Don Patterson

Jazz organ is a substyle of jazz centered on the electric tonewheel organ, most famously the Hammond B‑3 with Leslie speaker. It blends the harmonic language and improvisational vocabulary of hard bop with the church‑inflected cadences of gospel and the backbeat of rhythm & blues, often in compact organ‑guitar‑drums trios. Typical hallmarks include walking or pedal bass lines played on the organ, greasy blues phrasing, shimmering Leslie vibrato/chorale effects, and earthy, danceable grooves ranging from swing to funk and boogaloo.