Bloggerhythms

The ondioline is an electronic instrument invented in France by Georges Jenny in 1939, and it's considered to be a predecessor to modern day synthesizers as early models ran on analog circuits and vacuum tubes. Later, in the 1960s, transistors replaced the tubes. Ondiolines possess a three octave keyboard that uses a knob to expand it's range up to eight octaves. It can manufacture its own sounds or simulate other instruments. Jenny made most ondiolines himself and he refused to mass produce his invention, so it appears that no more were made after his passing in 1975. Until now, I've knowingly only listened to the ondioline twice in my entire life. A recent repurchase of the classic, 1968  Super Session  album by Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper and Stephen Stills stirred my curiosity, so I researched the instrument. Previously, I knew nothing about this mostly forgotten keyboard other than Kooper played it on that album's "His Holy Modal Majesty" ...

Back in 2005, Al Kooper, one of the lesser known but one of the more important 1960s classic rockers, released Black Coffee , his first solo album in thirty years. The founder of Blood, Sweat, & Tears gave us a very full, fourteen song album that clocks in at over an hour but it doesn't feel too long because Kooper's eclectic talents demand your attention. The veteran rocker and his backup band of music professors he dubbed The Funky Faculty deliver a set of tunes that don't sound like BS&T or his famous Super Session LP with Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills but he connects with his listeners anyway. Not every song is blessed with horns but there are enough of them to satisfy fans who were hoping he would give us something similar. Kooper plays many instruments and he often recorded tracks all by himself. His one-man band outings are often looser than one would normally expect from such a dynamic. The best of these is a robust cover of The Temptations' ...

Al Kooper had already established himself in the music business in several ways by the time he organized the eight piece horn-rock outfit, Blood, Sweat, and Tears. He was a member of Bob Dylan's controversial band that went electric at Newport. He was an imporatant member of The Blues Project and the composer of Gary Lewis and The Playboys' hit, "This Diamond Ring." So, when BS&T's debut album, Child Is Father To The Man , was released in 1968 no one was surprised that, despite poor sales, it became one of the classic records of the late 60s. Kooper's love of big band trumpeter Maynard Ferguson was the motivation behind his desire to form a rock band with a jazz aesthetic. The unit he assembled included a bunch of virtuosos and many went on to long, productive careers in the music business after their BS&T gig came to an end. Kooper, the primary composer, lead singer, and keyboard player for the new group, brought in his former...