Gene Ludwig

Gene Ludwig ( born September 4, 1937 in Twin Rocks, Pennsylvania, † July 14, 2010 in Pittsburgh ) was an American soul-jazz organist.

Life and work

Ludwig grew up in Swissvale on, from the age of four years in Pittsburgh and received as a child piano lessons from his mother. His early musical influences were in rhythm and blues. He attended two years, the Edinboro State Teachers College and was next to an active musician. In the late 1950s he heard in Pittsburgh Jimmy Smith, whose organ playing influenced his further musical development.

In the late 1950s he was organist in the band of tenor saxophonist Sonny Stanton, then in the quartet of Gene Barr. In 1962, he played created with its own trio, with the first recordings for the small label LaVere. In an appearance in Newark heard him Nesuhi Ertegun of Atlantic Records, and offered him a contract; the Single Sticks and Stones was a local hit in Pittsburgh, an LP with Eric Kloss remained unpublished. This was followed by an album ( organ Loud Out) for the label mainstream. In 1966, he put Mother Blues in front on the label Jo- Da. In addition, Ludwig produced on their own label called Ge -Lu Records ( This is Gene Ludwig).

In 1969, Ludwig was to take the opportunity with Sonny Stitt ( Night Letter on prestige ), as Don Patterson had left the band. With Pat Martino, he headed around 1970 a long time a common formation; in Pittsburgh, he played in the 1970s with Bill Easley, Arthur Prysock and local bands; other recordings under his own name written for Muse (Now 's The Time ).

In the 1980s, he performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival; In 1988 he played on the commemoration of Don Patterson and organized in the following years, the Jazz Organ Jam in Shadyside in Pittsburgh in The Balcony Club, where joint appearances by Jack McDuff, Joey DeFrancesco and his father John DeFrancesco took place. Other recordings were made for an album with guitarist Randy Caldwell ( The American Underground).

From 1998, he laid before the other albums Back on the track, Soul Serenade ( 2000), The Groove Organization ( 2002) and Hands On (2003); 2005 was a live recording at the Blue Note in Las Vegas. In the last years of his life he came to the San Francisco Jazz Festival, on at Birdland and the Blue Note in New York and 2003 on the Stanford Jazz Festival. In 2006, he took one last own album with drummer and producer Cecil Brooks III ( Double Exposure ); Scott Hamilton took him at his album Across the Tracks (2008).

Ludwig played the Hammond A-100 and B-3.

Disco Graphical Notes

• Soul Serenade ( Blue Leaf, 2000)
• Groove ORGANiziation ( Blue Leaf, 2002)
• Live in Las Vegas ( Blue Leaf, 2006)
• Duff's Blues ( 18th & Vine, 2008)
• Gene Ludwig - Love Notes of Cole Porter (Big, 2011)