{"id":742,"date":"2010-07-18T14:03:32","date_gmt":"2010-07-18T19:03:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/funky16corners.lunarpages.net\/?p=742"},"modified":"2012-08-03T16:14:14","modified_gmt":"2012-08-03T21:14:14","slug":"gene-ludwig-1937-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/?p=742","title":{"rendered":"Gene Ludwig 1937-2010"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong>
\n
\nThe painting of Gene from the cover of ‘Organ Out Loud’ by Jack Lonshein<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gene Ludwig at the organ (Circa 1965)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Listen\/Download – Gene Ludwig -Sticks and Stones <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Listen\/Download – Gene Ludwig – The Vamp <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Listen\/Download – Gene Ludwig – Blues For Mr Fink <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Listen\/Download – Gene Ludwig – House of the Rising Sun <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Listen\/Download – Gene Ludwig – Comin’ Home Baby <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Listen\/Download – Gene Ludwig – Moanin’ <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Greetings all. <\/strong>
\nAs I mentioned in Friday\u2019s post, I got the very sad news last week that Hammond master Gene Ludwig<\/strong> had passed away at the age of 72.
\nIf you\u2019re one of the rare few that\u2019s been on the Funky16Corners tip since the web zine days, you know I ride for the Hammond organ in a big way, from the greasiest R&B, to pure soul, soul jazz and funk, I have never been able to get enough of the Hammond sound.
\nGene Ludwig was one of the last of what I would call the accepted past masters of the jazz organ. He was a contemporary of Brother Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, Dr Lonnie Smith, Seleno Clarke <\/strong>and pretty much everyone else that was part of the jazz organ explosion of the 50s and 60s.
\nWhat Gene was also a part of was the great \u2013 mostly unexplored – Pennsylvania organ tradition. One of the really interesting things I picked up out of years of collecting and researching Hammond records was how many great players hailed from the Keystone State (and not just Philly). The man that launched a thousand organ combos, the mighty Jimmy Smith<\/strong> as well as Jimmy McGriff, Charles Earland, Richie Varola, Greg Hatza, Papa John and Joey DeFrancesco, Shirley Scott<\/strong> and of course Gene Ludwig all got their start in the bars and nightclubs of Pennsylvania, in both the big cities and out in the hinterlands. Was it something in the water? An abundance of organs (or bars\/lounges with organs in them)?
\nIn his obit <\/a>Gene was quoted as saying that he turned on to R&B (and organ players) by listening to Pittsburgh radio legend Porky Chedwick<\/strong>. Pittsburgh has a long history as a kind of isolated Shangri La for R&B and soul fans where any number of brilliant but obscure records are worshipped by the locals because they were circulated on the radio and at dances.
\nWhether this had anything to do with spawning organists, as opposed to just fans of the sound, I have no idea, but it is intriguing.
\nGene Ludwig \u2013 a native of the wester PA town of Twin Rocks started out as a pianist, and had his \u2018road to Damascus\u2019 moment when he saw Jimmy Smith perform at a Pittsburgh club called the Hurricane in 1957.
\nLudwig went on to have a 50 year career as one of the great proponents of the Hammond, recording locally as well as on national labels like Mainstream and Atlantic.
\nHe was really what I would consider (at least for my taste) the consummate organist in that he approached the instrument from a jazz perspective (with serious chops to match) yet was not afraid to cut loose and burn on the keyboard, expanding into the realms of R&B and soul.
\nI\u2019ve consumed a lot of virtual ink rambling on about this or that ultra-raw organ 45, but the best Hammond players, no matter how soulful or funky all came to the instrument from the jazz roots.
\nGene Ludwig was old enough to hear the early rumblings of the Hammond sound from the jazz\/jump\/R&B nexus of cats like Wild Bill Davis, Bill Doggett <\/strong>and Milt Buckner,<\/strong> and mastered the instrument in the wake of the mid-50s scene when Jimmy Smith rewrote the book on jazz organ.
\nThe ensuing expansion of the electronic organ, as both a performance platform and recorded instrument was wide ranging on both established jazz labels like Blue Note, Prestige, Riverside and Atlantic, but as my crates will attest, on countless tiny local labels eager for a piece of the action. It\u2019s not at all hard to imagine walking into a bar in 1965, strolling up to the jukebox and seeing the organ stylings of a regional favorite among records from out of town.
\nGene Ludwig was both a regional player (probably half of his discography is rooted locally) and an internationally known master of his instrument who headlined and worked as a sideman (replacing Don Patterson <\/strong>in Sony Stitt\u2019s<\/strong> late 60s band).
\nGene remained devoted to the Hammond, and a glimpse at his web site<\/a> will reveal that he was playing, recording and above all staying relevant right up until his unexpected and tragic passing.
\nHe was a musician of great taste with an ear for that perfect soul jazz vibe, yet was also conversant in standards (which any organist working the clubs in the 60s would have had to have been) and was by all accounts an unfailingly generous soul when it came to mentoring younger players.
\nThough I never got to meet Gene or his wife Pattye <\/strong>in person, I was lucky enough to correspond with them over the years (Gene had no bigger booster than Pattye), including an interview I did with the master back in 2005.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong>
\n
\nThe Gene Ludwig Trio in the 1960s (above) and reunited in 2004 (below)<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

