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ORGANISSIMO
This sleek organ trio has only been around for a few years--and keyboardist Jim Alfredson and guitarist Joe Gloss have only been able to vote for a few more. They met in 1997 in the jazz program at Michigan State University, and in the time they've worked together--they co-led a few bands before this one--they've developed a terrific division of labor that puts the organ in charge. Gloss provides chewy chords and measured melodies as a foil to Alfredson's blistering, extroverted style; running with the current fashion that weds mainstream jazz and jam-band soul, Alfredson plays just recklessly enough, committing tiny acts of arson that keep things hot but don't quite bring the house down around his ears. Veteran Michigan drummer Randy Marsh, who's been on the scene nearly 40 years, plays musical camp counselor to his twentysomething bandmates--on the group's new This Is the Place (Big O), he sometimes leads with raw power but more often supports the solos with his turn-on-a-dime responses. 8:30 PM, HotHouse, 31 E. Balbo, 312-362-9707, $12. --Neil Tesser