Let Hammond ham it up

The organ trio is one of the unique jazz ensembles. Perhaps the first in the genre to combine electric instruments -- the electric organ (almost always the Hammond B-3) and the electric guitar, along with a drum kit -- it has produced some of the music’s most distinctive sounds. (Think Jimmy Smith, Groove Holmes, Larry Young, etc.).

On Friday night, drummer Harvey Mason brought his version of the organ trio -- featuring organist Larry Goldings and guitarist Steve Khan -- to La Ve Lee in Studio City. That was, on the face of it, somewhat of a switch of musical gears, because organists, rather than drummers, are usually the leaders for this particular instrumentation. And for obvious reasons, because the heart and soul of the organ-guitar-drums combination is the organ’s potential for producing a kaleidoscopic palette of sounds, from piercing riff lines to bombastic chording.

All of which made it incumbent upon Mason to tailor his percussion textures as a backdrop rather than -- as one might expect from a group’s leader -- an upfront starring role.

To his credit, Mason usually -- not always -- tried to do just that. And when he succeeded, as he did in the old standard “Dedicated to You,” one of the opening set’s few laid-back numbers, the music flowed with an in-the-pocket, infectious rhythmic swing. On other numbers, a few of them written by Goldings, the better passages were those featuring a dynamic exchange between Mason’s articulate drumming and Goldings’ blues-drenched lines, enhanced by Khan’s crisp, rhythmic chording. Best of all were the moments during which Goldings’ organ took the spotlight, and the multi-hued, briskly swinging image of the classic organ trio came into full focus.

Less compelling were the numbers in which Mason’s playing -- sounding larger than life in La Ve Lee’s up-close and intimate setting -- dominated the proceedings. His ebullient soloing, bristling with technical virtuosity, sounded more appropriate for a performance with Fourplay, the Grammy-nominated cooperative band he works with on a regular basis, than for the timbre-sensitive environment of an organ trio.