Mel Rhyne is best known as Wes Montgomery's organist on and off in the late 1950s and '60s. He led few dates of his own until his rediscovery in the 1990s, so the CD reissue of this early jam session is quite welcome. Rhyne leads an all-star sextet that also includes trumpeter Blue Mitchell, tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin, pianist Gene Harris (the piano and organ work quite well together), bassist Andy Simpkins, and drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath. Each of the four basic tunes are at least eight-and-a-half minutes long, with all but one exceeding ten-and-a-half minutes. However, with four strong soloists, the music never slows down or loses its momentum. Highly recommended.
Quiet intensity personified… if that is the way you like your jazz, specifically your organ combos, then Rhyne is your B-3 main man and this is his shining hour in a tribute to his now legendary bandmate, the late guitarist Wes Montgomery. Everything on this CD is ultimately appealing - its sound, immaculate vision, unabashed groove, scholarly repertoire, controlled urgency, faithfulness to Wes, and the staunch individualism of Rhyne, guitarist Royce Campbell and drummer Killer Ray Appleton, all at their very best. Rhyne even stretches his legato phrases longer than usual like Larry Young; Campbell is out-and-out inspired and pristine in his approach, while Appleton is much more than a timekeeper, playing with the time while never losing it…
Other than an obscure date for Jazzland in 1960, this CD was organist Melvin Rhyne's debut as a leader. Famous for his association with Wes Montgomery but in obscurity ever since in Milwaukee, Rhyne gradually emerged during the late '80s and was found to still be in prime form. Joined by guitarist Peter Bernstein and drummer Kenny Washington, Rhyne had the rare opportunity of being the center of attention on this set, which includes a variety of standards (such as "Groovin' High," "Old Folks" and "Stompin' at the Savoy") plus Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis' "Licks A-Plenty" and Montgomery's "The Trick Bag." The easily recommended CD concludes with a lengthy "Blues for Wes," which finds trumpeter Brian Lynch and tenor saxophonist Don Braden making the group a quintet.
The Hammond organ, named after its inventor Laurens Hammond, debuted in 1935 as a cost-effective electro-acoustic alternative to the gigantic pipe organs mainly installed in churches. Among Hammond’s first customers were George Gershwin and Count Basie. Jazz pianists like Basie, Fats Waller, Wild Bill Davis and Milt Buckner were the founding fathers of the instrument’s international conquest, which led across all styles of popular music, from jazz to progressive rock, with its heyday in the 1960s and '70s…
Wes Montgomery's first album as a leader – a relatively obscure set that has him playing in a trio with Indianapolis bandmates Mel Rhyne on organ and Paul Parker on drums – a mode that strongly recalls Montgomery's roots in the Indy scene at the time! If you only know the later, famous Wes Montgomery with bigger charts, you'll be surprised to hear him here in a cooking little combo – the kind of group that made Mel Rhyne a local Hammond hero in Indy, although it seemed to take decades for him to get any sort of larger recognition. The groove is straight and simple, but the real charm is Wes' chromatic lines on guitar – already quite distinctive among his contemporaries, and allowed ample room to express their voice in this setting.
Guitar Ronald Muldrow's Enja CD is a tribute to the organ trios of the 1960s. While Muldrow mixes together aspects of Wes Montgomery and Grant Green in his style, organist Mel Rhyne (still best known for his recordings with Montgomery) has made a complete comeback in the 1990s. Drummer Victor Campbell is fine in support. Sometimes this group hangs onto a vamp or groove too long and seems content to copy Jimmy Smith's earlier groups but their jams on standards are generally enjoyable.
Reissue with the DSD remastering. Wes Montgomery's first recordings for Riverside were in a trio with organist Mel Rhyne, and ironically, his final albums for the struggling (and soon to be bankrupt) label were with Rhyne again. The brilliant guitarist is in fine form on these appealing tunes with the highlights including "Freddie the Freeloader," "Blues Riff," and "Moanin."
An extension of the popular Original Jazz Classics series (est. 1982), the new OJC Remasters releases reveal the sonic benefits of 24-bit remastering-a technology that didn't exist when these titles were originally issued on compact disc. The addition of newly-written liner notes further enhances the illuminating quality of the OJC Remasters reissues. "Each of the recordings in this series is an all-time jazz classic," says Nick Phillips, Vice President of Jazz and Catalog A&R at Concord Music Group and producer of the series.