COMPOSERS: Blicher • Hemmer • Gadd
LABELS: CNUT06
PERFORMER: Michael Blicher (sax, flute), Dan Hemmer (organ), Steve Gadd (drums)
CATALOGUE NO: CNUT06
Eminent US jazz drummer Steve Gadd’s recent tour with two musicians from Denmark’s thriving jazz scene is the basis for this Hammond organ-based trio release. Although not well known in the UK, saxist Michel Blicher and keyboardist Dan Hemmer usually perform with the quirkily titled Astro Buddha Agogo, as regulars at Copenhagen’s La Fontaine jazz club.
A highlight on this live disc is the version of Agogo’s ‘She Curves, She Curves’. Here, Blicher’s catchy flute and Gadd’s driving beats mesh with Hemmer’s Hammond, evoking the gospel-tinged jazz of organist Jimmy Smith. Elsewhere, the trio trawls the emotive depths of the blues. As well as Blicher’s own compositions it’s fitting that this disc includes ‘Like It Is’ by the late saxist Yusef Lateef, an artist with whom Gadd worked. This slimmed down version, with Blicher’s sax replacing the original’s double bass opening, works a treat.
Neil McKim