Going Mojo

[Jim Alfredson]

Jimmy Smith recorded mostly for Blue Note and Verve. The majority of those albums were made at Rudy Van Gelder's studio which still has a the Hammond C3 organ (from '57 I think) and matching 21H Leslie that every organist who came through there played.

 

Do you know if Jimmy Smith - on those seminal recordings - tended to go with the Leslie in the stop position most of the time? I thought he used both "stop" and "slow."

 

In the early days (late 50s and through the 60s) he always used STOP and FAST only. It wasn't until later, in the 80s, that he started using CHORALE.

 

[video:youtube]jBo870lVUyc

 

 

[ABECK]

Do all Mojos have this "feature" or is it just mine? Looking at the Tony Monaco demo his Mojo's drawbars look about right in the overhead views.

 

My DMC doesn't appear to have the same issue. The drawbars go all the way in, with no significant gap. So, maybe there's a slight design alteration, because by and large, the components look very similar.

[B3Nut]

Earliest videos where I've seen Smith using Chorale were filmed around '65-ish in Europe, playing rental organs with new 122's. He started developing his chorale-drenched West Coast sound when he moved to Cali in the early 70's. Root Down is an example of his developing west coast sound.

 

The C-3 at RVG Studio is a '59, which was paired with a 21H (30-watt upgraded version), purchased new when RVG built his Englewood Cliffs, NJ studio which opened at the beginning of 1960. Prior to that Rudy recorded acts in his parents' living room in Hackensack where he had a control room off the living room, and Smith brought his own organs there (usually a B-3 and 21H, his very early stuff was B-2 with a 31H.)

 

The '59 C-3 is still in use at Van Gelder Studio, along with the 21H as well as a 122 which is swapped in if the client prefers chorale. If that box could talk...

 

Truly, Rudy Van Gelder is one of the single most important people in the history of recorded Jazz in America.

 

TP

 

[Mitch Towne]

I think that Joey D's album "Wonderful Wonderful" was recorded by RVG also. The organ on that album sounds like it's on its last legs. Missing tones, etc. It it is the same classic organ, and I have no reason to think it isn't, it must have had some serious work between this recording and "One For Rudy," because it sounds much better on that.

[Daniel71]

Hello

I would like to know if there is some video taken from Namm. The only one I saw was the one from Dave showing the mojo 61. I would like to see others video and review from people at Namm :-)

 

Regards

Dan

[JohnnyB3]

Hello

I would like to know if there is some video taken from. The only one I saw was the one from Dave showing the mojo 61. I would like to see others video and review from people at Namm :-)

 

Regards

Dan

 

While you're waiting for more Crumar61 check this out - the first Crumar 61

CRUMAR Organ haven 61:

 

[JoJoB3]

Naw, while yer waiting let's check out Wendell Lowe (looks like fun).

 

https://youtu.be/u7aKgjLqk3w

[John Tweed]

Well I managed to get 2.5 loaded - the light show was a little surprising at the end of start up - and it's much better now I have a few more things to tweak. I can see how one could get into trouble with only leds alight and flashing to tell you what's going on.

 

Mainly though I am really enjoying the keyboard. The snappy response helps to get that clean note off which I hear in Jimmy and Joey's phrasing (not to in any way put my phrasing in that league). And it is definitely less springy than the SK1's keyboard.

 

Sound-wise the Mojo particularly shines in the upper octaves, with the standard 888000000 having more of an edge and presence, pretty much nailing the sound I like. Conversely with the squabble setting of 800008888 the upper drawbars are better balanced than on the SK where I want to push in the upper dbs in to 6 or 7 for the same effect. (I'm using a tweaked version of Jim Alfreson's tonewheel set btw).

 

And yet the Hammond still sounds good when I play it, and I'll continue to get good use out of it for those single manual organ gigs with a weighted board underneath.

 

Since I could use a little electric piano action too, it's a pity they didn't have an option of putting the ep on the upper manual, and retaining the organ bass. The synth bass won't work for me. I need an option to have the ep to sound an octave lower as well. Time to look at external modules, and I'm leaning towards the iPad, since I already have one, and Neo Soul Keys Wurli to get me started.

 

[HammondDave]

I'm leaning towards the iPad, since I already have one, and Neo Soul Keys Wurli to get me started.

 

Yup... That's what I use.

[Jazzwee]

OK - I'm in! Just got delivery of my Crumar Mojo. I'm new with a more realistic organ feel. My organ axe was a Nord Electro 4HP and the weighted keys and single manual was not doing it for me.

 

Just loving the drawbar control. Like a new toy!

 

 

[Joe Muscara]

OK - I'm in! Just got delivery of my Crumar Mojo. I'm new with a more realistic organ feel. My organ axe was a Nord Electro 4HP and the weighted keys and single manual was not doing it for me.

 

Just loving the drawbar control. Like a new toy!

Cool! I hope you really enjoy it. I think you will.

[drawback]

I have noticed the drawbar numbers are off on my Mojo too. Don't care - I pull drawbars by shape and sound, not numbers.

 

Something tells me if Hammond had this same manufacturing issue, the outcry would be deafening.

 

IIRC I made a comment the SK series dashboard has the ergonomics of a '78 Chrysler but perhaps you didn't hear it.

[John Tweed]

Last weekend I used the Mojo for its first gig and I had a blast, especially with that deadly light and accurate keyboard and ready access to the lower and pedal drawbars.

 

I had inadvertently left one of the stand legs at home (duh), so had to improvise to get the board level, and we had a few sound problems overall (new venue) so it'll be even better next time for sure. The Mojo still sounded great and the other band members were suitably impressed with the sound.

 

Since then I've gotten round to attaching the monitor and had a play with mapping controls. The basic sound is great to my ears, so initially I've assigned the shift-drive and shift-click controls to the fast horn and fast drum settings, so I can slow the rotary down and have them a bit more out of sync too. I like to vary the fast speed depending on the overall vibe of the gig.

 

It also marked my first time out with an iPad sound module, iRig midi and Neosoul wurlie ... sounded good, a bit of latency, but switching from organ to iPad was cumbersome. First switch velocity on upper, then enable midi reception or turn up volume on module. This band frequently deviates from the set list, so this may not be the solution I am looking for.

 

Since then I've had a second look at the Mojo's eps, and they sound pretty good, so next time I'll try and use the Rhodes as I can still get a reasonable bass from the upper manual, playing gospel style. It would be neat to switch the fold back off for this - is it possible to assign the fold back on/off to a control? I've tried but but it doesn't seem to take?

 

All in all a great package. I won't be flipping my SK1 for a Mojo61, but if they came up with a single manual DMC with the Gemini module ... that would definitely be worth looking at.