Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio Deliver Seductive Grooves on New Album

While I’ve started to feature more instrumental music on the blog – a big step for a guy who can keep raving about vocals and harmony singing for hours – the picture is very different when it comes to album reviews. In fact, Cold As Weiss by Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio is my first review of a new all-instrumental album, and I couldn’t be happier with my pick!

If you’re a frequent visitor of the blog, you may have seen a few previous posts that included this cool trio from Seattle, most recently here earlier this month. In fact, that Sunday Six installment included Don’t Worry ‘Bout What I Do, a track from the new album, which had been released as an upfront single. Cold As Weiss appeared in its entirety on Friday, February 11, and it’s a true beauty!

In case you didn’t catch any of the previous posts, let me start with some background on the group. Once again, I’m borrowing from their website, which has a great bio: Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio—or as it is sometimes referred to, DLO3—specialize in the lost art of “feel good music.” The ingredients of this intoxicating cocktail include a big helping of the 1960s organ jazz stylings of Jimmy Smith and Baby Face Willette; a pinch of the snappy soul strut of Booker T. & The M.G.’s and The Meters; and sprinkles Motown, Stax Records, blues, and cosmic Jimi Hendrix-style guitar. It’s a soul-jazz concoction that goes straight to your heart and head makes your body break out in a sweat…

Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio (from left): Delvon Lamarr, Dan Weiss & Jimmy James

The band features organist Delvon Lamarr, a self-taught virtuosic musician, with perfect pitch who taught himself jazz and has effortlessly been able to play a multitude of instruments. On guitar is the dynamo Jimmy James who eases through Steve Cropper-style chanking guitar, volcanic acid-rock freak-out lead playing, and slinky Grant Green-style jazz. From Reno, Nevada is drummer Dan Weiss (also of the powerhouse soul and funk collective The Sextones). Dan’s smoldering pocket-groove drumming locks in the trio’s explosive chemistry.

DLO3 have been around since May 2015. Their initial line-up included Lamarr, Colin Higgins (guitar) and David McGraw (drums). By the time the trio’s debut album Close but No Cigar came out in March 2018, Higgins had been replaced by James on guitar. DLO3 had a few drummers over the years. The current one, Dan Weiss, joined last year after their sophomore studio album I Told You So had been recorded. Apparently, his arrival is reflected in the record’s title, as I’ve read in a few reviews. Let’s play some music!

Here’s the opener Pull Your Pants Up. The track pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the album. For the most part, Lamarr and James take turns in leading the melody and providing fill-ins, while Weiss is keeping the beat. Since DLO3 don’t have a bassist, Lamarr is covering that part as well, using his Hammond B-3’s bass pedals.

Since I previously covered Don’t Worry ‘Bout What I Do, I’m skipping it here and going right to Big TT’s Blues. Clocking in at 6:31 minutes, it’s the longest track on the album. It also trades some funkiness for more of a straight blues feel. While all of the music on the album is jam-based, fortunately, DLO3 never go overboard with egomaniacal solos.

With Get Da Steppin’ it’s back to a more funky groove. I love the Hammond bass pedals and the drum part in this one. Sure, there’s not a huge variety in these funky grooves. But given the awesome sound and feel, this doesn’t really bother me.

And check out this beauty titled Uncertainty! A little softer than some of the other tracks with some cool breaks. And, boy, that Hammond just sounds mighty sweet, especially when the tone starts vibrating. I just don’t get tired of it – jeez, I guess I’m starting to sound like I’m raving about multipart harmony singing!

Let’s do one more: This Is Who I Is, the excellent closer. I love the guitar wah-wah action on this track, which gives it a bit of a Hendrix flavor – very cool!

Like its predecessor I Told You So, Cold As Weiss was recorded at Blue Mallard Studio in Seattle and produced by Jason Gray.

Based on reviews I’ve seen, Cold As Weiss has been well received. “As good as last year’s I Told You So was, this is an even stronger response to their already highly raised bar,” wrote Glide Magazine. “It’s another home run for Lamarr’s trio who hasn’t made a misstep yet,” opined American Songwriter. And here’s some of what AllMusic had to say: “The choruses are delivered in joyously emphatic unison. If there is a complaint about Cold as Weiss, it’s that at 40 minutes, it’s a tad short, because no one wants this dance party to end. (If you do, please check your pulse, you may have expired.)”

