Slobber Pup

The Hammond organ is capable of an astonishing range of sounds, but its versatility was overshadowed decades ago with the rise of synthesizers. Still, specialists have persisted in moving the instrument beyond its inevitable but awesome association with soul jazz. One of the foremost terrors of the organ today is Jamie Saft, who's best known for his work with John Zorn. His band Slobber Pup is strongly reminiscent of Tony Williams' Lifetime, in which organist Larry Young set the tone with overwhelming menace, doomy tones and frenzied playing. Black Aces is a dirty-sounding rawk record. This isn't a jazz palette; it's more like free rock. Because of that, your enjoyment of the record will depend on your tolerance for swarthy, sweaty, non-stop soloing. Joe Morris always has new things to say on guitar, but the average listener may be forgiven for disengaging six continuously epic minutes into a solo. The rhythm section of Trevor Dunn and Balasz Pandi meshes well and navigates continuously modulating energy levels with great intuition. However, Saft's braying, ever more fraught organ playing is just too much to handle over the course of songs that surpass ten minutes (and in one case, 27). This is an enjoyable, potentially cathartic record for a while, and although it's easy to imagine this on someone's top ten of the year list, it's likely to be too exhausting for many.