Dave Klemencic

Sketch for the Day #5

The Hammond B-3 organ family is a class of tone-wheel organs that were made popular through their use by jazz and blues artists of the 1960s and 70s. First produced in the 1950s, the organs are most often seen coupled with a Leslie rotating speaker cabinet. This large wooden box that you will see not far from the organ in many concerts contains two speakers, a downward facing bass speaker and an upwards facing tweeter in the center cabinet, with a rotating baffle in the lower space and a rotating horn in the upper. The rotating horns bounce the sound waves around within the box, then projects them out of the slat openings in the sides and large openings at hte top and bottom. This allows the tone to reverberate in odd patterns, producing a doppler effect which has a warbling-like sound. The organ features a number of drawbars across the top of the upper and lower manuals that can be adjusted to simulate the different lengths of pipe in a traditional pipe organ. Percussive switches allow for quick a high frequency to be emitted as each key is pressed down. Bass pedals, arranged similarly to the white and black keys on a piano extend across the bottom of the organ.
Highly skilled players can work the upper and lower manuals and the bass keys, extending and retracting the drawbars, turning on and off the percussive sounds and adjusting the speed at which the speaker cabinet is rotating to produce a tremendous variety of sound. While most bands that include organs do not employ the bass pedals, many duos and organ greats are known for their ability to employ all the available options.
While the organ itself is bulky, weighing over 400 pounds, and the speaker cabinet is large, delicate and cumbersome, many musicians still make the effort to cart the instrument around and perform live with it.

These organs have been out of production since the late 1970s, but originals are still much sought after and coveted by musicians and collectors alike. Their rarity has promoted the production of many alternatives, and digital technology has greatly improved in recent years to allow for almost indistinguishable replication of the organ’s great variety of sound qualities. The Roland VK organ series, the Nord electromechanical “clonewheel” organs, the Korg organ line and even the newly produce Hammond-Suzuki organs provide lightweight, sturdy alternatives for professional musicians today.

Sketch of the Day #4

This image depicts an American soldier descending a minaret in the Samara region of Iraq.

Sketch of the Day #3

Had the great pleasure of visiting Crabtree Falls late last summer. Located off the Blueridge Parkway not far from Charlottesville, the falls represent the longest single waterfall formation on this side of the Mississippi River. The hike and scenery are pretty spectacular, and the trail around the falls is well maintained. It’s a great day trip.

The Chemists!

Forrest Young performing with the Chemists at Cafe Diem on Monday, November 19, 2007.
The Chemists include Brian Mahne on piano and Rhodes, John Small on bass and Forrest Young on drums.

Brian Mahne performs regularly as the pianist of the DJ Williams Projekt, and is involved in a number of other top-notch local acts such as The Big Payback and Mark Ingraham’s Bungalo 6.

Among other things, bassist John Small is known particularly for his work touring with the Pat McGee band. He , Mahne and Forrest have worked relentlessly to pull this project together, and their efforts have paid off. Pulling from a wide catalog of music, they include numerous highly scripted original pieces and a strong catalog of challenging covers including Rush’s YYZ, tunes by the Bad Plus and much more. They’ve been performing Monday nights at Cafe Diem for the last month or so, and are scheduled to continue there for the near future. Don’t miss this band! Their dynamic shifts from swing to rock and Brazilian jazz to fusion are impeccable. These three bring a casual professionalism to the table that is seldom witnessed in live music today. And they rock.

Sketch for the Day #2

Robert Walter, seen here performing with the Greyboy Allstars at the now-defunct Starr Hill Music Hall in Charlottesville, Va. Robert heads and participates in a number of different acts from the Allstars to the Stanton Moore Trio, Mike Clark’s Prescription Trio, the Fantastic Four (which features Adam Deitch and Erik Krasno of Soulive), the Steve Kimock Band and the Headhunters to his own Robert Walter’s 20th Congress. He has also put out a CD under a similarly governmentally-influenced name, the Clinton Administration whose album “One Nation Under a Re-Groove” brings new life and an interesting new take to the music of Sly and the Family Stone.

He often shares the stage with such New Orleans greats as drummer Johnny Vidacovich and bassist James Singleton. Singleton and Vidacovich are one half of the Astral Project, an excellent jazz, funk and fusion act that we will discuss more at a later date.

The 20th Congress performing a late night set at Revolution during the Langerado Music Festival in 2005

Robert’s typical touring setup includes a Hammond organ, Fender Rhodes Piano and Hohner Clavinet. The organ is typically a B-3 or a C-3 that has been modified to allow for significantly easier transportation. This is played through a Leslie rotating speaker for the much sought after vintage tone. With the distortion cranked, he pulls from the machine a full, dark and crunchy tone that can really drive the music. The Rhodes and Clavinet both offer great additions to any of his acts, but it is customary for him to lean more on the organ in 20th Congress and Greyboy Allstars performances. He will occasionally apply further effects to the pianos, such as a delay or phaser on the Rhodes or a wah pedal on the Clavinet to offer up a wider varety of tones and textures.

Though not native to that area, he has lived in and out of New Orleans for many years, and seems to consider it home. He and his instrument collection made it through Hurricane Katrina, and he can be seen performing in intimate clubs such as Tipitina’s and the Maple Leaf often on random weeknights, kicking out towering jams for small, appreciative crowds.

"When worlds collide…"

-From the song “Big Brown Boots”, written by Will and 7#*

Revisited the Wacom tablet this evening and gussied-up a sketch from the Medeski, Scofield Martin and Wood concert I attended last year at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C.

This is the final product, complete with Fox Kids’ Video style logo (think X-Men cartoons from the early 1990’s)

This is the original image. I drew this and a half dozen or so other sketches during the show, and the band was polite enough to sign several of them after the show was over. You can see several of their autographs on this image.