Formed in Seattle around 2015, the Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio, known in the Pacific Northwest as DLo3, has become one of the most popular organ trios in the world.
DLo3 has visited KNKX several times, including in 2017, with the trio's original lineup: guitarist Jimmy James and drummer David McGraw. During that visit, Lamarr told us about his surprising start on the instrument.
Lamarr, a self-taught musician, was originally a drummer. While holding down the drum throne with Seattle's finest organ player, Joe Doria, he got inspired.
"First time I seen an organ outside of church. I knew the pastor's wife played the organ in church, but I never really heard anybody play the organ like Joe did," Lamarr said.
One night, another drummer came by and asked Lamarr if he could sit in. Lamarr took the opportunity to ask Doria if he could play his organ.
"He was like, 'If you can,'" Lamarr recalled. "And so I sat down at the organ, played a blues, and it's like I've been playing the thing the whole time."
Lamarr jokingly said it "all went downhill" after he bought his first organ from the Little Nickel Classifieds, but owning a heavy instrument the size of an upright piano does bring challenges. Lamar found that out firsthand when, on his way to a gig at the now-closed Belltown jazz club Tula's, he was forced to roll his organ through the middle of downtown Seattle because a marathon and the summer Seafair celebrations had blocked the streets.
"I literally got stuck on the other side of the marathon," Lamarr said. "We parked over by the Seattle Center on the backside, lower Queen Anne area, and me, Adam Kessler, Kareem Kandi pushed a B-3 all the way, I think it was like eight blocks, right down the middle of Second Avenue."
Aside from this humorous inconvenience, fortune has largely favored the DLo3. Their debut album Close, but No Cigar hit number one on the Billboard contemporary jazz albums chart. Lamar credits his success to his wife and band manager, Amy Novo, for promoting the band and setting up some of their first shows around Puget Sound. She even accidentally inspired one of her husband's songs: "Tacoma Black Party."
"She was on the microphone announcing the first annual block party, but it sounded like she said, 'Thank you for coming to the first annual Black party,' And then Jimmy James was like, what? She's like, 'I didn't say that.' She looks over at the audience, and everybody's like, 'Yeah, you did,'" Lamarr said. "So we said, you know, we got to write a song about it."
The Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio's success has only grown. Their popularity has skyrocketed and they have toured around the world, and it all started in the Pacific Northwest with a spontaneous decision to play Joe Doria's organ.
Songs Heard in this Episode:
- "Memphis"
- "Close, but no cigar"
- "Tacoma Black Party"
