Mailbag: “B3 or not B3”

October 06, 2007

Dear Michael,

I was just wondering if sometime you would play American pop artists works, like Ken Griffin, on your program.

Thank you,

Margarita Pomeroy

Margarita,

Thanks for the note. There are so many organists (present and past), so little time. Ken Griffin, though a huge figure in the popular organ world, probably won’t get much attention on PIPEDREAMS, since the program is about the pipe organ…not just the ‘organ’.

The primary focus of PIPEDREAMS is classical music (600 years of it), with occasional visits to the theater organ world, so there is plenty of material crowding for my attention. I’ve recently gotten to know Barbara Dennerlein (a modern-day Ken Griffin, a wizard on the Hammond B3), who plays jazz on the pipe organ, and her music is likely to pop up on PIPEDREAMS.

Yes, I know, I did a show featuring the harmonium/reed organ (which is closely associated to classical organ composers in Germany and France), and will occasionally include an electronic/digital/virtual organ on the show.

Sorry to disappoint. Hope you find other things to interest you on PIPEDREAMS!

Best,

JMB

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