Rooted in tradition, with personal, modern twists

Hammond B-3 player Tony Monaco's music is rooted in a mighty tradition, but isn't stuck there. He can take the B-3 to church, and even into pioneer Jimmy Smith's "chicken shack sound" when he wants, but he is also stretching his sound into something fresh and tasty. Credit that to his own modern twists - with a healthy dose of musical emotion on the side.

Tony Monaco

That was the case on Friday, May 13, as Monaco opened a two-night Florida mini-tour at the Fogartyville Community Media and Arts Center in Sarasota. On this night, he was joined by guitarist LaRue Nicholson and drummer Rick Costa.

None had played together before this concert, a fact that underscored the magic of jazz. There was a freshness of ideas fired back and forth, turning the evening into the true essence of jazz - a swinging musical conversation among the players, which then touches the listeners.

Jazz with an R&B-3 twist

Katt Hefner

The rhythm and blues feel is inescapable when you've got a Hammond B-3 organ in the house, and that was the case at Friday's South County Jazz Club matinee concert at the Englewood FL Art Center.

Siblings Katt Hefner and Stan Heffner (yes, they spell their last names differently) teamed up for the first time with saxophonist and flutist Tom Ellison. But you wouldn't have known by the performance that it was their first time blending their talents with the Venice-based reed player.

Whether organic or synthetic, jazz is good for the soul....

I walked into this afternoon's jazz concert at the Englewood (FL) Art Center expecting it to be a B-3 kind of afternoon with the Sarasota-based Organic Trio. But keyboard player Robbie Rose decided to bring his electronic keyboards to the South County Jazz Club matinee rather than transport the hefty Hammond B-3.