"Keyboard Jams"

Spur of the moment, here it is...D. May's list of organ favorites, with a few expansionist detours, including one acoustic piano gem, and some other LP's that take the keyboard concept out into the stratosphere through their use of synthesizers.

Brother Jack McDuff: "Moon Rappin"

The thing about organ jazz, to me, is who stands out from the legions of players out there, some of which seem to vamp the evening away with little feel or soul.  I didn't get into Jack McDuff as much initially, but he's the kind of cat that, the more I listen to him, the more I dig his sound.  There's a very subtle and tasteful touch to his playing that some of the heavier-handed organists fail to grasp, and this album's got hard grooves from start to finish.  Word up to tough 'Duff.

The Tony Williams Lifetime: "Turn It Over"

This classifies as an organ album due to the presence of Larry Young, who takes the avant-garde possibilities of the instrument to heady extremes throughout.  This is the second version of Lifetime, with John McLaughlin and Jack Bruce, and the group lays down some intense, noisy rock, yet with jazz roots firmly intact.  Powerful.

Charles Earland: "Black Drops"

I'm 99% sure I've already inundated you with my worship of Earland's later "Leaving This Planet," which would have made this list if I hadn't already put it in every other music list I've given anybody over the past two years.  So instead, here's some vintage, pre-synth Earland, funk in full effect, nowhere more evident than on the cover of Sly's "Sing A Simple Song."  Damn, Charles...shit is filthy.

Funk, Inc.: "Superfunk"

While the organ is a large part of this group's sound, Funk, Inc. approached their music from more of an ensemble angle, with less of an emphasis on the organist-as-frontman concept.  This album bumps, especially on the covers of "Message From The Meters" and Barry White's erotically funky "I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little Bit More Baby."  Fuzz guitar and drooled-over breakbeats collide, while the organ holds it all together, the definition of soul and rhythm.

Rusty Bryant: "Fire-Eater"

Rusty Bryant is actually a sax player, joined here by organists Bill Mason (side 1) and Leon Spencer, Jr. (side 2).  "Fire-Eater" is the only name this album could ever have been given, as it burns mercilessly through its grooves, with the title track being especially noteworthy for Mason's ridiculous runs, and for Idris Muhammad's million dollar breakbeat-to-end-all-breakbeats.

Jimmy McGriff/Groove Holmes: "Giants Of The Organ In Concert"

Groove Holmes has always been the man, as you know, but I go back and forth on my appreciation for Jimmy McGriff.  On the one hand, he plays some of the most lowdown blues the genre has ever seen; on the other, his playing can sometimes sound almost lazy, behind, like he's not quite feeling the groove enough.  Here and there I'm very impressed--on an album called "Something To Listen To," there's this late '60's funk-Brazilian tune he does where he plays acoustic piano, and it is remarkable, some of the best stuff I've ever heard from him or anyone else.  Yet I waver between converted and unconvinced, which leads us to this album, albeit in a roundabout way.  This is the most consistent work McGriff's ever done, in opposition to my general feeling about his artistry, and with Groove Holmes also in the house, well, we know this shit is going to cook.  Add to that the intimate live setting and mad scientist O'Donel Levy on guitar, and you're left with one of the finest and funkiest jazz albums ever recorded.  Period.

Bayete Umbra Zindiko: "Seeking Other Beauty"

Bayete Umbra Zindiko is keyboardist Todd Cochran, and vice versa.  A cult figure that I've been investigating lately, Cochran has worn many musical hats, from being a sideman in Bobby Hutcherson's group to leading prog-funk band Automatic Man with original Santana drummer Michael Schrieve.  The two Bayete albums he recorded for Prestige are incredible, blistering slabs of dark fusion and modal searching, somewhere between John Coltrane and Funkadelic, strange as that may sound.  On "Seeking Other Beauty," Cochran devours the inside and outside of the music with his assaulting array of keyboards, creating sounds that are truly unique, standing apart from anything in my previous audio palate, and you know with my omnivorous tendency towards music that's a bold thing for me to say.  Either way, check this shit out--dude's tone on the distorted clavinet is beyond grungy, it's no-wave noise death that old school New York punks would envy.  This cat was out to lunch.

Cedar Walton: "Mobius"

Back from the edge of nowhere, veteran jazz keyboardist Cedar Walton delivers this set of space-jazz-funk, still with an electronic emphasis, yet nowhere near as metallic and dissonant as anything by Bayete.  Walton cultivates a superb melodic sensibility with his playing, while drummer Steve Gadd works magic with his skittering, subtle funk beats, laying the groundwork for Walton's own solos and those of his band, including Hendrixian guitarist Ryo Kawasaki and innovative tenor sax player/arranger Frank Foster.  This is a hidden gem, something I had no idea about but knew would be good by virtue of the musicians present, and for real, this shit hits hard.

Bobby Timmons: "Do You Know The Way?"

What better way to end than to go back to the roots, nothing but piano, Bobby Timmons playing some of the most beautiful, ethereal lines I've heard in a minute.  I just picked this up the other day, and haven't even delved into it fully myself, yet I knew from the one listening session I did have that this was the kind of shit to make a soul feel right.  I don't even have to explain this album to you, I know you'll dig it.