To the casual observer, the piano and organ are pretty similar. The keys are laid out the same, so the skills required to play each instrument are transferable, right? Not so, and if you don’t believe ...

Keyboard player Jon Lord performing with British rock group Deep Purple, circa 1975 - Fin Costello/Redferns/Getty Images We all know the sounds of the mighty Hammond organ when we hear them, from the ...

The Hammond organ – it's heavy, it's hard to move, you basically become a lifelong van owner if you play one, and I've often said, "If your back doesn't hurt – it doesn't sound right." But I have to ...

ASPEN One of the bigger challenges for Steve Winwood is figuring out how to cram 40-plus years of music-making into the confines of a live set. A fair number of Winwood’s contemporaries have a surplus ...

The Hammond organ seems to inspire not just loyalty amongst the musicians who play it, but also a spirit of camaraderie. “It’s not joining the Elks or the Moose Lodge or something, but it is a ...

Jazz pianist and now organist, Mike LeDonne, at the Hammond B-3. Mike LeDonne playing “Blues for Gene” off I Love Music. If only we could see his footwork! The Hammond B-3 organ was invented in 1935 ...

Considering that the Hammond Organ Company built the last B-3 organ some four decades ago, the unwieldy-but-sweet-sounding instrument is enjoying something of a moment in the Bay Area’s jazz scene.

Hammond, Leslie, Cobbs & Smith. Do those names sound like a law firm? Actually, the first two men were inventors, the third was a man of the cloth and the fourth was a musician. Collectively, their ...