Personal

1. Name
Linda Dachtyl, professionally, Linda Dauwalder-Dachtyl legally.

2. Place(s) I call home
Columbus, OH,
Berlin, OH (hometown)

3. Style(s) I play
Jazz, blues, rock

4. Current CD/project
"Blue Bop" was released in April 2006 on Chicken Coup Records. I will be releasing my second CD with Chicken Coup Records in January 2008.

5. A person who inspired me to play the Hammond
The first one was Lee Michaels, followed by Rick Wakeman, Keith  Emerson, and Jon Lord.

I got into jazz organ a little later on during my college years,  although I had already had a strong interest in jazz as a high school student particularly in Maynard Ferguson, Buddy Rich, fusion music (Mahavishnu Orchestra and Chick Corea) and older big band music such as Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman.

I saw Hank Marr play often around Columbus with Rusty Bryant  and Jim  Rupp during my college days at Capital University and that first  sparked my interest in playing jazz organ. I was so ignorant of the jazz organ genre at that time when I first went to see Hank  play, I was looking for a bass player in the band and wondered how this was going to sound without a bass player on the stand! At that time, I also started investigating jazz organ players'  recordings more closely, starting with Jimmy Smith. Hank was always so humble, I didn't know he had a large catalog of recordings himself, I just knew he was someone I enjoyed hearing. 

Later, I ended up studying with him for about two years when I was in graduate school at Ohio State and learned about his early 60's recordings with Rusty Bryant. The hassle of moving of a Hammond and not having an organ totally gig  ready at the time or a large van, were things that influenced me to put the idea of playing Hammond myself on the back burner for many years. I played keyboards or drums in many local cover and a few original bands during this time and still freelance doing this from time to time now.

In the late 1990's, I saw Tony Monaco play at a local music festival and I decided then and there I needed to get serious about playing jazz Hammond and just start doing it. It was just one of those magic moments where I became excited about playing music again, seeing how much the crowd enjoyed this music coupled with my somewhat dormant interest at the time in pursuing this kind of playing and if I did, would there be an outlet for it?

I had become quite frustrated playing in the local cover band world as a sideman with little say concerning the set lists, copying recordings, and the very limited creativity encouraged in these particular situations. Although I learned much from these experiences, playing music had lost some of its luster for me and was getting to just be a "job" of sorts. At this time, I decided to not let the problems of gigging with a Hammond be a factor anymore.

Tony's performance was very inspiring and it was just one of those things that I will chalk up to being in the right place at the right time. I didn't know he was going to be playing as another band was originally booked for the slot. All I knew was that there was a Hammond player that was going to be there that evening. After that time, Tony and I became friends, which lead to him producing my CDs.

8. Do you use the percussion effects in your organ?
Yes

If yes, what is your most used percussion setting?
I experiment. I will use the tried and true "4 up" setting often, however I like using the slow decay at times and the 2nd harmonic percussion at times, also.

9. Do you have a drawbar setting that is your own?
Not really. I will play around with various things in practice or on the gig, but so far I have used traditional registrations when recording.

If yes, can we know it?

At times in "Soul Satyr" we will play a Doors cover where I need to emulate a combo organ. I will use the 16' and all the white drawbars, with V3 on ;-) I'm sure that's not an original registration of mine, though.

10. Is there anything that defines 'your sound'?
I probably bring some progressive rock influence into my jazz  playing. ..subconsciously. I learned how to play the organ listening to Emerson, Wakeman, Lord, and many other players in the progressive rock genre. I am sure this influence is always there to some degree when I am playing improvisational music such as jazz or blues.

I am always working to be able to be more of a purist in my jazz B3 playing. I would say probably I would come closer to sounding like Charles Earland than any other jazz organist at this time. People have commented they also hear a strong gospel influence in my playing quite often. However, I hope I am perceived as sounding like myself and I find the most effective way for me to grow as a player is to study the masters, but not try to emulate them too closely. When the tape is rolling or on a gig, I may start with an idea I have picked up from listening to other players, but then move to try to develop some original ideas of my own on the fly.

I consider myself a student for life concerning music. There is always so much to learn.

Artistic

 11. A milestone in my Hammond organ playing career was:
Charting with Blue Bop on jazzweek.com in the summer of 2006 was one  for certain. Also having my CD picked locally as one of the top jazz releases for 2006 by Lee Brown who was a jazz critic for The Other Paper was another.

