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Gene Ludwig
Some say he stole the show that night... the fella from Pittsburgh who showed up late that afternoon, missing the sound check and sort of looking like anyone's junior high math teacher as he strolled around backstage at the 1994 Newark Jazz Organ Jam waiting for his turn to play. As I introduced myself to him, I remember his hands being huge, reminding me of what a bricklayer's hands might be like: long, thick fingers and wide palms. I had looked forward to meeting Gene Ludwig in person. I was trying so hard to be impartial as I listened to each organist who played that night but deep down I, too, felt that Gene grooved harder than the others... I really do love everybody that sits at that bench... no matter who they are or what kind of music they play... but somehow, those who reach the audience quicker and with the most passion, leave me with the more lasting impression. It didn't take me long to figure out what Gene did to that crowd that night to get the response that he got and win over so many new fans: HE PLAYED THE BLUES... That's what those folks came to hear. They wanted to be taken back in time to the old days of the 'Organ Rooms' where every club had a B-3 on the stage and smokey, inner city soul jazz was the gravy of life. When Gene kicked off with Jimmy Smith's 'The Sermon', he was telling that crowd that there's still truth in this music... it hasn't left us and never will... and more importantly, he wasn't afraid to play Jimmy's sound. As an admitted disciple, he was reminding us just how important this is to us all. Gene Ludwig has always been that kind of a player. He knows where he came from and how he got where he is... no frills, nothing pretentious... just SOLID ORGAN GROOVE... That's Gene Ludwig.
For the next few days in Newark, jazz fans were poking around record stores asking who this Gene Ludwig was and did he have any records out.... All they needed to do was ask any one from Pittsburgh. As Gene, himself would tell you; 'I'm the only one cartin' the Hammond around still, here in Pittsburgh".
Gene was born in Twin Rocks, Pennsylvania on September 4, 1937. Four years later his family moved to Swissvale where Gene spent most of his youth and graduated from Swissvale High in 1955. His mother provided young Gene with piano lessons as early as the first grade and witnessed his musical growth from then on. She would have preferred that he became a concert pianist but soon realized that his musical preference lay in Rhythm and Blues. After two years at Edinboro State Teachers College and a series of jobs, he was ready to make a life long commitment. He had spent many a night watching and listening to musicians like Ramsey Lewis, Horace Silver, Ahmad Jamal and Ray Bryant at The Crawford Grill and the Hi-Hat but when he experienced Jimmy Smith for the first time his mind was made up. "From '43 to about '55, I took formal training on piano", recounts Gene, "Around '57 I met Jimmy Smith and heard the Hammond...and I knew that's what I wanted to be: a Hammond organ player". Gene saw Jimmy at Pittsburgh's famous Hurricane owned by Birdie Dunlap- truly a mecca for the Jazz Organ Sound. Gene was bit by the bug before he had a chance to know what it was all about. "Around 1949, 1950, I used to hear swing organ on the air and it happened to be Bill Davis and Bill Doggett...but all I had heard was the big, full, block chords and I was into piano and (then) when I heard Jimmy playing on the air, he was playing single lines like a piano player or like a horn and I said, 'Oh wow! ... This is amazing' and then when I first saw him play and I heard him live, my God, it was awesome, it was really awesome".
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Gene Ludwig / Pat Martino Trio: Young Guns
![Read "Young Guns" reviewed by Jack Bowers](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/coverart/large/ac64accc994b17bbfebc411d80f54fc8.jpg)
by Jack Bowers
The name Young Guns seems ironically amiss until one learns that this recording dates from 1968-69 when organist Gene Ludwig was thirty years old, guitarist Pat Martino twenty-three and drummer Randy Gelispie somewhere in that neighborhood, long before he became fondly known as Uncle G." The organ trio was in its heyday then, and this one was caught on tape during an exciting live date at Club 118 in Louisville, KY. How many other such performances have been lost forever ...
read moreGene Ludwig: Love Notes of Cole Porter
![Read "Love Notes of Cole Porter" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/coverart/2010/geneludwig_lovenotesofcoleporter_db.jpg)
by Dan McClenaghan
The Hammond B3 organ combo has always seemed like a working man's jazz group. Drums/guitar/organ groups, often with a saxophone, was a brand of music brought to popularity in the mid-fifties by Jimmy Smith, with interest in the B3 soul jazz sound exploding in the sixties with the work of Jimmy McGriff and Jack McDuff, and the establishment of organ rooms in centers of working class cities like Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, Newark, and Gene Ludwig's home turf, Pittsburgh.
