Is anyone out there watching the B-3 forum? I love talking about organs and jazz players. I enjoyed the Jimmy Smith Retrospec and thought I'd bring up Mr Groove Holmes. Anyone ever see him live?

Never saw Richard "Groove" Holmes live, but have a couple of his recordings. The first one, "Super Soul", is a pop-cover album of Motown hits, done in the 1970s, that covers tunes like Marvin Gaye's Ain't That Peculiar, and The Barcay's (?) Soul Power.

One problem I have with this record is the sound of the organ. Groove plays what sounds like a Lowrey or maybe a Wurlitzer organ that brings to mind the word "cheesy" and I frankly don't care for it. Personally I prefer The Mighty Burner, Charles Earland for this kind of thing. He plays a Hammond and has a better feel for making this stuff shine in his unique style. I picked up Super Soul believing it was going to be like Earland's work and was greatly dissapointed.

On the other hand, my second Groove Holmes album, Blue Groove, is a great jazz album, and a great Hammond album, that features Richard with a jazz quartet: drums, guitar, tenor sax, and B-3 organ.

Groove is a better performer live than in the studio, but there are some outstandingly good tracks on Blue Groove, including a version of Freddie Hubbard's Up Jumped Spring, a swinging up-tempo reading of Autumn Leaves, and a soulful 16-bar blues jam called Groove's Blue Groove which demonstrates much of the famous Groove Man technique like using repeated notes, double and triple time lines, and chording with finger slurs that are rooted in the jazz piano technique of players like Gene Harris.

I'll leave you with a link to Scott the Organ Freak's site where you'll find a home recording of a Groove session from the frigid northwest....
Scott the Organ Freak\'s Music download page