The tunes I bring you today represent a cross-section of the sound of Gene Ludwig through the 1960s. As far as I can tell all of these cuts feature his classic 60s-era trio which featured Randy Gelispie<\/strong> (or Gillespie, I\u2019ve seen it spelled both ways) on drums and Jerry Byrd<\/strong> on guitar.
\nA few of these cuts have been featured here in the past, but they deserve to be heard again.
\nThe first track is the Ludwig\u2019s trio\u2019s smoking version of the Henry Glover\/Titus Turner classic \u2018Sticks and Stones\u2019, which appeared as a two-part 45 in 1963 (I\u2019ve spliced the two parts together). The trio\u2019s playing is spot on, relaxed yet generating a considerable amount of heat, and Gene is in rare form. I\u2019ve heard there\u2019s at least one other unissued side from that date, a version of \u2018High Heel Sneakers\u2019.
\nNext up is a track discussed here in the past, the brilliant \u2018The Vamp\u2019, which appeared as a 45 and on the LP \u2018The Educated Sound of Gene Ludwig\u2019 in 1965. If you haven\u2019t heard \u2018The Vamp\u2019 strap yourself in because it\u2019s a killer. Improvised in the studio by the trio, it featured Gene on the organ, Byrd on guitar and Gelispie on tambourine only. It has the feeling of an after-hours session gone wild, and is probably my favorite moment in Gene\u2019s discography.
\n\u2018Blues For Mr. Fink\u2019 and \u2018House of the Rising Sun\u2019 are both culled from an oddball 1960s compilation called \u2018The Keyboards\u2019 on the Time label, which features Gene Ludwig, and five other players performing in a wide variety of disparate styles. None of the album\u2019s 20 tracks are attributed to anyone specific, but I knew of the Ludwig tracks from other sources (which is why I picked it up).
\nMy suspicion has always been that all of the Gene Ludwig material on that record came from his time with the Mainstream label, since Bob Shad <\/strong>is credited with A&R on the jacket, and a few of the tracks also appear on the 1964 Mainstream LP \u2018Organ Out Loud\u2019.
\nThe last two tracks appeared on what I would consider to be one of the great soul jazz organ sessions of the classic era, the aforementioned \u2018Organ Out Loud\u2019. Here Gene and the trio work it out on two classics of the genre (the LP also included wonderful versions of Cannonball Adderley\u2019s<\/strong> \u2018Sermonette\u2019 and Horace Silver\u2019s <\/strong>\u2018The Preacher\u2019), Bob Dorough <\/strong>and Ben Tucker\u2019s <\/strong>\u2018Comin\u2019 Home Baby\u2019 and Bobby Timmons\u2019<\/strong> \u2018Moanin\u2019.
\n\u2018Comin\u2019 Home Baby\u2019 is taken at a touch more relaxed pace than you usually hear, but the group keeps it moving and grooving, and Gene takes a wild solo.
\n\u2018Moanin\u2019 on the other hand takes off like a rocket and never slows down. It\u2019s the kind of performance that makes me want to step into the WABAC machine and hear the group in some smoky lounge. Gene\u2019s fingers fly over the keys while the rhythm section provides a rock solid bottom.
\nIf you ever get a chance to get your hands on any of his 60s albums or 45s (and there\u2019s still a couple of things I have yet to track down) do yourself a favor and do it.
\nYou still have the chance to hear his more recent recordings<\/a>, which are uniformly excellent.
\nThat all said, it\u2019s so sad to have to talk about this great music in light of Gene\u2019s passing.
\nHe was a great musician, and by all accounts as solid a human being as has passed this way.
\nHe will be missed.
\nMy sincere condolences go out to his wife Pattye.
\nSee you later in the week.<\/p>\n

Peace<\/strong><\/p>\n

Larry<\/strong><\/p>\n


\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>\"Example\"<\/strong><\/p>\n


\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Check out the Funky16Corners Store at Cafe Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

PS Head over to Iron Leg for some classic British Beat<\/a>
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The painting of Gene from the cover of ‘Organ Out Loud’ by Jack Lonshein Gene Ludwig at the organ (Circa 1965) Listen\/Download – Gene Ludwig -Sticks and Stones Listen\/Download – Gene Ludwig – The Vamp Listen\/Download – Gene Ludwig – Blues For Mr Fink Listen\/Download – Gene Ludwig – House of the Rising Sun Listen\/Download […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14,68,39,66,19,30,67,64,12,18,13],"tags":[163,166,27,164,165],"class_list":["post-742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-funky16corners","category-hammond-grooves","category-hammond-organ-week","category-instrumental","category-jazz","category-lp-tracks","category-obituary","category-rb","category-soul","category-soul-45","category-soul-jazz","tag-funk","tag-funky16corners","tag-hammond-organ","tag-soul","tag-soul-jazz"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMKgo-bY","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=742"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3055,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742\/revisions\/3055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=742"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=742"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/funky16corners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=742"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}