JP Schlegelmilch, Jonathan Goldberger and Jim Black:

JP Schlegelmilch, Jonathan Goldberger and Jim Black team up to update the organ trio format with Visitors. Black’s big beat, Goldberger’s savage guitaristics, and Schlegelmilch’s enveloping organ sounds combine in a seductive mélange of upbeat and bluesy grooves. Keyboardist Schlegelmilch and guitarist Goldberger co-composed all the songs, a series of straight-ahead melodies that give the musicians plenty of space for elaboration and exploration. The title track and Chiseler open the disc with a bang. Ether Sun is more relaxed, a little too slow in fact, and without much substance to justify the more than 5 minute running time. The trio bounces back with the tasty groove of Corvus, full of ominous guitar lines and spooky organ. The first part of Lake Oblivion rocks hard at first, then settles down to a swampy maze of beats and boings and washes of sound before rising out of the mist with an anthemic melody and then dissolving. Part two leads off with the strumming of an acoustic guitar, then sails off into the psychedelic stratosphere. Terminal Waves has a slow blues feel at the start, then oozes into the slowly moving world of Schlegelmilch’s keyboards and reverb before some penetrating guitar by Goldberger kicks in. That leads the trio into a Pink Floyd-like chord sequence with plenty of guitar heroics and an amped-up Jim Black. The very pretty, and rather brief, ballad Island ends the set, but leaves the music unresolved, and the listener wanting more. Guess I’ll have to wait for their next effort, and since Schlegelmilch, Goldberger and Black seem thoroughly compatible with one another, it’s a good bet that there will be more from this trio. Definitely worth a listen.
Skirl 39; JP Schlegelmilch (org, kybs) Jonathan Goldberger (g) Jim Black (d); Brooklyn, NY, no dates specified; Visitors/ Chiseler/ Ether Sun/ Corvus/ Lake Oblivion I/ Lake Oblivion II/ Terminal Waves/ Island. 35:21. www.skirlrecords.com