Gene Ludwig

Gene Ludwig (born September 4, 1937 in Twin Rocks , Pennsylvania , † July 14, 2010 in Pittsburgh ) was an American organist of soul jazz .

Live and act

Ludwig grew up in Swissvale , in Pittsburgh from the age of four and received piano lessons from his mother as a child. His early musical role models were in rhythm and blues . He attended Edinboro State Teachers College for two years and was also active as a musician. In the late 1950s he heard Jimmy Smith in Pittsburgh , whose organ playing shaped his further musical development.

At the end of the 1950s he was organist in the tenor saxophonist Sonny Stanton's band , then in Gene Barr's quartet. In 1962 he played with his own trio, with which the first recordings for the small label LaVere were made. At a gig in Newark, Nesuhi Ertegün from Atlantic Records heard him and offered him a contract; the single Sticks and Stones became a local hit in Pittsburgh, an LP with Eric Kloss remained unreleased. This was followed by an album (Organ Loud Out) for the Mainstream label. In 1966 he presented Mother Blues on the Jo-Da label. Ludwig also produced on his own label called Ge-Lu Records (This is Gene Ludwig) .

In 1969 Ludwig was given the opportunity to record with Sonny Stitt ( Night Letter on Prestige ) when Don Patterson left his band. With Pat Martino he led a joint formation for a while around 1970; in Pittsburgh he played with Bill Easley , Arthur Prysock and local bands in the 1970s ; further recordings under his own name were made for Muse (Now's The Time) .

In the 1980s he was a guest at the Montreux Jazz Festival ; In 1988 he played at the memorial service of Don Patterson and in the following years organized the Jazz Organ Jams in Shadyside near Pittsburgh at the Club The Balcony , where Jack McDuff , Joey DeFrancesco and his father John DeFrancesco performed together. Further recordings were made for an album with guitarist Randy Caldwell (The American Underground) .

From 1998 he presented the other albums Back on the Track , Soul Serenade (2000), The Groove Organization (2002) and Hands On (2003); In 2005 a live recording was made at the Blue Note in Las Vegas . In the last years of his life he performed at the San Francisco Jazz Festival , Birdland and Blue Note of New York and in 2003 the Stanford Jazz Festival . In 2006, he took one last solo album with drummer and producer Cecil Brooks III on (Double Exposure) ; Scott Hamilton included him on his album Across the Tracks (2008).

Ludwig played the A-100 Hammond and the B-3.

Discographic notes

Soul Serenade (Blue Leaf, 2000)
Groove ORGANiziation (Blue Leaf, 2002)
Live in Las Vegas (Blue Leaf, 2006)
Duffs Blues (18th & Vine, 2008)
Gene Ludwig - Love Notes of Cole Porter (Big, 2011)
Gene Ludwig / Pat Martino Trio: Young Guns (HighNote, 1968/68, ed. 2014)

Web links

Individual references / comments

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f obituary at All About Jazz (accessed on July 16, 2010)
↑ Carlos E. Peña: Pittsburgh Jazz Records and Beyond, 1950-1985 (PDF; 1.5 MB)

personal data
SURNAME	Ludwig, Gene
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American organist of soul jazz
DATE OF BIRTH	September 4, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH	Twin Rocks , Pennsylvania
DATE OF DEATH	July 14, 2010
Place of death	Pittsburgh

[nachruf-1] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f obituary at All About Jazz (accessed on July 16, 2010)

[2] Carlos E. Peña: Pittsburgh Jazz Records and Beyond, 1950-1985 (PDF; 1.5 MB)