Hammond B-3 organ player Mitch Towne steps out on his own with Refuge, his debut album as a band-leader. Backing Towne are guitarist Tetsuya Nishiyama and drummer Jeffery Johnson.

The interplay between these three musicians gives the album a spontaneous magic. Although the B3 organ has been featured in many different jazz trios over many years, it was also a popular sound in late 1960s progressive rock bands like Procol Harum and The Nice.

In addition, the album has a nice bass sound, even without a bass player, as Towne plays the bass parts via foot pedals attached to the Hammond. Interestingly, Towne has worked with rock legends such as Buddy Miles while also gaining standing in the jazz world via playing with top artists like guitarist Eric Gales and horn legend Tom Scott.

Featuring 7 tracks and clocking in at 44-minutes, Refuge is a good example of Towne’s compositional skills, featuring six originals by the keyboardist and a cover of “Steepian Faith” penned by Kenny Kirkland, a track that was featured on Kirkland's self-titled 1991 GRP Records album.

Jazz fans looking for a modern day Hammond B-3 organ trio album are well advised to give a listen to Mitch Towne’s Refuge. It’s very easy on the ears and the all-original fare will leave you with a smile on your face.

 

ROOTS MUSIC REPORT SPEAKS TO MITCH TOWNE

RMR: How did the Refuge album come together so to speak, how long has the trio been playing and how did you meet the other members? What’s the musical chemistry like between the trio with Tetsuya and Jeffery?

MITCH TOWNE: Refuge is my first album as a leader and it is an album I have wanted to make for a long time. It represents my viewpoint on how the Hammond organ can function in jazz outside of the typical blues and groove oriented styles. Of course, those styles are the foundation of organ jazz, but I love when the organ is featured in more modern styles of jazz. Instead of releasing a typical organ record that has some standards, some blues, and maybe a shuffle or an R&B cover, I wanted to highlight the organ in a more straight-ahead and modern context.

I decided the best way to do that was to write new material that reflected the many influences I have had throughout the years. As an organ player, I am obviously influenced by Joey DeFrancesco, Jimmy Smith, Chester Thompson (of Tower of Power) and a long list of others. But, as a musician, I am influenced by Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Kenny Kirkland, John Coltrane, etc. In my ears, the Hammond organ fits perfectly into those stylistic spaces just as well as it fits in a blues shuffle.

I am blessed to play with a wide variety of musicians all over the country, but I wanted to record Refuge with my regular working trio here in Omaha. Refuge features Tetsuya Nishiyama on guitar and Jeffery Johnson on drums. We have a great chemistry and they are an absolute pleasure to work with. They have been an important part of shaping my original songs since they have been the first ones to play them. 

RMR: What era of music did you grow up in? It’s interesting that you offer a cover here of the Kenny Kirkland track “Steepian Faith” from his 1991 GRP album. Were you influenced by Kenny and how about other artists you like from smooth jazz, classic jazz and rock and who were / are some of the Hammond B-3 players you listened to?

MITCH TOWNE: I grew up in the 1980’s, so my first exposure to jazz was definitely what you’d call “fusion.” I was raised in a small town in Iowa, just outside of Omaha, Nebraska. Even though I went to a small high school, I was fortunate to have been around some older kids who pointed me towards music that wasn’t necessarily in the mainstream at that time. It wasn’t jazz, but it was music that was musically more advanced than what was on the radio at the time. 

I remember the first time I really became aware of the Hammond organ sound. I was a freshman in high school and I was given a ride home from school by a senior. When we got in his car, he popped in a cassette tape and it was like a scene in a movie where someone is being transported through space at light speed. It was the funkiest, most grooving thing I’d ever heard.

‘What is this??’ I said.

He said, ‘Oh, this is Tower of Power.’ The song was “Squib Cakes”, a famous composition by organist Chester Thompson. Hearing that album really changed my life. I didn’t know what a Hammond organ was, but there was something about that sound that spoke to me.

Around that same time, I also discovered Emerson Lake & Palmer. While ELP and TOP are quite different stylistically, the common denominator was the Hammond organ. 

The first ‘jazz’ album I bought was the first Chick Corea Elektric band album. I played it incessantly and, even though I had no idea what Chick was doing harmonically, the energy and the freedom of that band really spoke to me. 

During this time, I was strictly a piano/keyboard player. In the 1980s and early ‘90s, the Hammond organ had kind of gone away and synths were all the rage. Every now and then I would play an organ patch on a synth, but I knew absolutely nothing about the instrument. 

