Levitt Pavilion: KUVO's 40th Anniversary
Come celebrate 40 incredible years with KUVO at Levitt Pavilion Denver on Friday, July 11, at 7 p.m.! (Doors at 6 p.m.) We'll be there to welcome you!
We’re calling down from Seattle the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio (aka “DLO3”), with their deeply soulful, groovy brand of “feel-good music,” inspired by Jimmy Smith, The Meters, Booker T. & the M.G.s, Grant Green, and more.
You are part of their infectious musical chemistry, especially when you start to dance. Honestly, you can’t NOT dance when organist Delvon Lamarr, guitarist Brice Calvin and drummer Ashley Ickes sync up on the down beat.
It's open to the public event, but you’ll need to RSVP to get your ticket.
Delvon Lamarr on New music, Playing the Organ Live, Mining for Musicians on Social Media, and Believing in Your Dreams...
Abi Clark and alldaywes from KUVO JAZZ hopped on a call with Delvon Lamarr of the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio. Together, they dived into his journey of becoming a full-time musician and the obstacles, as well as triumphs, faced in the process. Kicking off their interview by proclaiming how organ heroes like Larry Young and Dr. Lonnie Smith inspired him to pick up the organ, even though his musical discipline originally began with the trumpet and drums. He makes a point of reflecting on how this transfer of instruments contributed to his personal style in organ music. Rhythms learned in his drumming helped develop his groove and style as an organist. Style is a muscle Delvon continuously flexes in his music and is an element he searches for in other musicians. When mining for his core ensemble of touring members, he set his eyes on drummer Ashley Ickes and guitarist Brice Calvin. Both instrumentalists came to him via the TikTok algorithm, after seeing videos of both of them playing, with indelible style, he invited them to be a part of his touring trio. He comically remarks on how both musicians used to cover Delvon Lamarr tunes in their own performance repertoire, so when the real-life Delvon Lamarr reached out to them to become a part of his band, they believed it to be a scam. A couple of months later, the trilogy was happily on its way to perform across Latin America.
When Wes questioned him on any recent show or city he enjoyed playing in, Delvon’s voice bubbled with excitement through the phone while reflecting on a set they played at a venue named Fasching in Stockholm, Sweden. With a sold-out audience in attendance, the vibes were high, and Lamarr ate the best steak he has ever had on tour. He fathomed over the possibility of it all, of playing soulful music with good people, and getting to travel the world while doing so. There was a period of his career when he “had one foot out the door,” and just about when he was feeling ready to “quit” music, he met his wife. Amy became his band's manager and pushed him to keep pursuing what he loves. Thanks to Amy’s “wholehearted belief” in his music, we get the chance to catch a Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio performance in our very own Mile High City this July 11 at the Levitt Pavilion.
This portion of the interview above has been edited for length and clarity:
Abi: I want to start with your vibe. I know you were, you've been doing this for like a decade, and you're specializing in what you call the lost art of "feel good" music. I'm curious if you have an organist that you really look up to? Talking to Carlos Lando, who is my co-host, he's like, there's two schools. There's the Jimmy Smith School and there's the Larry Young School. What do you lean towards?
Delvon: Oh man, I'm a huge Larry Young fan. Larry and Dr. Lonnie Smith are my two. The cats I look up to the most, and the reason for that is, man, their style. It's the way they construct what they're playing. That just makes it so soulful, it's playful. It's pretty much everything, you know. So yeah, those are my guys. As far as the organists that I've been digging in nowadays, man, there's this cat, I'm just recently familiar with him. I met him a long time ago, but this cat, Sam Fribush out of North Carolina, I think he's up there in Greensboro, North Carolina, man. I was up there recording an album with Brock Butler from Perpetual Groove, and we ended up going to Sam Fribush's show. I already knew him before that, but I've never seen him play. I just seen him on the internet. Man, that guy is good, man. So I'm just like, man, he's like my new favorite nowadays, organ player, man. That dude is killing,
Abi: As are you. I mean, we're both big fans of the music, and it is a staple here at KUVO. I was interested to find out that you started out as a drummer and a trumpeter, and then in a band as a drummer, you saw the organist that you were playing with, and kind of...learned from that. Do you still feel like you pull from your background drumming and your trumpet playing in the work that you do now when you're writing?
Delvon: Oh, absolutely. Most of my songs, you know, derive from the drum beat because, you know, at home I got a studio at home. Sometimes I just sit down at the drums and I'll start playing a beat that comes to my head, and then like I'll construct a song around that beat. Also, it translates to organ because I'm a very rhythmic player, and I think that's from playing drums. So when I feel like I play the organ, like it's a drum, the different rhythms, and you know I like to play with the time stretch and release time, stuff like that, and that kind of makes it my own.
