AprilCadence2013

CHESTER 'CT'
THOMPSON,
MIXOLOGY,
DOODLIN' DRO-16.
CLOCKWISE / THE
MOONTRANE / MEDALLION
/ MIRACLE / MR.T./ SISTA
STRUT / SPEAK NO EVIL /
A SUBTLE ONE(*)/ SWEET
SIXTEEN / YOU LEAVE ME
BREATHLESS / SQUIB CAKES
(+). TOTAL TIME: 67:12.
Collective personnel:
Thompson, org; Dr. Lonnie
Smith, org(*), Howard Wiley,
ts; Joel Behrman, tpt, tbn;
Barry Finnerty, gtr; Chris
Cain, gtr, vcl; Mike Clark,
Brian Collier, Ron E. Beck,
d; Kenneth Nash, perc.
3/28&29/12, 6/1&2/12.
Berkeley, CA. (*) 8/24/11. San
Jose, CA.
1) GABRIEL ALEGRIA
AFRO-PERUVIAN
SEXTET,
CUIDAD DE LOS
REYES,
New Issues
130 | CadenCe Magazine | april May June 2013
Listen Up! The above listed album is the sophomore
effort from underground Hammond B-3 legend
Chester Thompson some 43 years after he recorded
Powerhouse for the fabled Black Jazz label. In the interim
he spent a decade with the Tower Of Power unit completing
the rest of the time as MD (musical director) for
the Carlos Santana organization. Now, finally he's back
on behind the console with an issue under his own
name.
Only one selection is repeated from that 1969 LP, “Mr.T”
which is a tad shorter than the original take. There are a
few covers present, “Clockwise” an original from George
Benson that appeared on an early Columbia album with
Dr. Lonnie Smith, Ronnie Cuber and Jimmy Wormworth,
the familiar Jazz staples “The Moontrane” & “Speak No
Evil” by Woody Shaw and Wayne Shorter respectively
and “A Subtle One” penned by Stanley Turrentine and
delivered as a twin-organ effort with Dr. Lonnie Smith.
There's no showboating or attempts at cutting one
another here, just the mutual respect that used to be
the norm among musicians of a certain stature. Other
than the B.B. King classic with a suitably raspy vocal
from Chris Cain along with his Kingish guitaring and the
standard “You Leave Me Breathless” featuring Howard
Wiley's beautifully balladic tenoring. The remaining titles
are all Thompson charts from the incredible funky “Sista
Strut” to the closer, “Squib Cakes” a live rendition of his
boogaloo to end all boogaloos.
Chester Thompson might not have the chops quite to the
level he had on his debut outing but now that he is back
in a pure organ setting, where he should be, all that will
come in time and this long delayed followup is
more than worthy to bear his name. CT returns!
Larry Hollis
1
) is, as the band name suggests, a fusion of Jazz and
Peruvian music, a sound that is rhythmically complex
but flows more than the usual forms of Latin Jazz. The
two “Tondero” pieces, for example, undulate with flamenco
guitar and bluesy horns. Leader Gabriel Alegria’s
trumpet is constantly cool and focused as it dances over
the bumpy lines of “Corner Of Thought” and “Capicua”.