Album Notes

Like many Italian-American musicians, Lonnie Gasperini started out as an accordion player following in the family tradition set forth by his uncle Tulio Gasperini. Originally from Providence, Rhode Island (born January 23, 1953), Lonnie studied drums as a teenager but soon moved over to the keyboards. His first was the Farfisa followed by the Fender Rhodes piano. It was the sound of the Hammond organ, however, that would prove to be the siren in his musical adventure. Beginning with a local band, Lonnie set out on the road at age seventeen. The band - called Cannibas – played every imaginable gig - some more challenging than others … but by the time they recorded their first album in 1972, Lonnie was ready to quit the road and leave the Rock’n Roll scene completely.

Years later, Lonnie would attend church services (on the invitation of his bass player) and experience Black Gospel Music. Here, he felt a calling and by 1988, actually found himself playing in the church with a DX7 keyboard and a huge Leslie speaker… all along, trying to make it sound like the real Hammond organ. Soon a friend named Lenny Nalls lent Lonnie one of his organs and that was the beginning of a long and continuous love affair with the Hammond organ that shows no signs of fading… even today.

In 1992 Lonnie bought his first Hammond B3 organ and Leslie speaker and started his own organ group. Together with vocalist Lavern Sims, this trio has been tearing up local clubs and taverns in the Rhode Island arena ever since…and making occasional trips to New York City and to the North Beach section of San Francisco. For this live trio date in North Beach, Lonnie features guitarist Masami Ishikawa and drummer Mark Teixeira.