Back in the early 70's I used to play the Hammond C-3 organ with various jazz-rock type horn bands. In the late 70's I decided that I didn't want to just play jazz-rock as after listening to guys like Richard Holmes, Les McCann, "Brother" Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff and Jimmy Smith, I wanted to do some soul jazz on the organ and play like these guys. I formed a trio which at the time was called "Mark Hammond Trio", the last name taken from of course the Hammond organ. We played at several venues and became quite known on the circuit. But as time went on, moving the C-3 became heavier and heavier especially with the speaker. We ended calling it "Big Bertha".

I decided that it was time to downsize so I traded the C-3 and the Leslie speaker in for a Rhodes electric piano and a Farfisa "slalom 500" double keyboard draw bar organ with separate pedals. It had a similar sound. I also picked up a smaller Leslie speaker as they were all a lot easier to handle and much lighter than "Big Bertha". Since I no longer had the C-3 organ eventually we ended up changing our name as well to "Jazz Enigma" which stuck with us for many years.

For many years later, I regretted getting rid of "Big Bertha" as it pretty much became the trios signature. Not only that but playing the Farfisa wasn't quite the same as playing the monster C-3. It wasn't until about the late 90's that I got a gig playing in a local jazz/blues establishment. The instrument was non other than the Hammond B-3. I got together with a drummer and we did a duo together. The bass was created with the organ pedals so we didn't need a bass player. We did have guys sitting in playing sax or guitar from time to time, but what I enjoyed most was the sound of the B-3, guitar and drums. How cool was that. It brought back memories of Jimmy Smith with Kenny Burrell and Jimmy and Wes Montgomery. So for a long time I wanted to have my own B-3.

When the joint was sold recently, I had an opportunity to acquire the B-3 along with the speaker for a measly two hundred bucks. All I had to do was to get it out of the place that day. Well I now own a B-3 and its Leslie to say no more! The B-3 did need quite a bit of work which took me a year to get things working like it should. The Leslie is still being worked on as many of the components were shot. So for the time being I'm using a Roland KC-500 keyboard amp to run the sound through.

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I suppose it was inevitable to change by adding some edge to the sound. We are always experimenting with this and that and without it, how can one move forwards. Not that we are trying to get anywhere! We just like some change every so often but keeping our old styles close at hand never really dropping it.

I decided to take things a little easy as the hands started bothering me again and just concentrate on writing, playing some chords in the background on both guitar and keys with an occasional solo here and there.

There is a new member in the band, Scorpion, a rocker, metal and slide guitar player which will add some more edge to the sound. With Pete on the tenor and Scorpion on the guitars, it's definitely what I call a dream band.

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As I go through the many music sites out there, I've noticed that there are perhaps only a hand full of artists playing the same jazz styles as me. It's just a shame that once a prominent style will die off with my generation. The young kids now a days aren't interested in listening or performing jazz, so there won't be any one replacing us old musicians. I wonder what's going to happen to be bop, jazz/blues, traditional style of jazz etc. Of course there will always be those high school and college jazz bands playing swing but what about the other styles?

It seems to me that the jazz scene has switched over to a more pop style called smooth jazz. Some call it elevator music! So I just wonder what ever happened to real jazz? Did it become too complex for people to relate to or is it that the average mind of today's societies can only handle simple repetitive beats along with mickey mouse structure? Perhaps our own lives have become so complicated that we want simplicity rather than substance. Perhaps we as artists have become so lazy that we are looking for the easy route to fame and fortune rather than working on actually improving our own skills. I can still remember the days when a real musician played because he loved music. I can still remember real musicians who practiced their as*es off just to learn a complex lick and to better them selves. I guess today we are just happy with the status quo regarding our own skills.

Yes you'll have the musician that will attempt a mediocre jazz composition but inevitably will sound like it as well due to lack of skill and knowledge. I know as a jazz musician, that to play the art form takes many, many hours of practice a day, dedication and sacrifice to be good. It's like the classics which takes years of practice to be able to play it well. But given the circumstances, I would rather listen to a mediocre jazz composition than some of the crap I hear today which isn't really considered music to any real educated musician.

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Been ill for a while. I just can't seem to stay put and in bed especially when I'm sick. So, I decided to go through my music archives. I pulled out quite a few tunes which I wrote several years back. And I do mean way back! The reason they ended up there was because I wasn't happy with their outcome. I put them a side for a day when I was sick enough to be able to do something with them.

