Doug Carn JID005

Doug Carn is one of the finest Hammond B-3 organists alive. Also known as a fine pianist among jazz aficionados, he's spent the last six years leading the post-bop West Coast Organ Band. To producers/multi-instrumentalists Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Carn is a primary influence, the creative mind behind four seminal spiritual jazz-funk albums made for Black Jazz during the 1970s, including the oft-sampled Infant Eyes and Adam's Apple. He is a perfect subject for the fifth Jazz Is Dead project. Recorded on vintage gear at L.A.'s Linear Labs Studio, these analog recordings meld grooves from jazz, soul, funk, hip-hop, Afro-Latin, and Brazilian styles in startling new ways.
Carn plays organ exclusively on ten of these eleven collectively written cuts. Muhammad and Younge, in addition to co-composing and producing, play electric bass and Rhodes piano respectively. The house band also includes drummer Malachi Morehead, alto saxophonist Shai Golan, and trumpeter Zach Ramacier. "Dimensions" emerges with a glimmering, reverbed Rhodes and softly swelling B-3 in a circular, chromatic progression. The band responds with tight, butt-shaking, interlocking grooves. The scalar progression remains but is dominated by Morehead's slamming beats, Carn's meaty organ fills, and Muhammad's aggressive, rubbery bass line; combined, they provide the master key for the jazz-funk lock. The horn/bass/drum vamp on "Autumn Leaves" (not the jazz standard) is slightly angular. Introduced by Morehead, his beats preface a compelling dialogue between Carn and Younge. "Processions" offers another climb up the chromatic ladder. Initially led by the horns, they eventually give way to a slow-burning solo from Carn as Younge and Muhammad support with a locked-in vamp. Ramacier's trumpet solo is rich and expressive. The melody on the single "Desert Rain" is modal and breezy. Shimmering Rhodes and warm horns hover above the rhythm section's syncopated, in-the-pocket hip-hop breaks and accents. Into this seductive swirl floats Carn. He expands the harmony with bluesy, expressionist fills and a canny, understated solo. "Freedom at Sunset" builds out the classic soul-jazz vibe. Carn, Golan, and Ramacier deliver an economical, riff-based melodic frame, before Morehead's funky breaks rise above with skittering snare and hi-hat. Carn's organ solo digs way deep into the modal blues, as the rhythm section and horns buoy him. Single "Lions Walk" includes a guest appearance by Carn's peer Gary Bartz on alto sax. (He's also the subject of JID006.) Their dialogue is rich, complex, and nearly symbiotic to rise above a roiling progressive funk statement from the rhythm section. Carn, Muhammad, and Morehead go full samba on "Nunca um Malandro," with the leader adding Rhodes piano, mono synth, and vocoder to his organ in the mix. It's bright, fluid, celebratory, and infectiously danceable. While Doug Carn JID005 is certainly a fine entry in this series, it is also, more importantly, a clear, innovative standout among the year's groove jazz entries. ~ Thom Jurek