I was tuned into Wil Blades last year around August or September. He played a gig at the Green Mill here in Chicago. The Green Mill if you don’t know has a very colorful history. Besides being quite possibly the oldest bar in Chicago; It was, I’m sure a speakeasy during prohibition and at one time none other than Al Capone was 25% owner of the place. It is also the claimed birthplace of slam poetry. What bought me to the club was the guest drummer for the night, Idris Muhammad. I heard he was in town and honestly I had never heard of Wil Blades but I wanted to see/hear one of the great Jazz drummers. Well, the performance was actually a listening party for Wil Blades’ debut CD as a leader, entitled Sketchy, on which Mr. Muhammad plays drums. I didn’t buy the CD that night, but I should have. Originally from Chicago, Wil Blades has been performing since the age of ten he is almost completely self-taught on his instrument of choice..the Hammond B3..yes that’s right, the Hammond B-3 organ, an instrument that hasn’t seen the light of day in mainstream music, in close to 30 years. Blades, was a drummer/guitarist by trade and then after being asked to sit in on organ he secured a regular gig as an organist at John Lee Hookers’ Boom Boom Room all before the age of twenty-one. Let me first state that I don’t do music reviews. I am woefully under-qualified for that task. Besides, that would require me to make unbiased assessments and on this blog I only talk about stuff I like so that being the case..I love the entire CD! It is fresh not dated at all but still very traditional Hammond B3 Jazz. “32nd street” is my favorite cut, it has that perfect New Orleans syncopated strut that makes the tune really groove. What I really love about the Blades’ CD is that there are just some classic B3 riffs in throughout that remind me of some of the great players, but again, the composition fresh and new. If you like classic B3 organ combos this CD is a good one to pick up.

Official Site

Listen to Sketchy:

Wil Bernard, Wil Blades, Eric Kalb and Peter Apfelbaum performing ‘Sunshine Alley’