For those unaware, Whisper Not (due out February 2nd, 2024 via Zoho Music) is Saxophonist Paul Kendall’s debut CD for ZOHO - a Hammond B3 organ trio playing bebop arrangements of Great American Songbook songs and jazz classics.

I have enjoyed the sound of my tenor with Hammond Organ since my first opportunities to play in that context, Kendall explains.Years ago, I sat in with Bobby Forrester at a local jazz club in Long Island, NY named Sonny’s Place. Bobby was the long time organist and musical director for singer Ruth Brown. I hired Bobby for a few gigs on Long Island and Queens, NY. When I got my first record deal, I asked him to make a few sessions for the date. I paired him with drummer Rudy Petschauer, who was with Jack McDuff at the time.

Years later, I moved to eastern Pennsylvania. Shortly after, I found that Rudy had bought a house 10 minutes from where I was renting. I wound up buying a house, and Rudy and I now live in the same town in PA.

I told Rudy I’d like to lead a session, and he recommended Dan Kostelnik on organ. In March 2023, we recorded as a trio at Red Rock Recording, in Saylorsburg, PA. The only preparation was a set of tunes Dan had chosen for a gig that he missed due to bad weather. So the date was my first time playing with Dan.

The session was just 3 hours, and many tracks are first takes. We play in the Bebop vein. Rudy is versatile, and can play modern jazz in other settings as attested to in various CDs. I can stretch a bit also if I’m playing original compositions, but what comes natural for me is Bebop. It is a fallacy to say every jazz record has to break new ground. If cats can say it their way, and do it with artistry, that should suffice.

The album’s title track Whisper Not means to me, show your talent, let yourself be heard. I start that track with a whisper but built it from there. I felt that the right tempo was critical to this tune. On Embraceable You, I asked the guys for a walking ballad, and I listened hard for Rudy’s quarter note.

Penelope’s Peril is based on I’ll Remember April, and I discovered that tune has a lot of changes for way up tempo. My tune Quick Drink is based on What Is This Thing Called Love.

1. WHISPER NOT (6:11)
2. AIREGIN (3:35)
3. PENSATIVA (6:32)
4. IT’S YOU OR NO ONE (4:44)
5. THESE FOOLISH THINGS (7:34)
6. EMBRACEABLE YOU (5:57)
7. JUST FRIENDS (6:10)
8. SPEAK LOW (6:08)
9. PENELOPE’S PERIL (3:20)
10. NARDIS (4:43)
11. CEORA (6:26)
12. QUICK DRINK (6:56)

Recorded at Red Rock Recording, Saylorsburg, PA in March 2023, this magnificently hued new album opens on the lushly supple, titular Benny Golson cut WHISPER NOT and the animated fervency of Sonny Rollins’ AIREGIN and then brings us Clare Fischer’s late night lounge appeal of PENSATIVA, the forthright, strident IT’S YOU OR NO ONE (Sammy Cahn/Jule Styne), the opulent THESE FOOLISH THINGS (Eric Mashwitz/Jack Strachey) and then we get brought forth their glorious rendition of the George & Ira Gershwin track EMBRACEABLE YOU.

Along next on this wholly adorable new album is the sweeping JUST FRIENDS (John Klenner) and the playfully-hued SPEAK LOW (Kurt Weill), and they are in turn backed seamlessly by the vibrantly propulsive Kendall’s own PENELOPE’S PERIL, the recording rounding out on their low slung, finger-snapping take of Miles Davis’ brilliant NARDIS, coming to a close on the adorable hipsway of CEORA (Lee Morgan) and another Kendall original in the rhythmically cultured QUICK DRINK.

I would like to dedicate this recording to my brother Fred, who taught me many things about music. We grew up in the Rock era, and did Doo Wop tunes of the 50s. He taught himself guitar and sang, and I sang and played a little bit of baritone sax. I guess we branched off when he started playing electric bass in local Rock bands, and I went to college to learn jazz. Mostly though, I learned jazz at house sessions and clubs.

Musicians:
Paul Kendall - tenor sax
Dan Kostelnik - Hammond organ
Rudy Petschauer - drums

Official Purchase Link