12. A great recording of Hammond music not of my own:
That's a tough one to answer. There are so many. One of my favorite jazz organ recordings is Jimmy McGriff's "All About My Girl". As far as rock, Emerson, Lake, and Palmer's "Tarkus" will always be a favorite of mine.

13. Do you compose music using the organ?
Yes. Many times I will compose at the piano, though.

14.Do you feel there is an increasing interest in the Hammond organ?
Yes, I do. Especially with the clones getting better all the time and also the soft synth software that is readily available. However, there is nothing like playing a B3 that.....smells like a B3 :)
(The Captain couldn't agree more!)

15. What is your website address?
I have two of them.

http://www.dachtyl.com & http://www.myspace.com/ldb3

Technical

6. Do you use a Leslie speaker?
Yes, I do.

If yes, is there anything you can share about how you use it?
I have had Sal Azzarelli set up my gig Leslies (a 760 and modified 22H) to work with both of my gig organs (B3 and A-100). They are set up with slow-off-fast, so I have all the Leslie speed options.

He also adjusted them so they would be in phase properly if I ever wanted to use both of them at the same time. To this point, I have only used one or the other for gigs. I prefer the sound of my 22H because of the tubes, but I use my 760 most of the time for live playing because it's easier to transport.
 

7. Do you often play the bass line on the organ?
Yes. With my jazz quartet LDB3, I do it 100% of the time. I also play in  the blues band "Soul Satyr" which has a bass player. At times, the bass player will play harmonica and I take over the bass lines on the Hammond.

If yes, how do you do it?
I generally play the lines on the lower manual reinforced by taps on  the pedals. On ballads at times, I will play the bass entirely on the pedals. I  also will sometimes double the left hand bass with the pedals in unison on a shout chorus for more intensity at the end of a tune if the tempo will allow it ;)

Previous issues of This Month

Feb 2007  - Introduction
Mar 2007  - Out and about
Apr 2007  - Tony Monaco
May 2007  - Wil Blades
June 2007 - Vanessa Rodrigues
Jul/Aug 2007 - Gerard Gibbs

Amp rebuild services by Captain Foldback

The Captain now offers Hammond/Leslie amp rebuild/repair services at very reasonable prices. For most projects I do not charge for labour or I charge a flat fee. I do it to help and out of love for the Hammond/Leslie sound. My speciality is old Leslie amps such as 31H and 32H. I rebuild in various 'grades' depending on how original the owner wants it to look and sound. Conversions from one model to another are also possible, as well as voltage conversion of later models. Solid state Leslie projects are welcome.

Please contact me by filling out the contact form, if you wish to discuss a project. References are available.

Richard 'Groove' Holmes: Soul Message. Prestige Records, 1965.

Soul Message is one of my favourite organ records. A short little album, six tunes - but with so much soul. Two of the tracks - 'Misty' and 'Groove's Groove' - were issued in edited form as a single and gave Groove Holmes a pop single hit. It takes a while for this record to really grow on you. Sure, it sounds nice to begin with, but it's very understated, and Groove tickles the organ so effortlessly that it may seem to be simple playing. With repeated listening, you will get to appreciate the details of Groove's soloing and decidedly funky bass lines.
To me, the emotional climax of the album is the clever use of the Leslie speaker by Groove in the 2nd to last track (the actual sound is of course just as much due to the legendary Rudy Van Gelder who engineered the recording). When the track is over, you get a couple of seconds to take it all in, and then Groove comes back with the album's upbeat title track.
A great record from a great, great artist. Get a copy before your neighbour!

Website updates

• I re-scanned the Hammond D-100 organ schematics and re-posted in Gif format
• The Leslie 610 service manual is in the works being scanned
• The Hammond XTP service manual has been given to me as a scan, it will be posted soon
• I have secured a nice xerox copy of the X-77 service manual and will scan the schematics soon

To modify or not to modify?

When re-building or re-conditioning an old piece of equipment, one often gets to deal with previous owners/service techs/reseller's modifications. Sometimes the modification is actually a valid upgrade, maybe done several decades ago. So what does one do? Rebuild to stock or rebuild including the modification? Of course, it depends on whom you are rebuilding for: If you are rebuilding for yourself, you can do whatever you want to. If you are rebuilding for somebody else, the owner will have to decide. In each case, one must carefully consider the historic value of the organ/speaker and its condition. The Captain is a fan of stock, but some modifications do make sense, both for the sake of safety, interoperability of different types of equipment, and for the general enjoyment of the user. Your comments are welcome!

-Captain Foldback