read moreGene Ludwig: Love Notes Of Cole Porter
![Read "Love Notes Of Cole Porter" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/coverart/2010/geneludwig_lovenotesofcoleporter_db.jpg)
by Dan Bilawsky
The release of Gene Ludwig's Love Notes Of Cole Porter is a bittersweet event. While this collection of music shines a spotlight on one of the great, under-recognized organ talents in the world of jazz, it also marks the final recording from this mainstay of the Pittsburgh jazz scene. Ludwig passed away suddenly in the summer of 2010, leaving behind his loving wife Pattye, a rich legacy and solid reputation within the jazz community, and an unreleased collection of Cole ...
read moreGene Ludwig: Love Notes Of Cole Porter
![Read "Gene Ludwig: Love Notes Of Cole Porter" reviewed by Justin Vargo](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/coverart/2010/geneludwig_lovenotesofcoleporter_jv.jpg)
by Justin Vargo
Gene LudwigLove Notes Of Cole PorterBig O Records2011 Nearly two years prior to his untimely death in July of 2010, Pittsburgh organist Gene Ludwig recorded this tribute to composer Cole Porter. Thanks to the efforts of Ludwig's wife and the folks at Big O Records, Ludwig's final recording is now seeing the light of day. Coming off of the stellar Duff's Blues (18th & Vine, 2008), a date featuring Bill Warfield's ...
read moreGene Ludwig: Live in Las Vegas
![Read "Live in Las Vegas" reviewed by Terrell Kent Holmes](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/old/styles/gludwig2006.jpg)
by Terrell Kent Holmes
When Hammond B-3 maestro Gene Ludwig performed recently at JALC's tribute to fellow Pittsburgh native Stanley Turrentine, his playing was certainly up to the occasion. Unfortunately, the sound system at the Allen Room wasn't. On certain notes the organ faded out or crackled like poor radio reception. These audio problems might have diminished Ludwig's performance, but they failed to defeat his spirit as he forged ahead through the faulty connection. Live in Las Vegas, recorded at the Blue Note in ...
read moreGene Ludwig: Hands On
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by David A. Orthmann
Hands On is the fourth Gene Ludwig release on the Blues Leaf imprint since the former Sonny Stitt and Pat Martino confederate was rediscovered by producer Jack Kreisberg in the mid-1990s. Amidst an ever-growing number of recordings featuring capable Hammond B-3 organists, Ludwig’s discs always stand out. This time he leads an able band of musicians from his home base of Pittsburgh, PA. A wide embrace of material and moods enables Ludwig and company to avoid the clichés and repetition ...
read moreGene Ludwig: Hands On
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by Michael P. Gladstone
This is a very likeable B3 album, and notably for people who are not enamored of tenor sax-organ dates. Gene Ludwig, a longtime Pittsburgh musician with a history of 40 years of plugging away at this genre, has pulled out all the stops." Ludwig has recorded seven sessions including one on Muse in 1979, all with local musicians, and on independent labels. You've got to hand it to someone who has consistently produced quality sessions and still comes back with ...
read moreGene Ludwig: "Love Notes Of Cole Porter"
![Gene Ludwig: "Love Notes Of Cole Porter"](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/Chris_Slawecki.jpg)
Source:
Chris M. Slawecki
As one of the early adopters of the Hammond organ in jazz after Jimmy Smith revolutionized the instrument in the late 1950s, Gene Ludwig enjoyed the massive popularity of organ-based soul jazz during the 1960s. In those days, organ rooms" popped up all along the East coast and Midwest, especially in the inner working-class cities like Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, Newark, and Gene's stomping grounds of Pittsburgh. Gene worked them all, bringing his swinging style to audiences far and wide. His ...
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Gene Ludwig Funeral / Wake / Memorial Services Info: Pittsburgh Jazz Organ Legend Dies at 72
![Gene Ludwig Funeral / Wake / Memorial Services Info: Pittsburgh Jazz Organ Legend Dies at 72](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/GeneLudwig2009.jpg)
Source:
JAZZzology by Richard Watters
Gene Ludwig, jazz Hammond organist from the Pittsburgh jazz scene passed away at age 72 on Wednesday July 14, 2010... at the West Penn-Forbes Regional Campus. Starting at age 6 on the piano and being inspired by the recordings of vocalists Ruth Brown, Big Joe Turner and organ players such as Bill Doggett and Wild Bill Davis he turned to the organ after catching Jimmy Smith at a show in 1957. Jimmy talked Gene into getting a B-3 Hammond organ ...
