It’s hard not to smile when Gould, Paterson and Ragnelli get going.
LaReserve Records
Jocelyn Gould – guitar; Ben Paterson – organ; Fabio Ragnelli – drums; Guests: Christine Jensen – saxophone; Jon Challoner – trumpet; Joey Landreth – guitar
Jocelyn Gould, Ben Paterson and Fabio Ragnelli make a tight trio on So Delighted, with Paterson’s Hammond B3 and Ragnelli’s drums staying right with Gould whether she fires off a string of quick notes, lets a guitar note hang in the air, or digs into a blues phrase and makes it talk. Guests add saxophone, trumpet and a second guitar, but the core trio is what makes the record so much fun.
“Cakewalk” takes off at a fast clip, with Paterson’s Hammond driving hard and Gould’s guitar nailed into the rhythm, spewing out great-sounding notes, one after the other. The organ jabs in bits of melody while Ragnelli’s sharp stick work yanks the piece along.
Things relax on “Amethyst,” with the organ laying down a cool groove and Challoner’s trumpet easing the melody along. Gould starts her solo down low, picking each note clean. They’re pretty, the way they ring out. The trumpet comes back and mirrors what she was playing.
Christine Jensen’s mellow saxophone leads the way on “June Moon,” with Gould’s guitar notes hanging around her lines. The drums keep up a steady patter, little taps and fills that add interest without making a racket. Gould’s carefully picked notes have a quiet beauty, and she and Jensen toss lines back and forth, closely matched. A lovely, long-held organ note brings it to a close.
A heavy drum intro kicks off “Cleo’s Countdown,” with guitar and organ swinging through the same line. Challoner’s saxophone joins them, just as melodic and sounding right at home alongside the other two. Gould’s guitar notes ring out beautifully in her solo. The way the three instruments lock into the melody gets very close to the guitar-and-organ sound Gould loved listening to and wanted to make her own.
“Girl Talk” is wistful, almost dreamy, with Joey Landreth picking the guitar strings hard enough to make the notes stay in the room awhile. Paterson gets carried away with his organ lines, stretching and exaggerating them until he sounds like a preacher proselytizing for the Lord. Gould answers back with concisely picked notes, telling it like it is.
Joey Landreth shows up for “The Game Changer,” and it’s like somebody kicked open the door to a blues club. He twists those low guitar notes, letting them vibrate and bend. It’s a walking blues, with the organ acting like a backup choir. Landreth’s guitar tells a story, and Paterson wants in on it. He picks up the same idea, copies it, stretches it out, puts a smile on it, then hands it back. Gould joins in with a crisper, brighter tone, and the two guitars sound terrific together.
It’s hard not to smile when Gould, Paterson and Ragnelli get going.
