The Hammond B-3 organ gets some big love in this episode. First up is the Delvon LaMarr Organ Trio and their debut album Close But No Cigar, a Billboard #1 in the jazz charts. The band takes the well honed sound and constructs an incredibly funky outing that comes off like a live mixtape. It harkens the spirit and quotes from the titans of B-3 like Booker T. and the MG’s, the Incredible Jimmy Smith, and Brother Jack McDuff.
Speaking of which, The Major Scale has been waxing on for a long time about the need to spread the word on Brother Jack McDuff’s overlooked spaced-out jams of the late ’60s and early ’70s. We take a look at a trio of albums he cut for Blue Note during this period: Moon Rappin’, To Seek A New Home, and Who Knows What Tomorrow’s Gonna Bring? Unlike his other work, these albums don’t turn up often on playlists, but when they do they dazzle and delight with their surreal soul and hard driving funk. Crate-diggers and producers have looked to these records since the dawn of hip-hop; just ask, J Dilla, Nas (who’s father plays on one of the albums) A Tribe Called Quest, or Black Moon.