BARBARA DENNERLEIN : German Organist Pumps You Up

Barbara Dennerlein, the exceptional 26-year-old organist from Munich, Germany, has long been a champion of the Hammond B-3, but it wasn’t until she added synthesizers to the instrument a few years ago that she was able to reproduce all the sounds she heard in her head.

“I am a great Hammond fan, but it’s always been my dream to blend its sound with the synthesizer,” Dennerlein said in an interview from Germany.

“For a long time this was not possible--you had to use them separately--but now I use a MIDI, and it enables me to get more of a contrabass sound on my bass pedals,” she said, referring to the musical instrument digital interface that enables her Hammond and her synthesizers to, in essence, talk to each other.

Dennerlein took up the organ at age 12. “When I started to play organ,” she said, “I always used the foot pedals (to play a bass line); I never played the bass line with my hands the way some musicians do.”

Her approach can be heard on her recent “Hot Stuff” album on Enja Records, a release in which she explore such genres as Latin, jazz, rock and funk. Her combinations here are revelations. On the 10-minute title tune, she pumps out extraordinary effects, achieving a new level of dynamic and tonal variety.

“The synthesizer by itself doesn’t work--there is no heart, no soul,” said Dennerlein, who cites organist Larry Young as her chief influence. “But this way it really comes off.”

Dennerlein’s previous Enja release, “Straightahead,” found her more in a mainstream jazz mode and featured trombonist Ray Anderson.

The organist, who has recorded several albums on her own European-based Bebop Records label and who has toured extensively on the Continent, has yet to find substantial playing opportunities in the United States.

“I have only worked three nights in the United States, in late January,” she said.

But her engagement at Sweet Basil in New York’s Greenwich Village paid unexpected dividends.

“George Benson came in and became a big fan,” she said of the guitarist. “He invited me out to his home in New Jersey, and we jammed together. Wonderful!

“Now I also have an agent in America, and I expect to come over again soon and stay longer. There are so many great musicians over there, people I’d like to meet and play with.”