Goldings / Bernstein / Stewart Organ Trio at Cuyahoga Community College

Goldings / Bernstein / Stewart Organ Trio at Cuyahoga Community College
Tri-C Metropolitan Auditorium
Cleveland, Ohio
April 3, 2022

The fickle nature of the music business and the smaller draw of jazz related projects in general, bodes against the likelihood of any one jazz group keeping a regular cast in place for any length of time. Even during the golden era of jazz, this scenario was a challenging preposition at best. This only makes it even more amazing to realize that the trio of Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein, and Bill Stewart has regularly made music together for over 30 years. Listeners at large got their first taste of this matchless organ trio with the release of Goldings' 1991 release The Intimacy of the Blues, recorded for the German Minor Music label.

The newly-issued Perpetual Pendulum marks the group's anniversary, which in turn lent itself well to a tour in support of their latest endeavor. Hitting major cities and mixing up venues that included both large halls and smaller jazz clubs, a recent appearance on the campus of Cuyahoga Community College actually marked Bernstein's first time appearing in the Cleveland area. The students of the college's JazzFest Academy, under the direction of Dominick Farinacci, were fortunate enough to work with the trio in the afternoon, followed by a few performances of their own at the start of the evening concert.

The trio's generous set included numbers from the new release along with some old favorites. The opening "Let's Get Lots" revealed the power of this ensemble even at a slower tempo. Goldings and Bernstein intertwined their distinctive melodic lines establishing a breezy mood, with Stewart hitting a Latinesque groove on the bridge. Upping the tempo, the Gary Bartz chestnut "Libra" was bristling energy all the way, the opening riff accentuated by Bill's snare buzz accents.

Part of a fresh trend in revisiting Wayne Shorter's catalog from the '60s, the group updated "United," an iconic number from the Jazz Messengers book. There is a call and response nature to the lead line that was first mirrored by Stewart's repeated tom-tom introduction. Then, Bernstein and Goldings threw phrases back and forth in true fashion, recalling the sound of a much bigger ensemble.

In a nervous and jaunty manner that fit its title, Stewart's "FU Donald" hit a minor gait where Bernstein slid up and down the neck of his guitar while worrying a phrase or two. Goldings answered the mood by turning on the Leslie's vibrato. By the tune's end, abstraction included whoops and hollers from the organ along with Stewart's rumbling toms and scraping sounds of the snare wires.

Pulling out his churchy stops, Goldings calmed the seas with a heartfelt solo start to "The Man I Love." Bernstein eventually fell in, working at his melodic best, supported tastefully by Bill's swirling brushes. Afterwards, Goldings considered an analogy comparing the movie Get Back and what it might have been like seeing George and Ira Gershwin at work on their musical masterpieces. Goldings' shtick evolved into a very amusing monologue that hinted at his marvelous sense of humor.

With a wealth of material at their disposal, the trio wrapped up the evening sagaciously flipping back to Goldings' "Subtle Digs" from the 1996 set Big Stuff. One of many tunes where a repeated tag allowed Stewart to work his magic, he would solo in and around the vamp. While repeatedly smashing the hi-hats with his left foot, the drummer seamlessly swept his toms, accented by an occasional, sharp rim shot. An in-the-pocket take on Ahmad Jamal's "Night Mist Blues" seemed the ideal closing gambit, wrapping up an evening that served to remind how vital the organ trio continues to be, especially in capable hands.

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