Jimmy Smith playing with his chin

[AllenLowe]

well, I tried lighting my horn on fire one night - it woulda worked, except the damn pads wouldn't stay lit -

[JSngry]

You gotta drink more for them to do that.

[GregN]

There is that old gimmick from organ players: to create tension and excitement on live gigs by holding the same note for an extended number of bars. I've heard it on several recordings and the crowd usually loves it. Personally I think it's boring, but I'm curious to now if it's generally conisdered to be showmanship to some degree.

Well, it's not very hard to do, that's for sure. And audiences do seem to like it (because it's an easy way to create tension as mentioned). I would consider it part of showmanship. When I hear it done on a live recording I can excuse it, but on a studio record it's a bit cliche.

Unless you do it with your...

[Jim Alfredson]

Goatee?

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

When I saw Charles Earland live, I managed to find a place just behind and to the right of the organ, so I could see what he was doing, which most of the audience couldn't. Some of the time, he was playing with the heel and side of his right hand, kind of undulating it up and down the manual, and his fingers - so to speak running behind to catch up. It was clear to me that he wasn't doing this to show off, because I was the only one who could see, but in order to produce the effect.

Is it showmanship (showpersonship? yuk) for Rhoda to play barefoot? Does it matter?

MG

[GregN]

I once saw Jim A pick up Randy (his drummer) and drag him across the keys...that was awesome!

That's one way to stop him.