Craig Yaremko Organ Trio, CYO3

Organ trios can come around these days in more than one flavor, so to speak. There are those that stay within the tradition well established in 1960 or so by Jimmy Smith and others. And then there are those that take the music into the present to varying degrees.

The Craig Yaremko Organ Trio do the latter on CY03 (OA2 22105). And they do it in ways that still keep with the hard bop tradition but reflect the post-scene as well. There are some jazz classics and a bunch of originals that hang together to make a cohesive statement.

So, who are these folks? Craig Yaremko heads the band, writes many of the compositions and plays soprano, alto, tenor, flute and alto flute. He's a modern bopper with a great sound and good lining. His tunes are within the forms but push them to the edges at times--like for example "Blue Fountain", a blues with some tone stretching head-lines.

Matt King is on organ. He manages to keep things soulful and yet pulls things more toward Larry Young and Charles Earland than Don Patterson. He also writes a few good tunes here. Jonathan Peretz has that swinging drum feel with plenty of kicks to boot the band forward.

And the potent Vic Juris guests on two cuts to excellent advantage.

CY03 marks the true arrival of a crack modern organ outfit. These guys are doing it!