Hammond B3 Summit 2005
B Flat
November 20, 2005
Yuta Kaneko—Hammond B3 organ
Akio Sasaki-- Hammond B3 organ
Daisuke Kawai-- Hammond B3 organ
Masazumi Noda-- Hammond B3 organ
Ushio Sakai— Hammond B3 organ
Tatsuhiko Takeda—drums
Akira Ohkubo—guitar
Shigeru Ukon--sax
Takayuki Koizumi--drums
Two huge B3 organ cabinets and four Leslie speakers with spinning cones sat ready and waiting in B Flat as the B3-loving crowd piled into the club. The annual B3 Summit was about to start and the afternoon setting, unusual as it was, seemed to already be evening. Everyone was drinking and ordering food like it was already bonenkai season. B Flat was changed to B3 Flat for the afternoon. Funky doctor Yoshihiko Yuki had arranged for one more year—the 4th--a special B3 Summit.
Things got started with Yuta Kaneko. He played with a trio of drums and sax, a very bop like affair. Mixing the organ's sound into sharp biting tone on most tunes, without the sweetness of other players, he put his bop chops to good use. Also nice was the potent bass pedal work, which kept even the organ solos without sax sounding like a full band. "Angel Eyes" and "East of the Sun" slowed down the pace and varied the tone, but Kaneko dropped into every tune with energy and power. With a horn-like soloing style, Kaneko showed why he's one of the most in-demand organists in Tokyo.
Akio Sasaki was next on the bill and Kaneko stayed to play with him for one tune. Their duo immediately created the sparks that the double organ and quartet of Leslie speakers was set up for. They jammed with a great sense of fun and mutual respect on "Now's the Time."
Sasaki continued by opening with "Have You Met Miss Jones?" The softer tone and lyrical style was a nice contrast with Kaneko's younger fiery approach. Once Sasaki got warmed up, though, he burned. Sasaki built his solos slowly and carefully, with a round tone and total control over all levels of the organ. He seemed to develop each and every note, rather than play one and hurry on to the next. That sense of care and concern made his ballads especially powerful. But at the same time, they brought out the organ's full potential, as if all parts of the organ could and should be used. In that sense, Sasaki is a masterfully complete player, but one who can still swing hard.
Daisuke Kawai came out for his duet with Sasaki dressed in a serious-looking suit. The two dropped into a deep groove with ping-pong-ing funkiness. Soloing back and forth as a duet again highlighted their contrasting styles in a fascinating way. After the duet, Kawai, restraining himself from his usual between-song talk, headed into funky tunes with a heavy backbeat. The addition of Akira Ohkubo on guitar gave the proceedings a more electric feel, especially on classic B3 numbers like "The Chapel" and Chicken Shack." Kawai slowed the pace for "Laura" and let his instincts run fully and freely. The 3/4 time broke up the tempo with a relaxed groove. With a wilder approach and a great ability to make those screaming loud tones, Kawai got right to the audience's heart.
After two straight hours, the summit then took a short break to let the organs and speakers cool down—not to mention the audience. The latest organ innovations from the Hammond company were on hand for inspection at the front of the club, and the feeling of being inside a B3 community was pervasive.
Masazumi Noda came on after the break. He started with a Brazilian flavored tune that worked with more complex rhythms. Mixing in different grooves and great rhythmic tension, he also had a lot to say. On "It Ain't Necessarily So" he really made the organ talk. His voice came through with individuality and character. His strength lies in that well-developed voice and the sophisticated rhythms he works with. His voice has a mature fullness to it that takes each melody line and expands it in several dimensions at once. That kind of confidence doesn't need to search for anything more than a great sound. Noda always knew just how to hold the right note for the right length.
Ushio Sakai, the godfather of Japanese B3 players, came on and the duet with Noda became a real conversation. As Noda said, it was not "O. G. D." (organ-guitar-drums) but "Double O. G. D." They swung hard. These two players both have a voice that really makes everything they say sound like something new. Sakai then got into very funky territory, backed up by his sunglasses and hipster cool. The walking blues with sax on Count Basie's "Chinese Stockings" was a powerful swinging affair. On "When You Wish Upon a A Star," he headed not for the easy maudlin areas, but for a range of lyrical sounds. He made the organ deeply lyrical, but then also hit those super-deep, chest-rattling bass notes. His swing and sense of blues form was impeccable.
The organ players also had great support. The drumming from Takeda in the first half and Koizumi in the second were tremendous. They have different styles, Takeda is nimbler and jazzier while Koizumi is stronger and funkier, but both know just how to work with the organ. Sax player Ukon came on and off for different configurations, playing more than his share of solos—which was welcomed by all.
His sense of fitting in with the organ sound was amazing, adding, accenting, taking the melody at the right moments and jumping out of the way of the B3's power when it came hurtling on. Guitarist Ohkubo was the hardest working of the day, though, having played with nearly everyone, switching nimbly back and forth from rhythm to lead. He didn't seem to mind his "overtime," though, and neither did anyone else.
The classic "Eight Counts for Rita" ended the day. Everyone was delightfully exhausted from the full workout but ready for one more. "One, two, three, four, I love B 3," became the final echo of the day with all the organ players jumping in for solos and the crowd screaming out the chorus. Of course, the rest of the evening was organ jam session. After a short break, students, fans and the "doctors" all stayed to play even longer. The crowd thinned out, though, and even a few maniacs headed to the door. As the funky doctor recommends, once you get a dose of vitamin B3, you just keep going.