The Joe Kap Organ Trio: Street Noise

The first half of this album seems to be blue and funky, with Kap laying down a groove at either ballad or mid-tempo pace, but relaxed and relying upon single notes as opposed to an overpowering chorded keyboard technique. The second half starts with Cole Porter's "It's Alright With Me" taken way up-tempo and "Try It Baby," an R&B tune that Berry Gordy wrote for Marvin Gaye. From this point, Kap seems more interested in providing more of a funk overlay to these tunes and it adds a bit more grease and grit to the presentation. "Mr. Heid" is a percussive tribute to Bill Heid. "Street Noise Part 2" is a free jazz venture which begins with what sounds like electronica on the Fender Rhodes. On that track, guitarist Paul Pieper, who does not get a lot of solo space, plays in the manner of Dom Minasi with one eye on the sheet music and the other on the stratosphere. There is also a touch of acid jazz on the latter half of the session.

A lot of the enjoyment of this group relates to one's affinity (or tolerance) for the organ trio. Marty Morrison is a powerhouse drummer who obviously clicks well with Mr. Kap, and Pieper gets in some good licks on guitar, but he is largely a background player here. I think that this album is too ambitious in trying to reach across several generations of B-3 followers.

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