The Deep Blue Organ Trio call their third album
Folk Music -- and they're right; the rootsy, bluesy soul-jazz that they crank out on this CD is kind of a folk music in its way, a handed-down tradition that appeals to the man in the street as opposed to the pundits in the towers. They adhere 110 percent to the style that once was a fixture at inner-city bars everywhere in the U.S.A., established over a half-century before by Jimmy Smith. Organist
Chris Foreman doesn't flash his chops in the flamboyant manner of Smith. Rather, his is a low-key presence much like that of
Melvin Rhyne or Charles Covington, and he displays a command of all of the patterns and timbres of his predecessors on the Hammond B-3 -- the shouting Leslie climax, the held-down note underneath a developing riff, etc. Guitarist
Bobby Broom likewise evokes
Kenny Burrell and his friends, and drummer Greg Rockingham lays down the irresistible familiar grooves that remind one of his ancestors in the field. Sometimes,
the Deep Blue's choice of material will veer into the category of unpredictable;
the Beatles' "She's Leaving Home" from the
Sgt. Pepper's days easily withstands the conversion to a moody, relaxed soul ballad, as does
the Ohio Players' "Sweet Sticky Thing" into a fast trot. Otherwise, it's mostly blues, a few jazz semi-standards (it's good to hear their eloquent, evolving revival of
Lee Morgan's prettiest tune, "Ceora"), and the occasional Tin Pan Alley standard ("I Thought About You"). Nothing new here, but they do it so well and with such a natural, unfeigned feeling for the old organ trio groove that you don't care. ~ Richard S. Ginell