Search - Cecil Brooks III :: Double Exposure

Modest but excellent session

N. Dorward | Toronto, ON Canada | 07/08/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This one is named after Larry Young's last album, a duo with Joe Chambers also called _Double Exposure_; but it's more of a straightahead post-Jimmy Smith organ disc rather than channelling Young's fiery post-Trane style. Which is only right: Gene Ludwig is a 68-year-old Pittsburgh native who was turned on to the organ as a teenager when he heard Jimmy Smith play in 1957. I'd not encountered his music before, though he's worked with players like Sonny Stitt, Arthur Prysock & Pat Martino (as well as Charles Earland, before Earland switched from sax to organ). This date was an impromptu session recorded in some spare studio time in 2000 after Ludwig & drummer Cecil Brooks III had finished work on a Jimmy Ponder session. It's not so often that you hear a bare organ/drums combo (usually saxophone, bass &/or guitar are present), & it's nice to hear them in this spare setting, blasting through a nicely unobvious pick of tunes--some cute uptempo standards like "Tea for Two" & "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" (compare with the version on Smith's _Groovin' at Small's Paradise_) &, of course, the drummer's feature "Cute"; a couple melting, lavishly orchestrated ballads, "You've Changed" & "Seranade in Blue"; & a terrific Stevie Wonder cover, "Bird of Beauty" (Brooks' drumming here is quite tumultuous). Not a hevayweight album, perhaps, but it's great stuff if you love the sound of the Hammond, & it doesn't overstay its welcome (it's a compact 47 minutes long). Check it out."