Most guitar/organ trios focus on the deep groove. Not so with the long-standing team of Larry Goldings/B3, Peter Bernstein/g and Bill Stewart/dr. The name of their game is to overpower you with subtlety, making bluesy conversations with shadows, musings and moods.
Here, we have the gents at their sophisticated best with a collection of self-penned pieces and standards. Stewart’s grooves understated while Bernstein is coy during the sleek tribute to Steely Dan on Goldings’ “Fagen” while tensile pulses team with rumbles and sepia tones during Stewart’s “Don’t Ever Call Me Again.”
Stewart is a master of the brushes as he skates like Dorothy Hamill on the nimble treatment of “I’m in the Mood for Love” and flows like drapery on a bluesy “Maybe.” Guitars and orgn shadows bubble over during “Calm” and the team shows the pulse of a 10K runner on Carla Bley’s “And Now The Queen.” The paint brushes use pastel colors on this rich canvas of songs.
Pirouet Records