Linda Dachtyl: Full Steam Ahead

Full Steam Ahead, Ohio-based organist Linda Dachtyl's fifth recording as leader of her own groups, is a largely upbeat studio session wherein she oversees a trio—guitarist Don Hales, drummer and husband Cary Dachtyl—on six of ten numbers.

The threesome by itself is quite good, so much so that one might reasonably argue that no more help is needed. Nevertheless, saxophonist Mark Donavan makes it a quartet on three tracks, and joins two guests, trumpeter Ben Huntoon and percussionist Patrick Ankrom, on the opening number, Dachtyl's buoyant "Illumination."

The playlist is rather unique in that it begins with a quartet of original compositions—two each by Linda Dachtyl and Hales before moving on to a pair of "suites"—"Full Steam Ahead" and "Lava Lamp Suite"—and closing with Juan Tizol's well-traveled "Caravan," two themes by Thelonious Monk, and the standard "April in Paris," written in 1932 and introduced to jazz audiences in 1955 by the Count Basie Orchestra. Yes, the coda is repeated "one more time."

Donavan plays tenor sax on "Illumination," Dachtyl's eccentric "Roxy Strut" and "April in Paris," alto on Monk's quirky "Think of One" and clarinet on "Caravan." He is adept on every instrument. Dachtyl shows her soulful side on Monk's familiar "'Round Midnight."—the album's lone ballad—while unleashing her impressive chops and creative juices on the faster numbers, even though she is a tad under-recorded (can that be said about a Hammond B3?). Hales is a steadying presence (and articulate soloist) while Cary Dachtyl never misses a beat.

The suites, by the way, consist in the first instance of James Moody's "Last Train from Overbrook" and Gene Ludwig's "Back on Track," in the second of the standards, "A Man and a Woman" and "Promises, Promises," sandwiched around Roberto Menescal's "My Little Boat."

This is a sharp, above-the-norm session wherein the organ is pivotal but not overbearing, and no one does anything less than polished or pleasing. In other words, a good listen from start to finish.