Translated from German

Parallel to the Hammond sound experiment “Quadraphonic”, Andreas has released another album with a completely different musical focus entitled “Organ Party Pop Edition”. In contrast to his jazz productions, it contains, as the title suggests, pure pop music. The German-English title “Organ Party” could be interpreted as a reminder of the great Klaus Wunderlich. Andreas Hellkvist plays his Hammond B-3 here too, accompanied only by Ola Bothzen on drums. By moving away from the usual organ trio line-up, the organ is practically always present. Fans of the organ sound might find this quite appealing. The first few numbers are quite similar to each other, they all have a danceable groove. To avoid monotony, the Swede changes the sound frequently. Now and then he throws in a short improvisation. Overall he prefers the softer settings. By the fourth number “Get Back” you realize at some point, oops, that’s a Beatles number. The organ sound sounds quite unusual. However, the fifth number, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, is what really makes you sit up and take notice. Interpreting this difficult song with just organ and drums requires a fair amount of courage. Andreas has mastered this challenge brilliantly. The following number, “Aces High”, is dominated by distorted organ sounds. Track eight, “Gonna Fly Now” from “Rocky” is a rousing song in and of itself, but Hellkvist could have made it a little more spectacular. Interpreting a Queen song is a particularly Herculean task, which the two musicians once again manage brilliantly with “Don’t Stop Me Now”. This Party Hammond album strings one sophisticated pop number after the next, all very entertaining and solidly performed on the Hammond.