FLOPHOUSE FAVORITE ORGAN RECORDING 2025  –

This year’s honors go to the appropriately titled album of Scotsman Peter Johnstone and his International Organ Quartet.  

Something clicks, as they say, on Peter Johnstone’s coupling of Hammond organ with vibraphone (Joe Locke!) and tenor saxophone (Tommy Smith), as they move through challenging themes with command and verve. He sets up a flexible avant groove, climaxing with the sizzling Beyond Everything, further uplifted by the flame throwing Tommy Smith. Johnstone’s palette also includes lullaby-ish moods, notably When You Were Born, defined by engaging conversations between Johnstone and the constantly creative Locke.

A very rare combination, organ and vibes. Some Johnny Hammond Smith records featuring Lew Winchester or Freddie McCoy and vibraphonist Johnny Lyttle plus Milton Harris come to mind. Johnstone,  pianist, organist and composer, part of the Scottish Jazz Orchestra, takes a different path than classic soul jazz, refreshingly building on a tradition of progressive organ jazz and giving his own spin to the aesthetic that makes the Hammond organ an equal melodic and harmonic partner to the other instruments. Excellent effort.

Find Resistance Is Futile on Bandcamp here: https://peterjohnstoneinternationalorganquartet.bandcamp.com/album/resistance-is-futile

Former Flophouse Favorite Organ Recordings:

Adam Scone – Low & Slow (2021) / Brother Jack McDuff – Live At Parnell’s (2022) / Steve Snyder Trio – Prime Vintage (2023) / Mike LeDonne – Wonderful! (2024)