After Art's recent storming and successful session at the Globe - a night that will go down in the venue's folk-lore - I looked forward to hearing more of Art Themen and, with this album, my wish was granted and I wasn't disappointed.
The classic organ trio line-up, so beloved back in the day by the bods at Blue Note, on this groove-laden live recording is up there in contention with the greats of the past, present and future. However, it's not all soulful funk. There's an eclectic mix of Latin, ballads, hard bop and some that avoid categorisation, all performed to perfection by three masters of their craft.
Chili Peppers: A tuneful riff composed by Duke Pearson has all three cutting loose with juke joint tenor, groovin' B3 and kickass drums - definitely one to get your timbers etc. shivering on the dance floor.
Brahms...I Think: Zoot Sims...I think was semi-responsible for this strange, yet captivating piece that probably first saw the light of day in Germany. It bears a passing resemblance to a familiar classical piece but, as Brahms didn't score it for soprano sax over a bossa nova beat (shame on you Johann) I can't identify it further.
Country: A pastoral piece by Keith Jarrett. Whittaker is relatively restrained and, apart from an appassionata tenor blast Themen doesn't stray too far from the composer's intent.
Groovy Samba: One of Cannonball's Brazilian belters. Soprano sax wailing over Double's Latin beat. Double is superb throughout and he helps himself to a solo along the way.
I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face: You want ballad playing? You got it with this tenor/piano duo track. Whittaker takes the changes and augments them, diminishes them, inverts them and improves them. Down front the tenor draws out the essence of the tune, the romanticism of the words. Even though only the listener is silently singing, the burgeoning romance indicated by the song's title is there in the playing.
African Marketplace: Seemingly it's obligatory for organ trios to have an African number in their set list (I know of at least one other) and this Abdullah Ibrahim piece is given the full township treatment.
And What if I Don't?: A typical early Herbie groove and there's nothing wrong with that. Originally on Hancock's My Point of View it loses nothing by comparision. The gutsiest of gutsy tenor, the funkiest of funky Hammond I almost said that this was my favourite track on the album but then...
...Sophisticated Lady: This was something else! Totally unaccompanied tenor sax from start to finish. A nonpareil performance that puts Art Themen right up there in contention in the pecking order of tenor players.
The Cape Verdean Blues: A fitting hard bop blast to close a great album. The Horace Silver composition has long been a standard bearer of the genre and all three do it justice.
The album was recorded live on August 15, 2023 at Pizza Express Jazz Club in Soho - hence the title.
Highly recommended. Lance
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