"This isn't your standard jazz trio", remarked Jambands.com. Since its inception in 2004, Big Organ Trio has emerged as a band with a truly unique voice. Their acclaimed debut CD was released in 2006 and has led to thousands of music and merchandise sales in addition to concerts across the U.S. and internationally.
B.O.T.'s groundbreaking approach to the organ trio format has drawn the attention of Keyboard Magazine, who featured the band in 2006, and many of the world's greatest Hammond players. The combo has played with Keith Emerson (Emerson, Lake, & Palmer) and shared the stage with Melvin Seals (Jerry Garcia Band). Gregg Rolie (vocalist/organist from Santana) and Tony Monaco (world renowned jazz organist) have also commented on the trio's fresh and inventive sound.
High profile performances at major music festivals such as 10,000 Lakes Festival (MN) and Fillmore Jazz Festival (SF) as well as shows with the likes of Robby Krieger (The Doors), Umphrey's McGee, Leo Nocentelli (The Meters), and Stanton Moore (Galactic) have helped fuel the buzz. With an exploding fan-base worldwide and gigantic internet presence the band has won fan voting polls on websites such as Jambands.com and seen their debut album become the top selling Hammond Organ album on CDbaby.com. B.O.T. music can also be heard on networks such as E! Channel and radio programs around the globe.
Mike Mangan (Hammond B3 Organ), Bernie Bauer (Electric Bass), and Brett McConnell (Drums) all share a great love and respect for the old school spirit of blues and jazz improvisation. Fusing this basis with fresh musical ideas that borrow from rock, funk, hip-hop, Latin, electronica, and beyond, has helped them produce an innovative, modern, and totally original soundscape. B.O.T. has the unique ability to exude a startling energy uncharacteristic of organ trios. McConnell blasts out highly creative grooves in various styles on drums. Bauer emits an undeniable pocket and tone, while often taking over lead melodies and solos on the bass. Add to the mix Mangan, an extremely unconventional organist who conjures new and unprecedented tones out of the legendary Hammond B3 organ, and we have a band that has achieved a very difficult task: finding its own voice.
Big Organ Trio is now planning a follow up album, which again promises to yield unprecedented innovation with the organ trio format. Their momentum is only gaining speed and the group is quickly carving a unique and inimitable niche. In the long lineage of music, B.O.T. has found its place as a pioneer in its genre, and is poised to be a staple in the music industry for a long time to come.
REVIEWS:
"The Los Angeles-based Big Organ Trio has big funk, big nastiness, big charisma, and even bigger potential...The compositions BOT navigates through are engagingly complex but not wanky, giving the agile trio ample space to showcase their versatile chops and improvisational creativity. For making the organ trio configuration sing with a fresh, raucous voice, Keyboard is proud to name BOT as October's Unsigned Artist."
- Keyboard Magazine - Unsigned Artist of the Month
"BOT is about deep B3 Funk Rock grooves with a Jam Band sensibility. There’s improvisation all over this CD, but this is more rock than jazz, more funk than blues...If you like your organ to rock and funk you (think MMW, Azymuth, Niacin), then check this disc out."
- ContemporaryJazz.com - CD Review
"Cool sound. I always considered my (organ) solos as guitar or maybe horn sections with some organ thrown in, which is not the usual approach. I think Mike Mangan and Big Organ Trio may have taken that same idea a step further."
- Gregg Rolie (Santana)
"I love the new direction these guys are taking the Hammond organ."
- Melvin Seals (Jerry Garcia Band)
"Taking a fresh approach to their music, the trio fuses jazz, hip-hop, Latin, electronica and more for a sound that is the very definition of funky. Walking bass lines and intricate organ solos add to the excitement of this band's jam-tastic sound."
- Vail Daily News
"A Hammond B3 Organ, a bass, and drums is enough to provide you with a wall of sound, which Big Organ Trio provides you in spades. Their instrumental pieces bring as much power, range, and tone that any band with a lead singer could, their music is nuanced enough to where you don’t even notice the lack of lyrics. "
- JamBandNews
"(BOT) creates soundscapes that diverge from the traditional norm, coalescing with both grace and power, producing sonically saturated textures seemingly too full to be played by just three musicians. This isn’t your standard jazz trio."
- Jambands.com (Interview)
BIG ORGAN TRIO HAS PLAYED SHOWS WITH:
Leo Nocentelli (The Meters)
Melvin Seals and Jerry Garcia Band
Keith Emerson (Emerson, Lake, & Palmer)
Robby Krieger (The Doors)
Stanton Moore (Galactic)
Umphrey's McGee
Benevento-Russo Duo
The New Mastersounds
Will Bernard (Stanton Moore, Robert Walter's 20th)
Toussaint (Soulive)
David Pastorius
Particle
Dub Trio
BIG ORGAN TRIO HAS PLAYED SHOWS AT:
Japan Jazz-Funk Expo Tour 2007
10,000 Lakes Festival (Detroit Lakes, MN)
- with Bob Weir & Ratdog, String Cheese Incident, moe.,
- Govt Mule, Umphreys McGee, Zappa Plays Zappa, Galactic,
- Derek Trucks Band, Disco Biscuits, Little Feat, and more
Fillmore Jazz Festival (SF, CA)
Green Apple Festival (SF, CA)
Mojo Music Festival (Mammoth Lakes, CA)
Great American Music Hall (SF, CA)
The Knitting Factory (Hollywood, CA)
BIG ORGAN TRIO LINKS
YouTube Video Site
Live Recordings on Archive.org (free)
Setlists on BOT.com
Show Info at Jambase
Discussion Group on MySpace
BIG ORGAN TRIO - DEBUT CD SAMPLES
MP3's available at: GreatIndieMusic.com , iTunes , and CDBaby
DEBUT CD AVAILABLE ONLINE AT THESE SITES:
BIG ORGAN TRIO - March 17, 2007 - Santa Barbara, CA
Download this show for free at Archive.org