I attended school at the University of Iowa and studied jazz piano there. Of course, I studied and became enamored with all the greats; Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Bill Evans, Chick Corea, etc. I loved pianist Richie Beirach and studied with him in New York while I was in college. 

I have always especially loved Kenny Kirkland. From his work with Wynton and Branford Marsalis to his times with Sting, Kenny really embodies everything I love about music, which is why I wanted to pay tribute to him on Refuge by recording one of his classic compositions “Steepian Faith.” It is actually a perfect song for organ trio. 

 

RMR: How did you choose the Hammond B-3 as an instrument? Do you play other keyboards and/or other instruments? How do you compose for Hammond B-3 and what year is your Hammond from? 

MITCH TOWNE: Around the time I was 25, I bought my first Hammond organ. I placed a classified ad in some newspapers in the area surrounding Omaha, and someone reached out and said they had a 1956 B3. That was my entry to the world of owning Hammond organs. I currently have 8 of them. 

This was in the very early days of the internet. The Hammond organ was kind of a dark art. If you didn’t grow up in the church, or if you didn’t know someone who could tell you how to operate it, you couldn’t even figure out how to turn it on, let alone get the drawbars set right to get somewhat of a decent sound. I think most organ players start out on piano unless they grew up in the church. 

This was in the days of AOL, and I was very fortunate to find a forum of organ players from which I could start to learn. One of them was one of the best Hammond players in the business today, the great Pat Bianchi. Pat and I met online and have been great friends ever since. 

I was blessed to also strike up a friendship with one of the best organ gurus ever, the late Sal Azzarelli. It's no exaggeration to say that he taught me the basics of playing the organ over the phone. Since I was a piano player, and I didn’t play much stride piano, I had no idea how to walk a bassline.

Sal’s advice was invaluable and is something I tell all my organ students to this day. He said, “Take your right hand and sit on it for six weeks, and learn to walk an F blues with your left hand. Don’t try to solo. Don’t try to comp chords. Don’t touch the organ with your right hand. Just walk an F blues. At the end of six weeks, I want you to be able to walk and F blues and tell me a joke at the same time.”

So, that’s what I did and the advice was brilliant. The ability to tell a joke while walking a bassline is the same as being able to solo freely over a bassline without having your solo be locked to the bassline. The bassline is sort of on autopilot. 

Refuge was recorded on my favorite organ - a 1965 Hammond A100. A100s are the same internally as a B3. I was fortunate to find this organ a few years ago and it really is my dream instrument. 

RMR: Tell us about your record company very coolly titled Cross Towne Records. Also why do you call the album Refuge and tell us about that painting on the album cover and the quote from Tennyson in the inside artwork.

MITCH TOWNE: With a last name like Towne, there are a lot of opportunities to make a play on words. Down Towne, Up Towne, Etc. I really liked the idea of Cross Towne Records so I decided to use that for my record company. 

I am thrilled with the cover art for Refuge. There is a Richie Beirach album called Elegy For Bill Evans that has a very Japanese calligraphy style of cover that I have always loved. I used that cover as a jumping off point for my dear friend Erin Scott from Wylde Hare Graphic Design in Minneapolis and told her to use her creative flair to come up with whatever struck her. She spent a lot of time listening to an advanced copy of Refuge and what she came up with was absolutely perfect. 

The quote from Ulysses by Sir Alfred Lord Tennyson on the inside is where I pulled the title of “Some Work Of Noble Note May Yet Be Done.” The poem is basically about a man who has had great adventures in life, but who isn’t ready to settle into old age. There are still great things to be done. This concept really resonated with me since this is my first album as a leader. I have played with so many amazing musicians and have seen the world as a musician, but I am now finally making my personal statement, showcasing my playing and my compositions. 

 

RMR: Are you from Nebraska? The album was recorded there last year in 2024. What is Nebraska like to live and/or record? It’s right in the middle of the country which is very cool. 

MITCH TOWNE: Omaha is a great home base. I grew up just outside of Omaha in Missouri Valley, Iowa, so this area is home for me. Omaha has an up and coming music scene and there are some fabulous players here. It is also in a great central location and I often tour the Midwest. Omaha is 2.5 hours from Kansas City, 7 hours from Chicago, 6 hours from Minneapolis, and 9 hours from Denver. All of these cities are easily drivable, so Omaha is a great central hub. 

RMR: Tell us your plans as far as concerts, composing and/or recording for 2025 and are you planning any videos for the album? Good luck on the album release.

MITCH TOWNE: Refuge is being released nationally on April, 4. I will be holding an album release concert in Omaha at North Omaha Music and Arts on Friday, April 18. I will also be touring around the Midwest and on the East Coast in support of the album.