Artist: Mike Carr

Date of Release: 01/08/2002

Catalogue no: MC502

Label: Mike Carr

Price: £13.99

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Track Listing

Mike Carr . hammond organ/bass pedals/grande piano/vibraphone
Steve Kaldestad . tenor saxophone
Steve Fishwick . trumpet
Matt Fishwick . drums

with Robert Ahwai . guitar on tracks 6/7/8/10
& Simon Morton . percussion on tracks 6/7/8/10

Reviews

01/11/2002 Jack Masserik, Evening Standard

Amble over to the Festival Hall foyer between 5.15pm and 6.45pm tomorrow (Fri 1 Nov) and enjhoy a free hour with one of the unsung heroes of British modern jazz, Mike Carr. A self-taught wizard on piano, vibes and Hammond organ, he plays with rare drive and fluency. Inspired by Blue Note greats like trumpeters Clifford Brown and Lee Morgan, tenorists Hank Mobley and Sonny Rollins, vibraphonist Milt Jackson and piansts Bud Powell and Horace Silver, Mike has never wavered from their post-Parkerian path. It's an exacting art, but exhilarating when done well.

On this album he introduces three kindred spirits - Canadian tenorist Steve Kaldestead and the Fishwick twins, trumpeter Steve and drummer Matt. These players look young enough to be his grandsons but sound completely at home with his neo-bop themes. Several are dedicated to bop icons ('Birdtime' to Parker, 'Blues For Dizzt' to Gillespie, 'Milt The Magnificent' to Jackson) and the title track commemorates the recently demised drummer Ronnie Stevenson, one of Mike's early Newcastle colleagues, whose impressive career included stints with such superstars as Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Getz and Wes Montgomery.

20/10/2002 Dave Gelly, The Observer

The picture inside the CD booklet shows Mike Carr, looking remarkably like the Godfather, surrounded by three impossibly young faces. That pretty well sums up the music to be heard in this sharp, high-energy set. Carr, a serious contender for the title of Hammond Organ King of the World, has created a cracklingly effective little band. It features the 25-year-old Fishwick twins, Steve and Matt, on trumpet and drums respectively, along with Canadian saxophonist Steve Kaldestad. Most of the numbers go at quite moderate tempos but the verve and sheer intensity of the playing is enough to make your eyes water. Steve Fishwick, especially, is a name to watch out for. Not content with frightening other organists half to death, Carr also plays piano and vibraphone here, and composed all but one of the 11 tunes.

11/10/2002 John Fordham, The Guardian

Almost as far to the other side of keyboard-and-brass jazz as it's possible to imagine. Mike Carr has been an exciting stalwart of the British Hammond organ scene since the 1960s (one of his early bands on Tyneside included a young John McLaughlin), and this rare disc from him is deservedly attracting attention on both sides of the Atlantic. Carr plays keyboards and vibes, there's a lot of headlong Hammond blues and exclamatory hard bop. Almost all the tunes are Carr's originals, and bristle with the unkempt, soulful drive of the Hammond tradition and the raw eagerness of an even earlier proto-bop session from the 40s.

01/01/2002 Peter Bevan, The Northern Echo

For one of our finest Hammond organ players Mike Carr has made far too few records. This one, with his new band, is a gem.