by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

Montreal musician Vanessa Rodrigues talks about the Hammond B3 organ the way some people talk about their pets. "I guess I could say that I didn't choose it," she says. "It chose me.

"I've always loved the pipe organ, ever since I was really small. I'd always go into churches and stare at the organ. It was an unattainable thing. No one ever let me play it. It was so frustrating. I liked the thick sound of the sustain, the power of it."

As an adult, closing out her jazz-piano studies at McGill, Rodrigues would discover the records of Tower of Power, particularly the organ solos. In the B3, she heard echoes of that big, warm, enveloping sound she'd always loved. Fortuitously, a friend had one in his basement.

"I didn't even know how to flip it on at that point. I played one note and said, ‘Oh, my God.' There's a feel about it. It's not just the sound, it's the air from the Leslie speaker, the whole vibration of it, the touch and, I don't know, the smell of the oil and everything. It's this total experience."

Not so total, though, that she can't get others in on the act. For several years now, she's had a jazz-funk trio of B3, guitar and drums. Today, it consists of Rodrigues, drummer Jean-Pierre Levesque ("He's very sensitive. He doesn't step on you.") and guitarist/composer Donna Grantis. "Her stuff tends to sound really simple, but it's really hard to play. It's a challenge, and a healthy one. It's not cerebral, it never sounds calculated. She's a very bluesy player - blues and rock are her home base."

The trio was modelled less on the classic organ-trio approach of Jimmy Smith or Grant Green than on the new school. "I was very influenced by Soulive and Medeski Martin & Wood. Soulive is a lot heavier, with a lot more hip hop influence, but still with a lot of jazz improvisation. That's what I was mainly going for."

In that case, gotta make space for a DJ's contribution. Flash back to a neophyte set by Killa-Jewel at one of P-Love's late-'90s Tableturns nights at Quartier Latin. "I saw her, apparently, right when she started. But she's a natural. She kicked everybody's ass. I thought, this is someone I want to work with."

It would be years before the two finally did work together, years in which Rodrigues would found her organ trio, bring bari-sax bossman Ronnie Cuber up for a jam and even spend a month on the Fort Lauderdale couch of her guru, legendary jazz organist Dr. Lonnie Smith. All of which has culminated in her new Soul Project album, a perfect balance of jazz and funk, the familiar and the freaky, on which Killa-Jewel scratches on several tracks - most notably, the wild "Killa-Jewel In Da House."

"That was designed as a showcase for her juggling beats, her juggling melodies, scratching and doing this tone thing she does. She puts her thumb on the outside rim of the record and her finger on the needle, and it makes this ‘hmmmmmm' sound, which she adjusts by changing the speed and stuff. A whole pile of DJ tricks, dressed up in a musical way. I think it works!"

CD launch at Grumpy's (1242 Bishop) on
Saturday, Feb. 5, 9:30 p.m., free

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