Linda Dachtyl - Full Steam Ahead

(Chicken Coup Records, 2025)

Cover art courtesy of Gayla Smith

Organist/composer Linda Dachtyl has floated in and out from beneath my CD player laser since Blue Bop (Chicken Coup Music, 2006) and For Hep Cats (Chicken Coup Music, 2008). She showed up next for me on A Late One (Chicken Coup, 2015). In 2025, the organist releases two long-awaited recordings, Waves of Change and the present Full Steam Ahead. Dachtyl is a musical polymath, addressing soul, blues, rock, progressive rock, and her primary interest, jazz (in its various flavors). Full Steam Ahead is her updating of the ‘50s’ and ‘60s’ blowing sessions made popular by Jimmy Smith, Shirley Scott, Richard “Groove” Holmes, and Big John Patton, among many others. The jazz organ trio: organ, guitar, drums, has a storied history within jazz and continues to be a popular and developing format.

Dachtyl’s core rhythm section is a family affair shared with drummer-husband Cary Dachtyl, her musical partner in all things, and guitarist Don Hales. The recording boasts several special guests piping in at just the right times. Dachtyl is one clever programmer of material, drawing songs from disparate backgrounds and assembling them into suites, two of which are presented here. “Full Steam Ahead” mashes up the late James Moody’s “Last Train From Overbrook” with Gene Ludwig’s “Back on the Track.” The trio sets up an easy swing for a healthy eight minutes, allowing Dachtyl and Hales to spread the jam. While not a blues-based romp, the blues are never too far away. Dachtyl is a master of dramatic pacing, placing build-ups and cool-downs in all the right places to sustain an exquisite tension, no easy feat.

The second grouping of songs is the “Lava Lamp Suite,” a groovy harkening back to 1960s’ exotica. The trio addresses Francis Lai’s “A Man and a Woman,” followed by Roberto Menescal’s “My Little Boat,” and the Burt Bacharach/Hal David “Promises, Promises,” recalling a simpler time perfumed with cigarettes and whiskey neat. Graceful, urbane, and thoroughly updated, the performances are the soundtrack of the mid-century modern era.

The two suites separate two quartets of songs, the first featuring originals by the band and the second, standards that reveal said band’s depth. Dachtyl’s own “Illumination introduces the recording with tenor saxophonist Mark Donavan and trumpeter Ben Huntoon, who recast hard bop-soul jazz into a post-bop and beyond world. Dachtyl’s “Roxy Strut” is exactly that: a jaunty, funky piece recalling the late ‘70s. Donavan’s alto saxophone accented the piece.

The final quartet, all well-addressed standards, brings the recital to a close in grand style. The Ellington/Tizol “Caravan” pushes its eastern sound farther east than most, to an almost oriental vibe.Mark Donavan’s slippery clarinet adds a pungent gypsy flavor to the swing. Then come two Thelonious Monk compositions: the angular “Think of One” and the plush and mysterious “‘Round Midnight.” Dachtyl and Hales duel their way through the song, giving it a deep cocktail reading. The coda is a loud and brash “April in Paris." Donavan punctuates the piece on his tenor saxophone, laying solo ground for Hale and Dachtyl. This is an urbane and swinging set that should satisfy the broadest audience.