In the depths of the Great Depression, engineer/inventor/entrepreneur Laurens Hammond’s electric clock company faced bankruptcy. Although not even a musician, he somehow decided to invent an electric organ as an affordable alternative to the massive pipe organ. Using a fortuitous combination of his own and other prior inventions, the first Hammond organ came into being in 1935 and was an immediate success.
Using images, video, Hammond organ components, and the Side Door’s own Hammond C3 and Leslie amplifier, the presentation will explore Hammond’s use of four critical prior inventions or physical principles to come up with his revolutionary instrument. Using a very complex but elegant electro-mechanical design (in a time well before the advent of transistors, integrated circuits, and computer chips), the Hammond affords the ability to combine and add up multiple tones to create a single note, predating the modern synthesizer.
In the early 1950’s, the Hammond organ made its way into jazz. A number of classic examples of tunes from the great organ trios of the last 70 years will be performed by the Paradox Organ Alliance (Gary Grippo - guitar, John Mcguire - drums, Gary Novick - organ).
Gary Novick, the presenter, has been a Hammond organ enthusiast since his rock band teens. His journey into jazz has progressed over many years, studying jazz piano with Noah Baerman and jazz organ with Ben Paterson. The Paradox Organ Alliance has been playing various Connecticut venues for several years. While his teaching experience has primarily been in medicine, as an inveterate and curious tinker, his fascination with the workings of his beloved Hammond has made him want to share this knowledge with B3 lovers, jazz aficionados, and anyone with an interest in instruments, inventions, and fascinating mechanical devices.
