The Many Organ Moods of

Organist Phil La Penna is a mystery. The liner notes state only that Phil was born and educated in Canada, worked for four years at the CBC and that the Hammond organ he plays on this album was supplied courtesy of Heintzman's of Toronto.

Phil did have at least one other album, entitledItalianissimo! Polche & Mazurche, and this one was produced by Ken Warriner, who also played vibes on Sharon Strong's album and produced Arc albums by Billy Meek and Ken Stanley & The Pubsters. Most of this album is given over to fairly somnolent numbers like "Baby Elephant Walk" and "Moon River", but it does show signs of life on these three tunes. "'Deed I Do" is a jazz standard written in 1926 by Fred Hirsch and Walter Rose. It's given a nice up-tempo treatment, but the real action is on the other two numbers, on which (to quote the liner notes) "Phil brings the full capabilities of the Hammond organ into play with a brilliant accompaniment played solely on the organ with no gimmicks or multiple recording techniques used." "Taboo" and "Magaluena" are classic lounge pop numbers written by Ernesto Lecuona, a Cuban composer and performer, and both feature distinctive, at times almost frenzied rhythm tracks supporting the main melodies.
-Beau