Jim Alfredson

Family Business

Posi-Tone

Yes, more organ music, but organist Jim Alfredson, on his first Posi-Tone release as a leader, invites three of the label’s horn players to join his trio of guitarist Will Bernard and drummer EJ Strickland. The three horn players should be familiar names, all leaders in their own right, who, like Bernard, have their own albums on the label. They are trombonist Michael Dease, trumpeter Alex Sipiagin, and tenor saxophonist Diego Rivera. Kevin “Bujo” Jones adds percussion. Alfredson may be a relatively new name however since he is new to the label as a headliner although he has appeared multiple times as a sideman.  His back catalog includes a 2009 self-released album dedicated to the memory of his parents called In Memorandum. In 2013, Jim released Dirty Fingers – A Tribute To Big John Patton. In 2015 he released a progressive rock album under the name THEO called The Game of Ouroboros. In 2021 he released a follow-up called Figureheads. Jim’s longest running project is the jazz organ trio Organissimo, formed in 2000 and having released seven albums. Alfredson has performed with blues and jazz artists including Buddy Guy, BB King, Taj Mahal, David Sanborn, Randy Brecker, Chuck Israel, The Holmes Brothers, Ron Blake, and more.

Alfredson honors mentor Dr. Lonnie Smith with Smith’s “Peepin’” featuring solos from Rivera, Bernard, and the leader is this smooth glider. Both Bernard and Rivera can play in many styles, but they clearly hunker down here in the classic jazz organ mode. “For Miles,” brought in by Dease, is a contrafact of Miles Davis’s “Four” with the trombonist stepping up for the first turn followed by Sipiagin, Rivera, the leader, and Bernard – all keeping it swinging.  “Foster Blues” is for the great organist Ronnie Foster, and it too moves briskly with horn accents in just the right places before Dease, Sipiagin, Bernard, and Rivera cut their paths through the rhythms put down by Alfredson and Strickland. Alfredson’s boogaloo original, “Side Eye” soars with feisty B3 and one of the set’s best horn arrangements, as Dease and Sipiagan are especially fiery.

The melodic ballad “Verna” is for Alfredson’s mom, who raised seven children. Bernard shines here with his “less is more” solo. “Winkin’, Blinkin’ And Nod” is named for the three smokestacks of the new defunct power plant in Lansing, MI which used to serve Oldsmobile and General Motors plants, among other facilities in the area of Lansing, MI where Alfredson and some of these bandmates reside. Not to get too cute, but there is heavy octane in this hard swinger which has a thunderous finale. Similarly, “REO Town” is named for Alfredson’s neighborhood, once run down, and now enjoying a rebirth thanks to an entrepreneurial thrust. Hence, the mood is celebratory here as well as on “Strange Matter” and “Easy Breezy,’’ two tunes about family, the former a burner, and the latter a mid-tempo, lyrical piece rife with solos from all major guests.

Straight forward, swinging, and tight – just the way organ-based music should be whether rendered by three, or in this case, seven.

• Jim Hynes

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