My friends tell me that some of my best work has been done when I suffered from high fever, sore throat, body aches etc. or practically near death situations. Apparently they get even better if I'm hallucinating. Ha Ha. It was time!

No I didn't play any guitar on them nor do they go like a bat outta hell. They are actually done in a slower mode, even my piano solos. Most of them are a mix of jazz and blues, perhaps because of the way I felt, simply with piano,bass and drums. I recorded as many as I could after doing some major changes to the chords and sent them off to the drummer and bass player. The parts are now coming in and I'm in the process of getting them together. I will upload them as they are completed. I just uploaded one of them which is called "Sweet N' Sour". This tune only has 2 chords to the whole tune. But if you listen to it closely now no way!

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Well, I finally got my string problem resolved and am liking my sound. Instead of writing a mess of new material for the moment, I decided to go back and add some guitar to many of the tunes I've always wanted to have guitar on but couldn't find anyone good enough or willing to play on. It's just amazing how many guitar players are out there and just about all of them into rock. Seems like they are a dime a dozen! What happened to all the jazz guitarists out there?

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As a keyboard player, it's much simpler to get a sound that I'm looking for by just pushing a button or playing the piano or my Rhodes. Guitar, bass and horn players seem to have a much more difficult time in finding their particular sound.

Sax and other horn players end up going through several mouth pieces before they find the best one for them. Sax players and other reed players end up having to go through reed after reed before a good one is found. Many of them spend hours and hours working and shaving down a reed to give it just that special sound they're looking for.

Being fairly new to guitar, I too seem to be having difficulty in finding my particular sound. I find that there are hundreds of guitar strings out there. Some are for electric guitars while others are for acoustic etc. There seems to be a string even for the type of music you play. Most of them are for rockers which give the sound a lot of bite to it. There are only a handful of strings for jazz players. Jazz players need strings that won't squeak during play as most jazz guitarists do not use any electronics like rockers do and need a clean sound.

Jazz guitar strings can be extremely expensive especially if one has to continuously change them due to wear. When I was playing my classical guitar, I used some pretty expensive imported nylon strings as the cheaper strings wouldn't last me a week. I had to buy them by the case and it cost me some serious money. Now I seem to be having a similar problem with the strings I'm using for jazz. I use flat wound guitar strings where all but the first 2 are flat wound versus round wound. Round wound strings squeak as one slides the fingers across them. In jazz there is a lot of sliding fingers as one plays octaves (Wes Montgomery style).

To compensate I've been experimenting using a combination of flat wounds and nylon strings. It seems to work pretty good for me but with the guitar I'm using, the nylon strings sound a bit dead. Perhaps a bit too dead. I don't want the twangy sound which is associated with metal strings like on the first 2 high strings of the guitar. I'm looking for something in between. I suppose that I could just make the adjustment to the sound with E.Q. but there is only so much E.Q. can do. I can get the sound I'm looking for using some expensive strings but since I'm not playing on the road or doing gigs which might justify the cost, I'll just have to keep experimenting until I find the right solution.

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Wait until you hear me play guitar now! If it won't blow your socks off, then nothing will. For an old codger like me who just started playing guitar in 2005, I think that I've done pretty damn good. I've spent hours and hours practicing, sometimes 6-8 hours a day. I got to the point where I wouldn't stop until my fingers hurt or I had to take a dump. I ate slept and shit with guitar in hand. It was like the time when I first started playing the thing. (read below 7-15-2006)

The difference in this case was that I didn't have to be secluded for 9 months. I did have to concentrate hard on the task at hand and learn to play jazz. By jazz I don't mean with a Spanish guitar feel to it. I'm talking about, George Benson, Howie Roberts,Kenny Burrell and Phil Upchurch, some of my favorite jazz guitarists I grew up listening to along with many piano players and horn players. I should also mention another of my heroes who had really set an example, Pat Martino. I took a lot of his fortitude and used it in learning to play.

For those of you not familiar with Pat Martino, he lost his ability to play guitar due to a brain aneurysm. He went into seclusion and had to relearn to play guitar. When he came out he was as awesome as he was before his brain aneurysm. He is considered one of the best jazz guitar players. I'm not trying to be the best nor will I ever be able to play like these masters. I just want to be able to do stuff on the guitar that goes well with the stuff I do on the piano.

