The Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, also known as DLO3, is an American

soul-jazz Soul jazz or funky jazz is a subgenre of jazz that incorporates strong influences from hard bop, blues, soul, gospel and rhythm and blues. Soul jazz is often characterized by organ trios featuring the Hammond organ and small combos including sax ...

group founded in 2015. The band has released five albums. Their debut album, titled ''Close But No Cigar'', charted at number one on the U.S. Contemporary Jazz Albums chart.

Career

The Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio was founded in 2015 and originally consisted of keyboardist Delvon Lamarr (Dumas) on

Hammond B-3 The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

, guitarist Colin Higgins and drummer David McGraw. Soon after guitarist Jimmy James (Williams) replaced Higgins. All members had been active instrumentalists in the Seattle music scene. With the help of Lamarr's wife, Amy Novo (AKA "Shortcake Mafia"), acting as manager and booking agent, the group was solidified. Originally a drummer and trumpet player, Lamarr switched to

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

at the age of 22. He said he picked up the instrument naturally by observing organist/keyboardist

Joe Doria Joe Doria is an American Hammond Organ keyboardist from Seattle, Washington. Playing many styles, Doria has backed solo artists from the Seattle area and is a member of several Seattle based groups, some of which have toured nationally. These inc ...

, whose band Lamarr was drumming in at the time. James and McGraw had previously co-founded "The True Loves", a Seattle-based nine-piece soul band. The DLO3 has toured in the United States and abroad and has performed in several music festivals including the Detroit and the

Monterey Jazz Festival The Monterey Jazz Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Monterey, California, United States. It debuted on October 3, 1958, championed by Dave Brubeck and co-founded by jazz and popular music critic Ralph J. Gleason and jazz ...

s. The trio's debut album ''Close But No Cigar'' was originally released in 2016 (on CD), and was re-released in March 2018 (on both LP and CD) by Colemine Records. The album reached number one on the U.S. Contemporary Jazz Albums chart and number three on the U.S.

Jazz Albums The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

chart. In April 2018, the band released a live album titled ''Live at KEXP!'' (on both LP and CD) that was recorded May 13, 2017. It reached number 10 on the Jazz Albums chart. In 2018 the band toured nationally and in Europe in support of the albums. In late 2018, drummer Doug Octa Port replaced McGraw. Drummer Michael Duffy joined the band for their 2019 European Tour. New drummer, Dan "Vanilla" Weiss (from " The Sextones") joined in 2021. As of August 2022, drummer Julian "Thunderfoot" MacDonough will be replacing Weiss. On January 29, 2021, the group released their sophomore studio album ''I Told You So'' via Colemine Records. The album debuted atop multiple ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Charts: number one on the Contemporary Jazz Album chart, number three on the Jazz Album chart, number four on the Tastemaker Album chart, and number 12 on the Heatseeker Album chart. Jimmy James left the band to pursue a new project ('Parlor Greens'), and was replaced in January 2023 by guitarist, Miles "Smiles" Harris. Unfortunately, a finger injury sustained shortly after joining the band meant that with Harris sidelined, for their 2023 UK tour at least, the DL03 consisted of Delvon Lamarr, with Josh Perdue on guitar, and Ehssan "Ace" Karimi on drums.

Style

The band's music is rhythm-based and rooted in the 1950's, 60's and 70's

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

styles, reminiscent of Booker T. & the M.G.'s and

The Meters The Meters (later The Funky Meters) are an American funk band formed in 1965 in New Orleans by Zigaboo Modeliste (drums), George Porter Jr. (bass), Leo Nocentelli (guitar) and Art Neville (keyboards). The band performed and recorded their o ...

. Bandleader Lamarr described it as "soul music with a strong jazz influence". He credits their 'sound' to the chemistry of the band members.

Band members

Current members *Delvon Lamarr – Hammond B-3 organ (2015–present) *Brice Calvin – guitar (2025–present) *Ashley Ickes – drums (2025–present) Former *Colin Higgins – guitar (2015) *Jimmy James – guitar (2015–2022) *Miles "Smiles" Harris – guitar (2023–2025) *David McGraw – drums (2015–2018) *Doug Octa Port – drums (2018–2021) *Keith Laudieri - drums (2019) (touring member only) *Michael Duffy – drums (2019) (touring member only) *Dan "Vanilla" Weiss – drums (2021–2022) *Julian "Thunderfoot" MacDonough – drums (2022–2025)

Timeline

Discography

LP/CD releases *''Close But No Cigar'' (Novo Productions, 2016; reissue: Colemine CLMN-12019, 2018) *''Live at KEXP!'' (Colemine CLMN-12020, recorded 5/13/17 eleased 2018 *''I Told You So'' (Colemine CLMN-12028, 2021) *''Cold As Weiss'' (Colemine CLMN-12029, 2022) *''Live In Loveland!'' (Colemine CLMN-12027, recorded 4/21/18 eleased 2022 45rpm vinyl singles * "Concussion" (Colemine CLMN-150 A, 2017) * "Memphis" (Colemine CLMN-150 B, 2017) * "Fo Sho" (Colemine CLMN-199 A, 2020) * "Inner City Blues" (Colemine CLMN-199 B, 2020) * "Jimmy's Groove (Pt. 1)" (Colemine CLMN-207 A, 2021) * "Jimmy's Groove (Pt. 2)" (Colemine CLMN-207 B, 2021) * "Cold As Weiss" (Colemine CLMN-224 A, 2021) * "Fried Soul" (Colemine CLMN-224 B, 2021)

References

External links

* * {{Authority control American soul musical groups Jazz ensembles from Washington (state) Musical groups established in 2015 Musical groups from Seattle 2015 establishments in Washington (state)