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Gene Ludwig: Legendary jazz organist in Pittsburgh music scene
![Gene Ludwig: Legendary jazz organist in Pittsburgh music scene](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/GeneLudwig2009.jpg)
Source:
Michael Ricci
When Gene Ludwig was 21, he flipped a coin to determine which career path he would follow. Heads, he would continue the job he had at the time as a civil engineer. Tails, music would win out. The coin came up tails--and a legend was born. Mr. Ludwig, a leading figure in the Pittsburgh jazz scene for half a century and internationally regarded as one of the titans of the Hammond organ, died Wednesday in West Penn-Forbes Regional Campus. The ...
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Gene Ludwig, 1937-2010
![Gene Ludwig, 1937-2010](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/GeneLudwig2009.jpg)
Source:
AAJ Staff
Organist Gene Ludwig passed away on July 14, 2010. I didn't know him well, but he was a guest on The Jazz Session in August, 2009, and we spoke several times in person and by phone and email. Gene and his wife Pattye were extremely kind to me and to everyone with whom I saw them interact, particularly during Gene's performance last year in Schenectady, NY. My thoughts are with Pattye and with their families at this time.
Gene's Schenectady ...
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Organist Gene Ludwig: 1937-2010
![Organist Gene Ludwig: 1937-2010](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/musician/GeneLudwig2009.jpg)
Source:
Michael Ricci
About Gene Ludwig Some say he stole the show that night... the fella from Pittsburgh who showed up late that afternoon, missing the sound check and sort of looking like anyone's junior high math teacher as he strolled around backstage at the 1994 Newark Jazz Organ Jam waiting for his turn to play. As I introduced myself to him, I remember his hands being huge, reminding me of what a bricklayer's hands might be like: long, thick fingers and wide ...
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Recent Jazz Session Podcasts: Carl Allen, Terence Blanchard, Gene Ludwig, Bill Anschell, Avery Sharpe and More!
![Recent Jazz Session Podcasts: Carl Allen, Terence Blanchard, Gene Ludwig, Bill Anschell, Avery Sharpe and More!](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/profile/9053b783e09c2d3bbe99bf8a681dfb37.jpg)
Source:
Michael Ricci
In case you missed one of our recent Jazz Session Podcasts by Jason Crane, click any of the links below to tune in. We've posted 7 new interviews in the last 2+ weeks.
Enjoy!
Steve Kuhn (51:47) Posted: 2009-08-28 Steve Kuhn's new album, Mostly Coltrane (ECM, 2009), pays tribute to John Coltrane, with whom Kuhn worked for several weeks in the early 60s. In this interview, Kuhn talks ...
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Gene Ludwig Special Re-Union Concert at Night Town Cleveland, OH
![Gene Ludwig Special Re-Union Concert at Night Town Cleveland, OH](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/logo/bd38a72ed12128b10ddc05c6087dacb8.jpg)
Source:
All About Jazz
Gene Ludwig Special Re-Union Concert at Night Town in Cleveland, OH
![Gene Ludwig Special Re-Union Concert at Night Town in Cleveland, OH](https://s3.amazonaws.com/allaboutjazz/photos/logo/bd38a72ed12128b10ddc05c6087dacb8.jpg)
Source:
All About Jazz
Sunday, September 26 @ 7-10PM SPECIAL RE-UNION CONCERT featuring Gene Ludwig's original trio from the early 1960's, Gene Ludwig-Hammond B3 Organ, Randy Gelispie-drums and Jerry Byrd-guitar Appearing at the Night Town 12387 Cedar Road Cleveland Hts, OH 216-795-0550
About Gene Ludwig Gene Ludwig is one of this country's most passionate exponents of Jazz Organ. He keeps an A-100 Hammond in ...
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Shaun Brady, Philadelphia City Paper • January 19, 2006 "Every organist has their 'First time I saw Jimmy Smith' story, but few of these are the preface to a 50-year career. Pittsburgh's Gene Ludwig swings with such an easy grace that one has to suspect he walks, breathes and snores in that rhythm. Next time you wander into a smoky bar and hear someone coaxing a sultry blues lick from a B3 knockoff, ask them about the first time they saw Gene Ludwig."**********
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From: Hands OnBy Gene Ludwig