two Woody Shaw compositions the driving “Beyond All Limits” and quirky “Zoltan.” The first a skillful demonstration of tight group interplay-clearly owing a debt to the Blakey legacy- with Davis’ muscular tenor voice leading the way and Shaw’s sinewy trumpet lines weaving in and out of complex phrases. The rhythmic surety of Young and Brooks surge is like the endless splash of waves on a beach. When Young solos, his deft use of pull bars and masterful harmonies show the man’s unerring sense of time and space.  On “Zoltan” the cadenced opening by Brooks is reminiscent of a military march. This is a live recording and the energy level is palpable. Young and Brooks lay the modal groove over which Davis-sounding more like Rollins here- and Shaw soar in opposing statements of acclamation with fury.  Shaw is particularly kinetic in the higher register having at times a decidedly Gillespie-like sound to his horn. After a long Shaw solo, Young finally gets his chance to shine playing at first with a restrained, almost muted sound before skillfully adjusting his pull bars to create a wail of urgency that brings the entire song up a notch in intensity. This leads the group into a frenzied exchange with Shaw, Davis and Brooks all trading licks in a flurry of excitement and drama that is just a marvel to behold.  

The Nathan Davis Quartet circa 1964 Photo Credit Jean Pieree Leloir

The group is expanded into the Jazz aux Champs-Elysees All Stars with the addition of French players. Tenor saxophonist Jean-Claude Forhrenbach, trumpeter Sonny Grey, and pianist and leader Jack Diếval, along with Italian drummer Franco Manzecchi and conga player Jackie Bamboo.   Together they tackle Young’s bopping “Talkin’ About J.C.” with a joyful abandon. The extended front line is fluid and precise as they navigate tune’s head. The solos flow solidly throughout. Half way through Fohrenbach takes his turn on tenor with a deeply melodic, Getzian tone to his swing, complimented by Diếval’s piano comping. Drummer Manzecchi is delightfully loose and freewheeling, he and conga player Bamboo push the tempo. Maestro Young holds down the fort with the two percussionists keeping the groove smooth as silk throughout with brilliantly understated comping that is like of carpet of sound-very similar to McCoy Tyner’s work on piano- that sets the scene for the others to make their statements. Diếval and Young have a wonderful interchange of ideas at about the twelve-minute mark, with Larry sometimes laying leading basslines for Diếval’s pianistic explorations. Young’s solo on this is perhaps his most creative of the album probing and exploratory all within the framework of a deep groove. The international group continues with “La valse grise”, a song presumed to be penned by the French pianist and the All Star’s band leader Jack Diếval. The cool blues groove “Discotheque” is more traditional fare. Young creates his own groove with his pedal driven walking bass line and deeply sultry organ comping. Diếval offers a Martial Solal inspired piano solo.  

Perhaps the most striking part of these internationally spiced sessions is the stark contrast in the playing styles of the horn and reed players. The American players being much more under the influence of the Coltrane/Tyner legacy then their European counterparts whose sound is much more rooted in the legato, deep throated tone of Webster, Hawkins and Ellington.

Young is featured on two songs in the trio setting with conga player Jacky Bamboo and drummer Franco Manzecchi, the campy “Mean to Me” and Young’s own “Luny Tune.”  There is an immediate intuitive connection between Young and Manzecchi, with the drummer  being particularly attuned to Young’s lofty explorations. Listening to Young breath life and excitement into the otherwise lackluster “Mean to Me” is just a joy to behold. You can hear Manzecchi playfully responding to Young pushing the harmonic boundaries of the song’s limits.

On the jaunty “Luny Tunes,” Young is at his most creative, laying down a firm bottom and adjusting his drawbars to the perfect gurgling sound, always facile enough to adjust his sound appropriately as he changes direction, all the while Manzecchi is step for step with him accenting at all the correct breaks as if the two musicians were of the same mind.

Hearing Young on piano is a rare treat and he plays brilliantly on the finale titled “Larry’s Blues.” He is joined by French bassist Jacques B. Hess and the intuitive and Italian drummer Franco Manzecchi who again proves up to the task of anticipating Young's excursions. Young is particularly Monkian in his dissonant approach and yet he always keeps that groove. 

The booklet that comes with this cd set is filled with a treasure trove of information and never before seen photographs that just make the whole listening experience so much more complete. Larry Young’s connections to both Eric Dolphy and Bill Evan’s makes for some fascinating reading. Notes and comments by guitarist John McLaughlin and organist John Medski are equally compelling as are recollections from Nathan Davis, the musicians' progeny Woody Shaw III and Larry Young III.  For any student of the music and the jazz organ in particular Larry Young in Paris the ORTF Recordings offer a rare glimpse into the evolution of a truly unique giant of his instrument.