Then there’s what’s under the hood. There are two layers of keys, four sets of drawbars, and eighteen changeable presets, creating a sound that arguably smokes any modern instrument. You need a virtuoso sitting behind the Hammond or, somehow, it doesn’t erupt in those fat, bubbly tones, or in those long glissandos that rip the paint off the wall.

“I just love the instrument,” Robert Walter enthuses. He knows the mantle he wears when he plays the Hammond and the Leslie. He knows the lineage, which, in no particular order, includes Jimmy Smith, Brother Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, and newcomers like Joey DeFrancesco. Walter wasn’t born behind an organ; in fact, he began gigging with a piano and a Fender Rhodes. The story goes that he wanted something more powerful, wider in bandwidth—something…heavier.

Robert Walter’s Super Heavy Organ

Robert Walter is the definitive soul-jazz organist of his generation. His latest project, Super Heavy Organ, was recorded in his new hometown of New Orleans. One cannot help but wonder why he waited until recently to relocate from his native West Coast to the Crescent City, with its musical history rich in both classic jazz and dirty loose limbed funk. “I had been performing in New Orleans for years. As a kid I was obsessed with the music coming out of this city. I made a decision to come here and experience it first hand. It’s the best move I have ever made. I have been lucky enough to record an album with some of my favorite musicians, people who have influenced me,” remarks Walter. The new release is a collaboration with some of the city’s most respected musicians, including drummers Stanton Moore and Johnny Vidacovich, bassist James Singleton, tenor saxophonist Tim Green and guest vocalist Anthony Farrell. They recorded live in the studio with a decidedly rough edged sound to capture the raw spontaneity of the performances. The interactions between the young leader and his veteran band mates are mutually inspired. “My concept was not to imitate New Orleans music of the past, but to infuse the tradition with my own ideas,” he describes. The resulting music is both exploratory and modern while maintaining its ties to the heritage of jazz. It is unquestionably innovative and funky at the same time.

Robert Walter has earned international acclaim for his work with the Greyboy All-Stars, who are credited with resurrecting the classic soul-jazz sound for a modern audience, and for pioneering his own group, the 20th Congress. Walter’s bold attack of his Hammond B-3 and inventive compositions give his Super Heavy Organ band its edge and place it at the forefront of the modern jazz scene. His playing is by turns dissonant and audacious or subtle and soulful, favoring surprising shifts of emotion over show stopping technique. He explains, “I try to keep a sense of danger in my music.” His unique melodies are a celebrated contribution to the evolution of jazz, soul and funk music.

Robert showcases his genius on the Super Heavy Organ album, specifically with the track “Criminals Have a Name for It.” Indeed! Robert highlights the bottom register of the acoustic piano, using the low keys to demark a sort of Gulf Coast clave, juxtaposing thick organ tones overtop. The next track, “34 Small” is a jazz waltz, against which Walter, pulls out all of the stops, soloing with eighths, sixteenths, and thirty-second note clusters. All the while, the pulse and the energy magnify.

Stanton Moore is the ideal drummer to accent a powerhouse ensemble of New Orleans infused jazz and funk. Born and raised in Louisiana, Moore has undoubtedly been influenced by the past and present jazz greats who have resided there. Moore gained recognition as a founder of the funk/groove band, Galactic, with whom he continues to tour. He released Flying the Koop in 2002; a highly charged, improvisation-rich collaboration with Chris Wood, Karl Denson, Brian Seeger and saxophonist Skerik. Moore tours with Robert Walter in the funk super group, Frequinox, and was featured on Robert’s 2000 release Money Shot. No one in the business can compete with the incredible energy that Moore provides on stage, enabling him to pull magical rhythms from his drum kit. Stanton Moore owns up about the first track on the Super Heavy Organ album, “I’ve always enjoyed working with Robert. He’s a great player and a great writer. I always look forward to learning whatever new tunes he brings to the table. I learned ‘Adelita’ at the session and it’s become one of my favorite tunes to play live.”

Johnny Vidacovich’s loose and syncopated drumming has inspired not only his many students, most notably Stanton Moore and Brian Blade, but a whole generation of young drummers. He has played with legendary New Orleans pianists Professor Longhair and James Booker as well as such jazz greats as Eddie Harris, Nat Adderly and Mose Alison. He continues to record and tour with Astral Project, one of New Orleans’ longest running and most relevant modern jazz groups. He contributes both slippery funk and understated beauty to the music. His elastic rhythms are essential to the Super Heavy Organ band and its recording. The song “El Cuervo,” which is in 7/4, is a forum for musical expansion. When it graduates into a jazz vamp to underscore Tim Green’s solo, Johnny V. reveals himself as the consummate bop drummer, alternately teasing us with chunks of funk.

Tim Green, master of the tenor saxophone, gives a distinct character to Robert Walter’s Super Heavy Organ. His playing is harmonically adventurous and deeply emotional. A New Orleans resident, Green has been active in the city’s jazz scene for many years. He has played with such renowned musicians as Peter Gabriel, Bruce Hornsby, the Indigo Girls, Medeski Martin and Wood, Phish and George Porter. Green also served as the President of the Louisiana Jazz Federation, which helps to promote jazz awareness throughout the state. Green’s saxophone additions to Super Heavy Organ are riveting and unforgettable. The song, “Smells like Dad’s Drunk Again” is harmonically and rhythmically one of the more bizarre—and satisfying—tracks on Super Heavy Organ. Tim Green is absolutely in his element negotiating the changes. He just builds and builds against the gritty Hammond and the cushion of ride cymbal and toms.

Bassist, James Singleton, was beckoned to New Orleans at an early age. He was quick to make a name for himself by playing with such blues and jazz greats as Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, James Booker, John Mooney and the band Astral Project. He continues to reside in New Orleans, offering his masterful bass lines to various musical projects. His chemistry with longtime collaborator, drummer Johnny Vidacovich is undeniable. On the track ‘Hardware,’ he transforms a simple funk vamp into something more ominous and primitive with his raw approach and outrageous slides on the acoustic bass.

Anthony Farrell has made use of his vocal gift since he began performing on the Venice Beach Promenade at the age of six. As the youngest member of the Robert Colburn School of Performing Arts Jazz Workshop, Farrell was afforded the opportunity to study under such Jazz luminaries as Harold Battiste, Nedra Wheeler, and Wynton Marsalis. The expert training paid off. He has offered his musical talent to the funk trio, Greyhounds, since 2000. The song “Spell” is pure soul. This is universal. This could be Willie Mitchell in Memphis; this could be the Nevilles in New Orleans. Farrell’s role is significant; his quiet, wordless vocal refrain evokes a haunting mood.

Both the Super Heavy Organ album, and the band, are about listening, reacting and stretching out. The sound is brilliant enough from the get go…and then, somehow, it starts its build! When it finally comes down to a whisper, and the Hammond is in the reeds, it works magic. And there’s dark magic a plenty on this album.