Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio,

The sophomore studio effort from Seattle’s Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio is one of those fantastic records that manages to throwback just hard enough to take you there, also remaining fresh by mixing in modern touches and transforming a somewhat dated instrument and sound into a brand new amalgamation, a fresh energy for the ears. And I don’t mean to say organ music is dated, the instrument has never gone away and I’m well aware. What I’m getting at is those stellar late 60s, early 70s organ records made by guys like Jimmy Smith, Brother Jack McDuff, Rueben Wilson, and Jimmy McGriff (that quartet right there is probably responsible for at least 15% of Beastie Boy samples). Those albums fall effortlessly into either the jazz or soul sections on your record shelves, spinning that musical sweet spot where styles and genres meld into something greater than their parts. You could argue those albums birthed Funk.

Like those guys, Lamarr has the chops to lead on organ and does so with aplomb. The band, Jimmy James on guitar and Grant Schreff on the sticks, is top-shelf tight and not only follows diligently but contributes enough to the overall sound to place this outfit among power trios like Cream, Hendrix, and Gov’t Mule. James’ guitar playing not only lays the ground work for Lamarr’s exploits (nod to Kenny Burrell setting up Jimmy Smith), he offers some brilliantly psychedelic runs, the blistering six-string stuff of many a band leader in their own right.

The record has nine solid instrumental cuts, five on side A and four on side B. Their cover of Wham’s masterpiece “Careless Whisper” is masterful. Remaining true enough with a light touch, they take that 80s silk sheets, neon lights mood straight into the New Orleans barroom, with the organ mournfully blasting the vocal parts, notes fuzzing out at the end like so many lost chances. Lamarr plays the part so intuitively and powerfully I now remember George Michael’s vocals more fondly than I should. The Trio manages to take a great pop masterpiece and turn it into a hauntingly beautiful instrumental.

The packaging is a really thick gatefold with bold print down the spine, easy to spot on the shelf. The gatefold is nice and has a cool shot of the band live when you open it, however I’m always going to prefer less packaging if it gets me the vinyl cheaper. Aside from the sometimes-interesting liner notes which seem to be a lost art, I’ll play $11 less and take the thinner jacket in economy of space.

Economy of space, one of the things Lamarr does so masterfully, just knowing the right length to hold that organ note, a smidgen longer and it’s over kill, a smidgen under and you don’t make your point. Like all the greats, this kid just has that inexplicable ability to lay it all out; emotional honesty is a rare enough thing to be celebrated every chance we get. It’s even better when we can dance to it. This is dance music for the musically literate played by a fiery eyed trio of ambitious guys who intrinsically get concepts like groove and funk. Musicians who stay with each other, keep in tune and time and play with curiosity and daring, these are just some of the attributes brought to the table on this record. I’d hate to think the band named the album “I Told You So” as a middle finger to the tired cliched haters along the way, it’s just too bragadocious and self-serving. But, if they did, these nine tunes back up the promise and will get this trio onto much bigger stages in the near future.