Sources: Wikipedia; Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio website; Discogs; Glide Magazine; American Songwriter; AllMusic, YouTube; Spotify

The Sunday Six

It’s Sunday morning, at least in my neck of the woods in lovely central New Jersey where you can always run into a confused deer and spot the occasional fox. Or watch the squirrels chasing after one another. And did I mention Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny and that other guy many of you aren’t fond of (though 100 million fans can’t be wrong!) are Jersey boys, as is Walter Trout (at least originally)? Okay, this is starting to sound like a silly ad for the Garden State, so let’s move on to the business of the day: Six tunes of music of the past and the present.

Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio/Don’t Worry ‘Bout What I Do

Speaking of the present, let’s start today’s musical journey with some groovy organ jazz by Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, an act I’ve previously featured. Founded in 2015, the trio includes self-taught Hammond B-3 organist Delvon Lamarr, guitarist Jimmy James and drummer Dan Weiss. From their website: Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio—or as it is sometimes referred to, DLO3—specialize in the lost art of “feel good music.” The ingredients of this intoxicating cocktail include a big helping of the 1960s organ jazz stylings of Jimmy Smith and Baby Face Willette; a pinch of the snappy soul strut of Booker T. & The M.G.’s and The Meters; and sprinkles Motown, Stax Records, blues, and cosmic Jimi Hendrix-style guitar. It’s a soul-jazz concoction that goes straight to your heart and head makes your body break out in a sweat – in other words, it’s some pretty cool shit! Don’t Worry ‘Bout What I Do is an upfront single that was released on January 6, 2022, from DLO3’s upcoming fourth studio album Cold As Weiss scheduled for February 11 – my kind of music!

The Fabulous Thunderbirds/Wrap It Up

Let’s keep groovin’ and movin’ and slightly pick up the speed. This next tune takes us back to 1986 and a tasty tune by The Fabulous Thunderbirds: Wrap It Up. Isaac Hayes and David Porter wrote that song for Stax soul duo Sam & Dave who included it on their fourth studio record I Thank You from 1968. The Thunderbirds did a beautiful job with it, recording it for Tuff Enuff, their fifth studio album that appeared in January 1986. If I see this correctly, it became one of the Texas blues rock-oriented band’s most successful singles, reaching no. 50 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100. The Fabulous Thunderbirds, who were founded in 1974, remain active. Their current line-up includes original member Kim Wilson (vocals, harmonica), along with Johnny Moeller (guitar), Kevin Anker (keyboards), Steve Gomes (bass) and Nico Leophonte (drums).

The Merry-Go-Round/Live

Time for a dose of ’60s psychedelic rock. Frankly, I don’t recall how The Merry-Go-Round ended up on my list of earmarked tunes for a Sunday Six installment. I can confirm I wasn’t flying eight miles high on some controlled substance! I suspect it must have been a listening suggestion by my streaming music provider. Anyway, The Merry-Go-Round were a short-lived American band from Los Angeles formed in the summer of 1966 by singer-songwriter Emitt Rhodes, along with his friends Gary Kato (lead guitar), Bill Rinehart (bass) and Joel Larson (drums). Inspired by contemporaries like The Beatles, The Byrds and The Left Banke, The Merry-Go-Round only released one eponymous album in November 1967. It barely made the Billboard 200, reaching no. 190. After various subsequent non-charting singles and an attempt to record a sophomore record, the group disbanded in 1969. Here’s Live, their first and most successful single from 1967, which peaked at no. 63 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song also was the opener of the album. Nice tune!

Fastball/The Way

Probably, this has happened to you as well. Suddenly out of nowhere, you recall a great tune you hadn’t heard in years. That’s exactly what prompted this next pick by Fastball and their January 1998 hit The Way. It probably saved the American alternative rock band’s career after their first single and debut album had gone nowhere. Fueled by The Way and a second tune, Out of My Head, Fastball’s sophomore album All the Pain Money Can Buy went Plantium within six months of its March 1998 release. It also yielded two Grammy and one MTV award nomination. Written by group member Tony Scalzo (vocals, bass, keyboards, guitar), The Way was inspired by a story he had read about an elderly Texas couple who had gone missing and eventually were found dead in their car hundreds of miles away from their original destination. The song’s great cinematic story-telling would make a good episode for The Twilight Zone. Fastball are still around in their original line-up, which in addition to Scalzi includes Miles Zuniga (vocals, guitar) and Joey Shuffield (drums, percussion). Sadly, as is all too common in the tough music business, the band never managed to come anywhere close to replicating the success of their second album. And, based on sampling songs from some of their other records, it wasn’t because of lack of decent music!

