Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Gene Ludwig: Soul Serenade

123

Gene Ludwig: Soul Serenade

Gene Ludwig: Soul Serenade
Aside from extended touring with Sonny Stitt, Arthur Prysock, as well as in a trio co-led with Pat Martino, Hammond B3 Organ master Gene Ludwig’s activities have primarily taken place within the Pittsburgh, Pa. area jazz scene. Although widespread recognition has eluded Ludwig, his command of the instrument and ability to make vital music while sustaining a wicked groove equals his better-known contemporaries.

Soul Serenade, his second recording for the Loose Leaf label, finds Ludwig in excellent form and generously willing to share the spotlight. Guitarist Ken Karsh has a full, open sound, and the blues pervades everything he plays. Tenor saxophonists J. Willis and Don Aliquo Jr. are well schooled in the parameters of soul-jazz, with the latter exhibiting a penchant for executing long, complicated lines. Underneath it all, drummer Tom Wendt lays down a fat yet unobtrusive beat and displays a keen sense of dynamics.

Devoid of clichés and crowd-pleasing fanfare, Ludwig’s solos are the epitome of economy and deep musical knowledge. During his composition “Duff’s Blues,” a medium tempo shuffle, he frequently makes chords scream, and manipulates time at will, playing ahead, on top of, and behind the beat. “Please Send Me Someone To Love” contains some of Ludwig’s finest playing of the session. With Karsh’s ringing notes serving as terse commentary, he states the melody reverently, then immediately goes into blues overdrive with a potent combination of sustained chords and single note sallies.

(Available through Loose Leaf Music Corp. P.O. Box 234, Deal, NJ 07723)

Track Listing

Duff's Blues#; Freddie the Freeloader*; Please Send Me Someone to Love*; Soul Serenade#; Rejoicin'*; You Don't Know what Love Is*; On a Misty Night*; My Shining Hour*

Personnel

Gene Ludwig
organ, Hammond B3

Gene Ludwig - Organ/Leader; Ken Karsh - Guitar; Tom Wendt - Drums; J. Willis#, Don Aliquo, Jr* - Tenor Saxophone

Album information

Title: Soul Serenade | Year Released: 2001 | Record Label: Loose Leaf Music

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.