Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring/ Amazing Grace

This is my first foray into the wonderful world of theatre organ recordings. I began playing the pipe organ at age 16 and tinkered with the theatre organ throughout high school, but it wasn't until I heard Portland, OR theatre organist Jonas Nordwall that I got the 'bug' to also tackle the wildly diverse style of theatre organ playing. Having listened to many different styles of music growing up, I wanted to include a smattering of those styles in my first recording.
"Love Rollercoaster", originally performed by the Ohio Players, is probably the furthest thing most theatre organ aficionados would expect to hear on this noble instrument, but when including a high energy live drum track performed by drummer James Cunningham, this song takes on a new flavor.
"At Last", originally performed in a musical, was really brought to fame by singer Etta James. Vocalist Lynda Hodges does not imitate Etta, but gives the song her own flavor while I also add a solo bridge on the grand piano. In "And I Am Telling You, I'm Not Going", I didn't want to be a copy of "the Jennifers" (Holiday and Hudson), but to give this song a different flavor. Drummer James Cunningham's rhythmic prowess once again is up to the task of helping me make the accompaniment on the Mighty Wurlitzer and piano sound like the orchestral soundtrack.
How many of you grew up watching the Charlie Brown shows on television. I can actually remember seeing one of them in an actual movie theatre! Vince Guaraldi's iconic scoring of these cartoons have always set them apart and I wanted to include one of the popular tunes in this recording. "Skating" is an organ and piano duet which typifies Guaraldi's classic jazzy style.
Ladies and gentlemen- introducing for the first time, Ms. Nancy Martin! Nancy is a Seattle-based songwriter/vocalist who I worked with while I was still in the Seattle area. Our chance meeting allowed us to create some wonderful songs, of which two are debuting on this recording. I love how her wry sense of humor and amazing wordsmithing will make you listen to these songs again and again. "People Say" and "The Soloist's Lament" are deep! Listen to not only what she says, but how she emotes every word.
"Rondo a la Turkey" is really an interesting piano and organ arrangement of Mozart's "Rondo a la Turk" with a slightly different rhythm. I even through in a surprise in the bridge- see if you hear it!
"Conga", originally recorded by Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine, adds a hot latin flavor to this recording. James Cunningham includes some additional latin percussions on this track which really gets those feet tapping!
In the selection "My God is Real" by Kenneth Morris, I show that the Wurlitzer originated the sound of the Hammond B-3 organ- listen as you will here the "Leslie" stop and start spinning! This isn't an electronic organ, but a pipe organ! You will really get a glimpse at how many diverse styles can be played on this instrument!I
There are a few more selections that I did not go into detail, but I also want to hear from you- review the recording- tell me what you think, and enjoy!