As a young Jazz drummer in the Seventies, improvising drummer William Hooker frequently found himself on the bandstand as part of an organ trio. The sonic thunder of a Hammond B3 organ in the hands of a vibrant musician scorched an impression into him that will stay with him to his last days on earth. Although he heard the organ played night after night during that era, no organist that he heard then or since has matched the tumult that Larry Young brought.

 

Larry Young, AKA Khalid Yasin, had a sound and textural approach unlike anyone else who has played the instrument. His early blues-inflected playing yielded to a harmonic concept inspired by John Coltrane wedded to an unequaled rhythmic and sonic range. Although he died under mysterious circumstances in 1978 at the age of 37, his work with everyone from Hank Mobley to Jimi Hendrix, Tony Williams to Miles Davis (That's him on "Bitches Brew") as well as his many exceptional dates as a leader have endeared him to a small coterie of very dedicated fans.

 

In this rebroadcast of a Deep Focus from 2014, William and host Mitch Goldman will explore the WKCR archives for rarities and unreleased gems.

 

#WKCR #MitchGoldman #DeepFocus #WilliamHooker #LarryYoung #JazzRadio #JazzInterview #jazzpodcast

 

Photo credits: Larry Young by Francis Wolff/Mosaic Images.

William Hooker photo courtesy of William Hooker.