Wes: Yeah, that's one of my favorite things about your sound, is how rhythmic you play the organ and how it comes together in that trio sound, that B three sound is just so signature. Like has your relationship with the organ changed, you know, over all of your years of playing?
Delvon: No. I have a love hate relationship with that thing. I love it when it works.
Wes: Very frustrating when not.
Delvon: Man, it is super frustrating, but you know I wouldn't change it. I feel the same about the organ as I did the first time I played it, man, I literally fell in love with that thing the first time I played it. It's just something about it. It's like being able to carry the bass lines, the melody lines, the solos all at the same time, which opens it up for me to basically control the direction of the music. So if I wanted to you know, for playing a song and I wanted to change the groove in there, if my band is listening, they catch that and we can just bob and weave into different songs, groove feels, and that's what I really like about playing the organ and you know just like I can kind of manipulate the music to make it you know whatever, and man, people relate to that. It's not the same every time you know,
Wes: With that. How you guys, kind of, it's almost a little bit improvisational, just like how you're kind of going in and out of songs, changing things up. Do you guys go into shows with a set list or is it kind of more like a "read the room" type of vibe, for each time they're playing?
Delvon: I never make a set list.
Wes: Yeah.
Delvon: What I do is have my phone and I have a list of all the tunes we play or we know, and usually that's about 80 songs, so sometimes I'll just flip in whatever it lands on. I'll pick something that's in view of that. You know, I read the room too- if I'm playing something, if I got like a certain thing in my head that I want to do and it's not working, I flip the script and I just do something different. Start moving songs, figuring out what works for the audience, because at the end of the day, we play for the people. You know, if people are not happy, you're going to know it. I'm always thinking of the audience and how they feel while listening to this. Are they engaged? Are they in it? And then I'll go from there-
Wes: And that's cool, and it keeps it fresh for you guys too.
Abi: It takes a tight band though, to build that up cus as a trio, it's so intimate, the three of you, and it's like you're kind of like churning. You're building this thing, your groove is getting in the pocket, and then you go other places. Improvisationally, I'd love to hear more about your band and the band that's going to be coming to Levitt Pavilion in July.
Delvon: Oh, yeah, man, my bandmates are great. I have kind of a rotating cast of musicians that I use nowadays, but my foundation is the one coming to Denver this trip. Ashley Ickes, she's from upstate New York, up there in Ithaca.
Abi: Oh ma...
Delvon: New York.
Abi: Yes, I'm familiar. I'm from upstate, too.
Delvon: Okay, cool. And man, she's a pocket drummer, man. And that's one of the things, funny thing is I met her on TikTok. Oh, I was kind of browsing around and I came across her drum videos and I was like, man, hse got- her pocket was strong, man, she's doing a lot of hip hop stuff, all kinds of stuff. And so I was like, man, she's dope. So we got her on the phone and she thought it was a scam at first because we sent her a message and she was like, this can't be real, because her band, up in Ithaca, New York, actually covers some Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio tunes.
Abi: Oh man.
Delvon: So she was already familiar with you know, me and everything like that, and my music. So yeah, we got her first tour was in South America with us,
Abi: Whoa, I love that, drinking from the hose.
Delvon: And then my guitarist, Brice Calvin. Funny part about that is I met him on TikTok too.
Abi: What?
Wes: Yeah, look at the internet doing that,
Delvon: Yeah, yeah, I know, man. You no longer have to go to LA to become a star.
Abi: That's so cool. Having that window, not only to meet musicians, but to your fan base. That's a thing that we get to enjoy in our day and age.
Delvon: Yeah. So with Bryce, I was just flipping through, and he was doing a TikTok live in his room. You know, like he wasn't, and it's weird, it's funny because I can hear beyond what people are playing. I have this thing for style, I can hear things. He wasn't playing anything that I play. There was just something in his playing that I can hear. It was his tone, the way he- you know, his picking technique on a guitar. I was like, man, that kid is really good. And so yeah, hit him up, again, he thought it was fake.
Wes: Yeah, that's so cool how the social media barriers, or like it kind of breaks down those barriers of you can kind of just be discovered, from a bedroom cat to then going on tour with Delvon Lamarr.
Delvon: Yeah. Yeah. And so we flew those guys to the house and we had just some rehearsals and I knew it right then and there. It was like, man, these guys, this is a trio right here. So yeah, those are my foundation players and that's who I've been taking on the road with me as much as possible. Those guys, they're great. They're good people. That's half the battle with being in this band is if you don't get along, man, you know, good luck.
Abi: Well, you'll be joining us in July. I know. We were both thinking about, you know, we love your recordings. I wasn't sure if there was anything new that was coming along.
Delvon: We're working on it. I have a ton of Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio that's ready to be released, and you know, like we've been recording over the years for a long time. So we got a few albums that's ready to come out. It's all...at this point, contractual, so whenever we can get that squared away, we can start putting those out.
