Music Interview: Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio

Seattle’s Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio (aka DLO3) claim to specialise in the “lost art of feel-good music”, and, after listening to their latest album, I Told You So, it’s hard to dispute that.

It’s a brilliant collection of uplifting, raw and retro-sounding instrumentals – a heady brew of the organ jazz of Jimmy Smith and Baby Face Willette, the soulful strut of Booker T. & the M.G.’s, some Motown, Stax and blues, the earthy funk of The Meters and the cosmic rock of Jimi Hendrix.

Opener, the irresistibly groovy ‘Hole In One’, sounds like a long-lost floor-filler from a ‘60s mod club; first single, ‘Call Your Mom’, is choppy funk-blues with some seriously tasty guitar licks; ‘Girly Face’ has a more laidback, jazzy, lounge feel, and ‘From The Streets’ is a cinematic piece that could easily soundtrack a cult ‘70s crime film, Blaxploitation flick or spy movie.

There’s even a cover of George Michael’s ‘Careless Whisper’ thrown in, which transforms the schmaltzy ‘80s pop ballad into an organ-soaked, late-night blues number.

DLO3, which formed in 2015, consists of self-taught organist and multi-instrumentalist Delvon Lamarr, who plays a mean Hammond B-3, guitarist Jimmy James and drummer Dan Weiss, who is also in powerhouse soul and funk collective The Sextones. Weiss is a new, full-time member of DLO3, but the latest album features Grant Schroff on drums.

Signed to hip US soul label Colemine Records, whose impressive roster includes San Francisco’s Monophonics and singer-songwriter Kelly Finnigan, DLO3 have played sold-out shows all over the world and built up a reputation for their incendiary live performances, as well as improvisational skills and imaginative takes on classic tunes, including Curtis Mayfield’s ‘Move On Up’, which features on their 2018 Live at KEXP! recording.

I Told You So is their second studio album. The band’s debut, Close But No Cigar, which was originally released in 2016 – Colemine reissued it in 2018 – included a cover of Dionne Warwick’s ‘Walk On By’, as well as the amusingly-titled ‘Al Greenery.’

Their latest release has an even heavier groove than its predecessor and is arguably a much more confident record.

“Some people have asked me why the album is called I Told You So when there’s no song on it called ‘I Told You So?’” says Lamarr, speaking to me from his home in Seattle.

“The reason is that a lot of people who have been big fans of ours from the start questioned whether our sound would be the same after the departure of our original drummer. He had a pretty distinct, old school way of playing, which was a big part of our sound when we started out. I told them, “It won’t”…

“I’m a believer that no one person makes the sound of a band – it’s a collective of musicians, styles and personalities, and I believe this album is proof of that. At least it is to me.”

SH: What did you want this album to sound like?

DL: I wanted it to sound like it does. Some people want their albums to sound clean, polished and free from mistakes. Not me. I’m not into that so much. I like it raw and dirty.

I leave in some of the mistakes: talking, noise in the background, etc. To me that’s what makes music real. I like the live-sounding recordings. It feels different to me ‘cos it feels like they mean it. And that’s the sound for me.

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