One of the reasons I picked up the guitar, was to be able to add guitar to some of my piano works since I was told that I was unable to play piano again due to my severe arthritis. I figured that if I learned guitar atleast I will still be involved with creating music. HAH! Guess I showed them! Of course I can't play piano for any extended periods of time but I can still whip out a pretty decent solo or two on there every so often. Sometimes it's slow going but other times the old hands seem to be working just fine. Doctors, What the hell do they know anyway? Most are only looking out for themselves and how much $$$$$ they can make.

Here is a sample of one of my tunes on the guitar I did recently:
Stream: one deserves anudduh

The piece also has some piano on it. I do some doubling of melody and solo parts also. The guitar solo comes in after the piano solo.

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It's been a couple of awesome months and I'm ready for the new year. I put together a new jazz band via internet with some musicians who have recently retired from the business. A few of the guys have a couple more contractual obligations and then it'll be full force. Well as full force as 5 old jazz farts can go. All of these guys have had decades of experience playing on the road and in a studio. They asked me not to give out their real names due to some legal issues but I can use their initials which shouldn't hurt. So the guys in the new band Jazz Enigma are: AK-vibes, JB-bass, KV-drums, SB-sax and of course yours truly on piano. AK and SB are finishing up their obligations and will be free by spring. In the mean time we have recorded a few tracks and as soon as the site is back up and running I will post some of them. I won't spoil it by uploading several at a time but will start off with one. The current stuff will be deleted as that has been done with a different band which I'm still part of. The new one is even more exciting.

We have no purpose on being on any of these music sites, we aren't looking to get signed or discovered. We just want to share our creativity with someone other than money hungry, money grabbing bastards like the RIA, someone that enjoys the art form for what it is rather than how much they can make off it.

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I don't get around to these neck of the woods too often now a days. I've just been too busy working on several different music things. It's been a lot of fun working with other great musicians that can cut the mustard. I've had the pleasure to work with some from various parts of the world. It's truly amazing what can be accomplished when good musicians can find a way to get together just for the sake of creating music.

I've given up on the idea of making money at it as most people just don't appreciate good jazz anymore. I tried the road bit only to turn around and go home because it ended up costing me more than what I was making. The kids of today can have it! They can have the cheap club owners who expect the bands to pay them to play. They can have the cheap gigs where they might only make $5 a head for a gig after spending a couple of hundred on gas, food, booze and a cheap hotel. I know someone who had to sleep in their car because motel was un affordable.

Yup, I'm having a hell of a lot more fun being able to jam with real musicians who know their stuff and can appreciate the art of music. No they don't have to be jazz musicians either, as I just did some keyboard stuff with a metal guitarist who really knew what he was doing. He was awesome and that's coming from an old fart like me who's never been into anything but jazz.

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It came to the point where I had to put my dog of 11 years to sleep today. It was one of the hardest things I've had to do in a long while and just about everyone in the family cried over it. I don't think that they were crying for themselves as it was more of a lost of his life and over the situation he was in. Even one of my sons came by and went with me for the ending of his life. I'm glad he came along as it made things a bit easier having him beside me since he was the one that brought him home 11 years ago. It was an extremely sad occasion along with a stressful one for me as I'm pro life no matter if it's human or animal. I've been around animals all my life and nurtured the ill and took care of the lost. I've had anywhere from squirrels to birds who have been injured one way or another and then let them go free. I feel empty without his presence as he was always there for me and I could always feel his presence. I had the choice of staying with him until the end and no matter how difficult and how my feeling began to take over, the least thing I could do was to stay by his side until the end. I know it was a necessary and a humane thing to do after hearing that there really wasn't much we could do for him. He was deteriorating fast. All in all it was the best solution. All I can do now is to remember the great times we spent together!

Someone at the vet's made a comment. "Just get another one!"
Perhaps that's the problem with the world today. We just take life for granted even human life. Who cares about life, you can always replace it right? Some of you might think, hey it's just a dog. Sure, but for us he was more than just a dog! He was a true friend!

I suppose I could just go out and get another dog but that's not what it's all about. For the last 11 years we have bonded, became best of friends, along with a lot of history and great memories. How do you just replace a good friend like that! It was truely a difficult night.

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