Abi: Cool.
Delvon: But I'm going to get these guys in the studio probably early next year and record another album. Like I got a bunch of new stuff and I'll probably play some of this new stuff at the show.
Wes: Oh, that's really exciting. Yeah. Well, I know you guys been on, like you mentioned, being on the road, how you got to kind of come together as a band and you know, cohesively, like you mentioned, you're traveling across Canada and Europe. I know you're doing a few stops in the USA, luckily here in Denver, and then you were off in South America. You guys have been all over, so have you had any spots that have kind of been like your favorite or been surprising for you playing overseas or anywhere?
Delvon: Yeah, man, we played in Stockholm, Sweden, for the first time. It was rescheduled from 2020. We were supposed to play like do a Sweden run, but it got canceled this time. We made it happen a couple months ago. First time, it's not my first time in Sweden, but my first time playing in Stockholm. Man, that venue, we played at a club called Club Fasching. Man, the vibe of that room was incredible. It was packed. It was sold out, man. It was like the level of love and appreciation for what we do was unmatched. It was incredible. It was an incredible experience. Everything was right that night. We got to hang out in Stockholm afterwards with a really good friend of mine that lives there. It's just a beautiful place. It's super nice, very friendly, very beautiful man. That's just the overall vibe of that show, and just being in Stockholm was amazing.
Abi: That's awesome. That sounds amazing. And they were obviously really excited because it had been a show before, and they were ready for it.
Delvon: Yeah, so man, that was great. And the food in that place was spectacular. Man, I've been missing. I had a steak at this place, and man, that was probably one of the best steaks I've had, and I've been kind of wanting that again, I mean, fly back there to get a steak.
Wes: That's super interesting. That is one thing I like to ask people is because you're traveling all around all the time, the things you do outside of playing and stuff like that, the food you get to have around places, and all that stuff, man,
Delvon: I'm a eater, you know.
Wes: I'm with you there.
Delvon: It is probably starting to show nowadays, but man, I love eating food in other countries. It's so different and just, I don't know. It's hard to explain, man. It's so good.
Wes: It's just cool that the music takes you around the world. Yeah,
Delvon: Yeah, I didn't ever think I would do this,
Abi: Really?
Delvon: Man. I've been playing this music since I was in my early twenties, man, and it didn't take until almost 40 years old to make something happen. So yeah, just kind of wrote it all. In fact, I almost quit music at one point. Everything just kind of got stagnant. We were just playing the same clubs in the same circle. After a while, I'm like, what's the point? I'm like working a day job and playing music at night, trying to do both. And yeah, you know I had one foot out and then I met my wife Amy, and that's what really set this thing off. It's like her genius, man. She made all this happen. I didn't do anything. She did it. So, man,
Wes: That's so great, you know like
Delvon: For her.
Wes: I know she's your manager, correct, as well for the band. And it just kind of goes to show, continue practicing your craft, you know, never giving up stuff like that is so important. It's a cool thing for young musicians to hear and to see.
Delvon: Yeah. Yeah. It's really important when you have somebody that not only just likes your music but believes in you like wholeheartedly, believes in you, man. Things happen when people believe in what you're doing. You know, and that's kind of what happened, is like, not only did she really like the music that I was doing, she believed, she told me, you need to be out there. She believed that wholeheartedly. And so that was kind of the key thing in my life that was missing is somebody that believes in you. There are a lot of people that like, oh yeah, he's good and this and that. Or like my boyfriend's a musician, cool. But when somebody believes in you and they're pushing you to do what you're here to do, man, you can make the world move...
Abi: Man. Thank you for sharing some wisdom around that. As artists, you know, they need to hear that. For sure. We're so excited to have you here in July again, and I hope that you have wonderful travels and enjoy your time in Canada at the festival. That'll be a blast.
Delvon: Yeah, it's going to be fun. We only got one more show, and then we're going home for a couple of days, and then we'll be in Denver. To see y'all.
Wes: Nice. Get a little recharge at home, and then we'll get you out here.
Abi: Yeah.
Wes: Yep.
Abi: Well, we're looking forward to meeting you. We'll both be there.
Delvon: Alright, cool.
Abi: Thanks again.
Delvon: Looking forward to meeting y'all.
Abi: Yeah,
Wes: Yes indeed.
Abi: Thanks again. Well, you take care and appreciate the time.
Delvon: Alright, will do. I'm going back to bed. This bed is way too comfortable man. I've been in my hotel room a lot because it's so comfortable. Good. I got to get outside at some point.
Abi: Awesome. Awesome. Alright, well thank you so much. Great to meet you.
Wes: All right. Take care of yourself.
Delvon: All right. Likewise.
Abi: Bye.
Delvon: Have a good one, y'all.
Stay connected to KUVO’s programs and our community! Sign up for the Oasis E-News today!
