So I doubt any heavy metal bands ever invited Gene Ludwig to play with them and there are probably a lot of reasons for that. One might be fear. Fear of the big but smooth sound the Pittsburgh B-3 god pumps out, which would make the metal dudes sound anemic and crude by comparison.
Check out "Soul Serenade" from Loose Leaf Music. From the opener, "Duff's Blues," Ludwig roars, and swings like crazy, too. Great version of the Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" signature tune "Freddie the Freeloader." This blues- and soul-laden disk will wake you up guaranteed. Even the ballads, like "Please Send Me Someone to Love" and the title track, aren't what you'd call sleepy. Some outstanding guitar work from Ken Karsh as well.
5 comments:
Hey man,
Gene Ludwig's wife, Pattye, sent me a link to this post...
I'm a huge B3 fanatic, and I have the biggest collection of live, unreleased Hammond music including Gene, Dr. Lonnie, Joey D, Big John Patton, Jimmy Smith, Jimmy McGriff, and a bunch of others, in the country.
Last Sunday I saw Gene, Dr. Lonnie, and Trudy Pitts play a 4-organist summit as tribute to Jimmy McGriff- awesome stuff.
Drop by my blog sometime!
Thanks for the comment. I'd sure like to hear your B-3 collection. I've been fortunate to catch Joey D., Tony Monaco and Mel Rhyne so far this year (all in Indianapolis).
Gene Ludwig also left me a comment as follows, which didn't stick for some reason but made it to my Gmail inbox.
"Thanks for the kind words Greg, I'm glad you like Soul Serenade. Have you checked out 'Hands On' yet. I have a new one coming out in Jan. '06 called 'Live in Las Vegas.' Stop by my site sometime, www.geneludwig.com - Gene Ludwig"
And I will be checking out "Hands On."
Tony's also my buddy- he's an incredible showman as you have seen...Joey, unfortunately, is kind of a jerk, and when he's home in Philly he puts on a really lazy sloppy show.
Gene gave me a copy of the Live CD last sunday, and it smokes!
Before sunday, the last recording I made was of Gerard Gibbs playing with James Carter at Blue Note in manhattan on sept. 15th- he's a great organist...very Groove Holmes.
Are you aware of Pete Fallico, who hosts Doodlin' Lounge on KUSP in San Diego? He's the man on B3 info, and he puts together the annual B3 Summits for the SanFran Jazz Fest. His site has lots of great bio info on players.
Tony put on a great show at the Jazz Kitchen in Indianapolis and I have to say Joey D. did as well, although I particularly enjoyed Jake Langley, the guitarist who appeared with him.
I think James Carter's CD Out of Nowhere with Gibbs is a gem.
I love the Doodlin' Lounge and include a link to it to the right of my Web log posts.
Dude,
You have to get a recording rig and start populating the organ archives with me! It's actually not that expensive- a great rig could be had for less that 600 bucks that makes awesome, punchy and crystal-clear recordings (as you'll hear) that sound exactly like you're at a show.
Pattye and Gene gave me a copy of a recording someone made the night of the moon-landing (a couple of months before my arrival) and Gene playing with Pat Martino (another Philly guy!) and Randy Gilespie- perhaps the greatest set of Jazz I've ever heard, and if it had been recorded properly, it would doubtlessly have gone down as one of the greatest performances ever. Tony agrees with me, and says it could be the best organ playing he's ever heard...Gene literally explodes into every passage of his solos, and compls while Pat plays with an intensity and fervor that I've never heard before.
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