Jazz88’s Peter Solomon spoke with organist Pat Bianchi about his relationship to the Hammond B-3 organ and the influence of the late organist Joey DeFrancesco. Bianchi will perform at the Crooners Main Stage Thursday, November 14th with drummer Byron Landham and guitarist Paul Bollenback, who served as DeFrancesco’s rhythm section for many years.
TRANSCRIPT:
PETER SOLOMON: There’s some exciting news for fans of Hammond B3 organ. Pat Bianchi will be appearing at Crooner’s Main Stage Thursday evening with two musicians who were formerly the rhythm section for Hammond B3 master Joy DeFrancesco. That’s Byron Landham on drums and guitarist Paul Bollenback. I caught up with Pat Bianchi via Zoom last week to learn about that gig and to learn more about his own relationship to the Hammond B3. Bianchi came from a musical family, (and he is) originally from Rochester, New York, which is the home of Eastman School of Music. He fondly remembers being a little kid sitting down with his father to check out recordings of his dad’s dance band. He was given his first organ and amplifier combo when he was just seven and was set up in the family basement where he would practice playing melodies and bass lines in his left hand.
When he turned 16, Bianchi was given a copy of Joey DeFrancesco’s recording Live at the Five Spot. It turns out that was a huge moment for him. He told me more about it when we spoke recently via Zoom.
SOLOMON: So tell me what it was about Joey DeFrancesco that caught your ear, like, what was it that impressed you about this musician? He was a few years older than you, correct?
PAT BIANCHI: Yeah, he’s, I think, four, five or six years older than me at the time. I mean, first of all, (what impressed me) was the sound of the instrument. It caught my attention. But the way, you know, the lines that he had played, you know, I, although I had no idea what I was listening to, from a theoretical standpoint of time, the things he played caught my attention, the energy. And also the way that rhythm section worked together.,, They’d make these little kicks or hits together, or little subtle things going on that throughout the whole record that just I would sit there and constantly listen to the CD. If that CD was on vinyl, I have probably would have worn through five or six copies. That’s how much I had listened to that recording over the years.
SOLOMON: Can you talk about, for the person who hasn’t actually seen a Hammond B3 in action, what are the major challenges involved with playing that instrument, and specifically with playing jazz on that instrument?
BIANCHI: The thing that’s very different about the Hammond B3 versus, say, a piano, is in playing jazz, you have to play bass lines A lot of times with your left hand, piano players have the luxury of having a bass playerbut an org. On an organ, on the lower keyboard, many times you play the bass lines of your left hand and also play foot pedals – foot bass. There’s a misconception where, for example, there would be articles where they say Jimmy Smith played all those incredible bass lines with his feet, chords with his left hand and solos in his right (hand). That wasn’t the case. He would actually play the bass lines with his left hand, accent notes like, almost like on a kick drum, and accent the bass notes that way. But with that being said, the whole idea of having independence between the two hands is a huge challenge, both in sense of the rhythmic aspect of the different rhythms you play, and then the different harmonies and trying to fulfill those two roles, because I often try to envision it as my right hand being a saxophonist, my left hand being a bass player. Some days it works out better than others, but that’s, that’s kind of the goal, you know, for me. But the other challenges are, it’s an unweighted keyboard. It’s not like a piano. So the resistance isn’t there. So it’s easy that it can run away from you pretty easily if you’re not careful. So that that element of control. But also there’s the thing of dynamics, you know, not trying to play above the volume of a vocalist, for example, that you could bury so easily, or even a horn player or sax or saxophonist with no microphone, you can just bury that. So being very aware of the dynamics. So there’s a lot of those kind of small elements that always, you know, present themselves as challenges. But when it works, it’s, to me, it’s a magical thing.
SOLOMON: Let me flip that question around. What are the advantages of the B3 organ?
BIANCHI: For me, the first thing that’s an advantage is, unlike a piano, the note sustains. You hold the note down. On organ, you put a match book in there, hold that note down, and you can come back tomorrow and it will still be playing. So that whole idea of sustain, which makes it easier to play, like lines, like a horn player would, for example, last a little longer. They don’t die out like a piano.
I think the range of dynamics and sounds you can get for the instrument is very so there’s such a wide palette you can do with it, but also it’s such a universal instrument. I mean, everybody has heard Hammond organ, whether they realize it or not. I mean, whether you’re talking about, you know, Keith Emerson, you know from ELP, or you’re talking from Late Show with Dave Letterman Paul Schaefer, when he was playing, you know, or Jimmy Smith, or an R and B recording, you know, or a gospel music, or country music. It’s everywhere. So the way it can be made to fit in almost any context is a very unique thing, too.
SOLOMON: I’m Peter Solomon. Your tuned to the morning show on Minnesota’s jazz station 88.5
I’m speaking with organist Pat Bianchi, who’s appearing at Crooner’s Main Stage Thursday night. His most recent recording is called “Three.”
I want to kind of turn our attention to your most recent recording. So this features Troy Roberts on tenor sax, and drummer Colin Strahan. Could you describe the impetus for making this record?
BIANCHI: Yeah, it was an experiment, you know, we had just come out of COVID at the time, and I wanted to just try something different, and without any kind of real game plan going into the studio. The only tune I had an arrangement for was the very first tune “Love for Sale.” Everything else was going to be called like you would call it on a gig, so to speak. That’s why the tunes are a little bit longer, because one thing I’ve started to realize was that I miss as a listener at times, if you listen to like a lot of older recordings, there’s this feeling of it’s live, in a sense, whether it’s actually a live recording or if they’re all recording in the same room. There’s a certain kind of energy that is, it’s not better or worse. It’s just different than something that’s really produced seamless, perfect. So I felt like I wanted to go in and see if we can just capture that kind of energy, and, you know, just see where it goes. And I didn’t actually have the expectation that it would turn into a record. It was going to be, you know, if it does cool, if not, well, it was a fun session, but it actually ended up turning out really well. And I think, and a lot of people actually made that comment, that it feels like it’s either they’re at a concert or the live date, whereas, because the tunes are longer, the interaction, those kind of things, it’s a little bit rough around the edges in certain places, which I think is important actually. That’s actually a good thing to not have it too perfect.
SOLOMON: Your upcoming gig at Crooners I mentioned before – you’re going to be playing with drummer Byron Landham and guitarist Paul Bollenback. and obviously they were rhythm players with Joey DeFrancesco for many years. Can you talk about what went into the decision to work with them?
BIANCHI – The biggest thing and getting to play with them over Gosh, off and on over the past 10 years is, to me, it’s been an education, kind of, from that perspective. It’s like this, the thing that that trio evolved into in terms of the communication, and that’s the risk taking and interplay and dialog. It’s all parts, all of them created that together, and it’s always fascinated me, and that’s probably been always my favorite sound. So I decided that the best way to learn that is to put myself in the middle of that and get my butt kicked. I mean, I had known all those guys, you know, since probably 1999
but in the process of that, we became great friends, and we ended up just playing a lot together over the years. I mean, opening for Steely Dan, a bunch of different recordings we had done together. So it’s, I always call that the “special edition trio,” because it’s a real special group. Anytime I get to play with them. I mean, we don’t get it to do it as often these days. Everybody has different projects and whatnot. But, you know, it’s to get to play with them and just to be in the middle of that. You know, it’s just for me, it’s really a special experience.
SOLOMON: Is there anything else you want to say in advance of your gig?
BIANCHI: No, just if you’re around, please come out. We’re gonna have a good time. We like to laugh a lot on stage. And, you know, get pretty adventurous and have a good time. And I think it’s going to be be great to see all of everybody there.
