Soul Message Band Soulful Days

Soul Message Band
Soulful Days
Delmark Records

While at the Chicago Blues Festival, a photographer-blues deejay I knew mentioned he was going to catch The Joel Paterson Trio in part because of organist Chris Foreman being part of the trio. I made sure to see a portion of their Festival set to see Foreman, one of the most outstanding Hammond B-3 players in the world. He did not fail to astonish. I was aware of Foreman from his playing as part of the Deep Blue Organ Trio on a Delmark album as well as his playing on a Red Holloway Delmark album. All these albums include drummer Greg Rockingham, and the other member of the Deep Blue Organ Trio is famed guitarist Bobby Broom. Other members of this band include guitarist Lee Rothenberg and Greg Ward on alto sax. Geof Bradford on tenor sax replaces Ward on two of the 9 performances, and both saxophones are heard on one track.

There is some spectacular music to be heard here starting with the strutting blues groove of Rothenberg's "Sir Charles," named for Barkley and then organist Earland. Ward displays a sharp bluesy tone, while Rothenberg shows his facility and taste in constructing his solo. Foreman quickly exhibits why he is among the top practitioners of the Hammond B-3 on the planet, Of course, Foreman and Rockingham have been playing so long together that one should not be surprised how tight the groove they lay down is.

The material range from the blues to hard bop and a standard tossed in. There is Cal Massey's reflective "These Are Soulful Days," with Bradford featured, a terrific rendition of Wayne Shorter's hard bop classic from his Art Blakey days, "Hammer Head," with both saxophones heard with the band's feel evoking Jimmy Smith's classic album "The Sermon." In fact, there is a rousing rendition of Smith's hot blues, "J.O.S." from that album. If not possessing a heavy vibrato like Ben Webster, Bradford is marvelous on a reflective performance of Rodgers and Hart "Little Girl Blue."

A rendition of Freddie Hubbard's "Thermo," another song first done by Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Ward leads off with sparks flying before Foreman takes over with his deep-fried organ grease. It is a marvelous close to this terrific album.

I received my review copy from Delmark. This review appeared in the July-August 2019 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 385). Here is a video of the Soul Message Band performing, and backing a vocalist Hinda Hoffman.