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During his first decade of jazz recording, Nashville-based keyboardist Larry Goldings has concentrated on the Hammond B3, the organ du jour of modern jazz since the heyday of Jimmy Smith. From album to album (beginning on Verve and then on the excellent Palmetto label), the rising veteran displayed a greater sophistication and aggression. On the newest release, Sweet Science, Goldings has arrived as an artist to whom close attention should be paid.

Sweet Science comes as many jazz artists are choosing to negotiate the supposed path between jazz and hip-hop by exploring “Groove” music. Where others cross the line to where jazz disappears into Groove’s black hole, Goldings displays some of its rhythmic influences while standing firmly upon the blues tradition established by Smith and extended by artists like Big John Patton, Brother Jack McDuff, Joey DeFrancesco, and Charles Earland. In the late sixties, Larry Young, showing the influence of John Coltrane, introduced a pronounced modal approach, and Goldings has mastered this genre as well, as evidenced on “Asimov,” the opening cut, which swings robustly as Goldings and guitarist Peter Bernstein adroitly dance delicate notes over the organic layout.

Importantly, Goldings has been able to keep his trio together long enough to establish a formidable unit. Bill Stewart, one of jazz’s more versatile drummers, is the kind of beatsman who makes sure his accompanying players never nod off, being able to fulfill the leader’s wishes without being bombastic. Bernstein is a veteran of trio work, having recorded several of his own albums for Criss Cross and toured and recorded with Joshua Redman. On this album Bernstein layers some of his best solos in a while, almost always in shrewd juxtaposition with the organist, especially on the title work, where they trade off lines on top of Golding’s deep left handed chords. On “Solid Jack,” Bernstein’s nifty blues picking conjures memories of Wes Montgomery and Grant Green.

The trio’s most creative pieces here are “Lookout,” a funk-riffed ditty covered with modal noodling reminiscent of “Kind of Blue” motifs, distancing this group from younger Groove comrades who go on and on, searching for the next great line to take them out of a self-inflicted loop; “Chorale,” an experience in chamber jazz with sensitive percussion work by Stewart; and “Pegasus,” which rides an uplifting melodic intro from Bernstein into an earnest journey up and down the keyboard by an inspired Goldings.

Sweet Science, therefore, serves as a musical doctorate thesis, firmly placing Goldings, Bernstein, and Stewart onto the list of elite practitioners.

Jeff Cebulski 11/17/2003