Johnny Cash/Give My Love to Rose

Initially, I had planned to feature Johnny Cash’s incredible rendition of John Lennon’s In My Life, one of my all-time favorite Beatles songs from their second 1965 album Rubber Soul. Then I started listening from the beginning of American IV: The Man Comes Around, Cash’s studio record from November 2002, the last released during his lifetime. It was also the fourth in his “American” series, which were produced by Rick Rubin and marked a late-stage career resurgence for “The Man in Black.” When I got to Give My Love to Rose, I simply couldn’t resist picking this powerful tune over In My Life, as much as I love the latter. Written by Cash, the song has incredible story-telling, and it’s a tearjerker. Originally, he had composed and recorded the tune with the Tennessee Two at Sun Records in 1957. It first appeared that same year as the B-side of the single Home of the Blues. Cash’s sparse and vulnerable rendition on American IV won him a Grammy in 2003, just days before his 71st birthday. Cash passed away in September of the same year.

Led Zeppelin/Custard Pie

After this powerful tearjerker, I’d like to finish this post on a kickass ’70s rock note. On we go to Physical Graffiti, Led Zeppelin’s sixth double-LP studio release from February 1975. It combined eight new songs and some previously unreleased tracks the group had recorded during the sessions for the Led Zeppelin III, Led Zeppelin IV and Houses of the Holy albums. Here’s the opener Custard Pie, one of the new tunes, credited to Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. Songfacts notes the song is based on various American blues recordings, including Blind Boy Fuller’s 1939 “I Want Some Of Your Pie” and Brown McGhee’s 1947 “Custard Pie Blues.“ An influence on this song is “Drop Down Mama,” a 1935 blues song by Sleepy John Estes with Hammie Nixon…[It also] includes a snippet from “Shake ’em On Down” by the blues musician Bukka White. In typical Zep fashion, you wouldn’t know any of this from looking at the credits, and I’m making this remark as a huge Led Zeppelin fan. I just wish they would have given credit to the artists whose work they apparently borrowed. It wouldn’t have diminished this great rocker by one iota, at least not in my eyes. The cool clavinet was played by John Paul Jones, while Plant provided some neat harmonica action. As usual, John Bonham’s drumming is outstanding. Dynamite tune all around!

Not to forget, here’s a Spotify playlist of the above picks:

Sources: Wikipedia; Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio website; Songfacts; YouTube; Spotify

The Sunday Six

It’s Sunday and we’ve made it through another week. This means the time has come for a new installment of The Sunday Six, my weekly recurring feature that randomly explores music, six tunes at a time.

Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio/Call You Mom

This week, I’d like to open the post with groovy instrumental music by Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio. Featuring Hammond B-3 organist Delvon Lamarr, guitarist Jimmy James and drummer Dan Weiss, the group blends organ jazz with funk and soul. I “found” and first covered them in February this year. Here’s an excerpt from their website for additional color: Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio—or as it is sometimes referred to, DLO3—specialize in the lost art of “feel good music.” The ingredients of this intoxicating cocktail include a big helping of the 1960s organ jazz stylings of Jimmy Smith and Baby Face Willette; a pinch of the snappy soul strut of Booker T. & The M.G.’s and The Meters; and sprinkles Motown, Stax Records, blues, and cosmic Jimi Hendrix-style guitar. It’s a soul-jazz concoction that goes straight to your heart and head makes your body break out in a sweat. To date, Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio have released three albums. Call You Mom, co-written by Lamarr (credited as Delvon Dumas) and James (credited as Jabrille Williams), is a track from their most recent one, I Told You So, which came out on January 19, 2021.

Sting & Shaggy/Just One Lifetime

Let’s stay on the groovy side with a reggae tune by Sting and Jamaican pop reggae fusion artist Shaggy. When I learned three years ago the two had teamed up for a collaboration album, 44/876 released in April 2018, I was a bit surprised at first. But given Sting’s versatility and previous reggae groove-influenced Police tunes like Roxanne and Walking On The Moon, it quickly made sense to me. Here’s Just One Lifetime, co-written by Sting, Shaggy (credited as Orville Burrell), Shane Hoosong, Shaun Pizzonia and Rohan Rankine. This is one seductive song that’s perfect for summer.

