Hammond Heroes is a broadcast film/series illustrating the history of the Hammond Organ and the vast impact its practitioners and sound have had on popular music since it's invention seventy years ago. The purpose of the film is to educate and entertain both the general film-goer and music aficionado by focusing on the creation of this instrument (arguably, the world's first synthesizer); it's unique range of sound; and--via archival footage, contemporary performances and conversations with great Hammond players, past and present--detail the musical influence Hammond players brought to the cultural forefront. Unfortunately, much oral history has already been lost as many Hammond luminaries have already passed or are of ill-health. Hence, it is paramount to capture their stories while they themselves can still tell them.Hammond Heroes follows the evolution of the Hammond instrument from its invention by clockmaker and tone-deaf inventor Laurens Hammond in 1934 to its introduction into the church and then into the world of jazz by the likes of Fats Waller and Wild Bill Davis; from its explosion onto the popular music scene in the 1950s thanks to Jimmy Smith and the birth and proliferation of the jazz organ trio, to its embrace by bandleaders of many music genres, including jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, funk, reggae and rock; from the decline of the Hammond company and eventual production discontinuance of the organ by the mid-1970s; to the instrument's new found popularity by hip hop producers, and the English Acid Jazz and American Jam Band scenes from the late 1980s up until today. Moreover, with the Hammond organ perhaps the most photogenic and demanding of all musical instruments, a great emphasis is placed on the technical and mechanical workings of the different Hammond organs and the complex Leslie tone cabinets that are often used to amplify the organs' unparalleled range of sounds.I edited my profile with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4
