Hammond organist Brian Ho, on the other hand, is just a rhythmic player who swings. He’s not as inventive as Jimmy Smith or Barbara Dennerlein , who are the two best jazz organists of my lifetime. Were his bandmates not on such an exalted level, it probably wouldn’t matter so much, but since they are, my verdict is that he is OK but nothing to write home about.
He does not play it safe; he jumps into the fire feet first, exploring extended chord positions and somehow landing on notes you’d never expect, giving one the thrill of hearing a master improviser in his element. At the beginning of the 20th century, art music was divided into “serious music” and “light music”. During the second half of the century, there was a large-scale trend in American culture toward blurring the boundaries between art and pop music.
- Then, he suddenly rallies