The Lovin’ Spoonful/Summer in the City

Speaking of summer, here’s one of my favorite summer tunes from the ’60s: Summer in the City by The Lovin’ Spoonful. It must have been 30 or 40 years ago when I first heard this song on the radio in Germany – most likely on an oldies show that aired on Sunday nights on my favorite station SWF3 (now SWR3). While I can’t recall the year, what I surely remember is that I loved this tune right away. Co-written by band members John Sebastian and Steve Boone, together with John’s brother Mark Sebastian, Summer in the City first appeared in July 1966 as the lead single of The Lovin’ Spoonful’s fourth studio album Hums of the Lovin’ Spoonful released in November of the same year. It became their biggest hit, topping the Billboard Hot 100 and the charts in Canada, surging to no. 3 in New Zealand, and reaching no. 8 in the UK. After disbanding in 1969 and a short reunion in 1979, founding members Joe Butler and Steve Boone revived the band with a new line-up in 1991. The Lovin’ Spoonful exist to this day, with Butler and Boone still being part of the current incarnation.

Katrina and the Waves/Walking on Sunshine

And since we’re in the middle of summer, let’s throw in another great tune associated with the season: Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves. Interestingly, the catchy song went unnoticed when it first appeared as the title track of their debut album in December 1983. Things changed dramatically with a re-recorded version that became the lead single of the band’s eponymous third studio album from March 1985. Walking on Sunshine turned out to be their biggest hit peaking at no. 9 and no. 8 in the U.S. and the UK, respectively. Chart success was even bigger in Ireland (no. 2), Canada (no. 3) and Australia (no. 4). I still remember the tune seemed everywhere on the radio in Germany at the time. Walking on Sunshine was written by Kimberley Rew, the group’s lead guitarist. After 10 albums Katrina and the Waves dissolved in 1999, following the departure of vocalist and rhythm guitarist Katrina Leskanich. This is one fun tune!

Yes/Roundabout

I’ve never gotten very much into prog rock, in part because I found some of it not very accessible. I can also get impatient with tracks that last six, seven or even more than eight minutes because of extended instrumental sections. One of the few exceptions are Yes. Initially, the British band entered my radar screen with Owner of a Lonely Heart, their hit single from October 1983, which of course sounds much more like ’80s pop rock than progressive rock. While I loved that tune right away, it took me some time to explore and fully warm to the band’s earlier output. And, to be fully transparent, my knowledge of their music is still quite spotty. Nowadays, one of my favorite Yes tunes is Roundabout, in all of its 8-minute-plus mighty! 🙂 Co-written by lead vocalist Jon Anderson and guitarist Steve Howe, the track appeared on the band’s fourth studio album Fragile from November 1971. Yes, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 2017, remain active to this day, with Howe as the only original member. In fact, just a few days ago, Yes announced a new studio album, The Quest, scheduled for October 1 – the first in seven years, as reported by Ultimate Classic Rock and other music news outlets.

Hurry/It’s Dangerous

Let’s wrap up things with some melodic contemporary indie rock by a band from Philadelphia I recently discovered as part of my Best of What’s New new music feature: It’s Dangerous by Hurry. The band originally started as a solo project by principal songwriter Matt Scottoline. Borrowing from my previous post, according to his Apple Music profile, Scottoline, the bassist of Philly EMO band Everyone Everywhere, spent his free time writing and recording songs on his own, delving further into power pop and ’90s guitar rock than his main band ever did…In 2012, he released an eight-song self-titled record under the Hurry name, playing all the instruments himself. When Everyone Everywhere began to cut back on their schedule in the early 2010s, Scottoline decided to form an actual band, recruiting drummer Rob DeCarolis and a rotating cadre of friends on bass to play live shows. In addition to Scottoline and DeCarolis, Hurry’s current line-up includes DeCarolis’ brother Joe DeCarolis (bass) and Justin Fox (guitar). It’s Dangerous, co-written by Scottoline and Chris Farren, is the opener of the band’s new album A Fake Idea released on June 25.

Sources: Wikipedia; Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio website; Ultimate Classic Rock; YouTube

Best of What’s New

When my weekly look at newly released music is delayed, it’s usually for one of two main reasons: Work has kept me pretty busy (not a bad thing!), or I had a hard time finding new music that sufficiently grabbed me to highlight it in a feature cheerfully titled “Best of What’s New.” This time, it was a combination of both. But, occasionally good things take time, and ultimately, I think I found a pretty solid and diverse set of new music, including Americana, shock rock, indie rock and funky soulful organ-driven jazz. Let’s get to it!

Nate Fredrick/Be the One

I’d like to kick things off with Nate Fredrick, a Nashville-based Americana singer-songwriter. According to his website, the native Missourian learned to play guitar as a 12-year-old and started writing songs 10 years thereafter. In 2015, he relocated to Nashville and wrote more than 100 tunes during the two following years. Fredrick’s website characterizes his music as “bluesy Americana style”, citing Guy Clark, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Van Morrison as some of his influences. Well, it might have taken him a while to transition from playing the guitar to writing his own songs, but the results are certainly compelling. Be the One is from Fredrick’s great-sounding debut album Different Shade of Blue released yesterday (February 26). “Somewhere in trying to figure out how to craft a good song, I figured out how not to just write a pile of sad songs,” he said about his album. “It’s not that my situation is different or even better, but I’ve found a different way to perceive my personal circumstances.”

Alice Cooper/Drunk and in Love

If you happened to read my February 14 Sunday Six installment, you may recall it featured a tune from Alice Cooper’s then-forthcoming album. Mr. Shock Rock’s 21st solo release Detroit Stories appeared yesterday. With 15 tracks and a total length over just 50 minutes, it’s a solid effort. Except for three covers of tunes by Lou Reed, Fred “Sonic” Smith (MC5) and Bob Seger, Cooper co-wrote all other tracks. Here’s Drunk and in Love, a slow burning bluesy rocker. The other co-writers include producer Bob Ezrin and Dennis Dunaway, the original bassist of the Alice Cooper rock band. “Romeo and Juliet is a great love story, but so is a love story about a guy that lives in a box under a bridge with a bunch of other people standing around big oil cans trying to keep warm—and he’s in love with the girl who lives in another box,” Cooper told Apple Music about the tune. “So it’s a very touching little love song. And just the fact that their situation is different than a normal one doesn’t mean their love is any less intense.” Check out Cooper’s cool harp solo that starts at around 1:25 minutes into the song, harmonizing with the lead guitar – pretty neat!

Hoorsees/Get Tired

Hoorsees are an indie rock band from Paris, France. The members are Alex Delamard (lead vocals, guitar), Thomas (lead guitar, backing vocals), Zoe (bass, backing vocals) and Nicolas (drums, backing vocals). Unfortunately, there is very little public information on their background. Get Tired, written by Delamard, is from the band’s eponymous full-length debut album that came out on February 19. Based on a somewhat measly artist page on the website of their U.S. label Kanine Records, the album is a follow-on to a previously released EP, Major League of Pain. No word about its release data, not to mention when Hoorsees were founded – jeez, so much for effective artist promotion!

Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio/Hole in One

Wrapping up this installment is a find I’m particularly excited about as a huge fan of the Hammond B-3: Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, which blend organ jazz with soul and funk. Here’s how their website describes it: Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio—or as it is sometimes referred to, DLO3—specialize in the lost art of “feel good music.” The ingredients of this intoxicating cocktail include a big helping of the 1960s organ jazz stylings of Jimmy Smith and Baby Face Willette; a pinch of the snappy soul strut of Booker T. & The M.G.’s and The Meters; and sprinkles Motown, Stax Records, blues, and cosmic Jimi Hendrix-style guitar. It’s a soul-jazz concoction that goes straight to your heart and head makes your body break out in a sweat…The band features organist Delvon Lamarr, a self-taught virtuosic musician, with perfect pitch who taught himself jazz and has effortlessly been able to play a multitude of instruments. On guitar is the dynamo Jimmy James who eases through Steve Cropper-style chanking guitar, volcanic acid-rock freak-out lead playing, and slinky Grant Green-style jazz. From Reno, Nevada is drummer Dan Weiss (also of the powerhouse soul and funk collective The Sextones). Dan’s smoldering pocket-groove drumming locks in the trio’s explosive chemistry. Hole in One, co-written by Lamarr (credited as Delvon Dumas) and James (credited as Jabrille Williams), is the groovy opener of the band’s third album I Told You So released January 19. More than Booker T. Jones, I can hear Steve Winwood in here. To me, it’s one of those rare tunes where you only need to hear the first few bars to realize you love it!

Sources: Wikipedia; Nate Fredrick website; Apple Music; Kanine Records website; Delvin Lamarr Organ Trio website; YouTube