When it comes to infectious retro Hammond organ funk break beat grooves you might turn to the likes of the current crop including The New Mastersounds or return to the likes of Booker T Jones, Jimmy Smith or Art Neville.

One dynamite juggernaut funk train that has been getting on with business under the noses of some oblivious funk fans are German titans The Hamburg Spinners. Having just released their 3^rd album Im Schwarzwald the 4 piece return with another catalogue of instrumental blockbusters, the sort of thing Stax Records and Josie Records would have been falling over themselves to release back in the late 60’s / early 70’s.

The Hamburg Spinners carry a unique sound with them, nothing appears overly forced or trying to sound retro, each player plays from the heart, meaning the sound coming through the speakers carries a joyful smiling sound, the sort of playing Acid Jazz cats Corduory do so well, the main difference with Hamburg Spinners is they play an original Hammond B3 and carry the sort of upbeat arrangements not heard since Alan Hawkshaw branched out with the The Mohawks.

Opener on the album Heisser Schlitten could easily be used on The Man With The Golden Gun with Roger Moore wearing a leopard suite travelling across a deserted highway somewhere overshore, Das Blaue Auge is on a similar sojourn maybe this time with Carter exploring parking lots for a disappearing crime chief before throwing them over a secure barrier to their extinction. Its this sort of exploration in and amongst Jaguar driving crime busters that might have driven the inspiration behind these tracks, no doubt similar to The James Taylor Quartet Money Spyder.

Messe in H G B Und Es, Der Bremer and Bajazz do little but have the listener grooving on the spot, given the chance Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang should be seen gleefully and exuberantly jiving to this collection of nostalgic chicken strutting masterclasses. A true spectacle of an album featuring tracks that will juggle your mind, make you do loop de loops and walk into unexpected cream pies, the funk circus is firmly back in town.

Order Im Schwarzwald at the following link

Gigslutz interviews Hamburg Spinners Hammond Organ player Carsten Meyer

What was the first music you can remember hearing?

My parents had a K-Tel-Record called Goofy Greats a compilation of bubblegum-Pop and weird stuff like Judge Dread or (Here We Go) Loop De Loop on it. The perfect music for children. In Germany in the Seventies, there were these debates in the German parliament broadcasted on tv in the afternoons. My sister and I muted the tv set and suddenly the politicians looked like they were singing Muppets.

What was the first serious music you can remember hearing?

The Blue album by The Beatles when I was around 11 years old. Also listening to the Supremes-version of You Can’t Hurry Love. I was such a big fan of Phil Collins cover, but my Mum told me about the original and got me hooked on Motown at a fairly young age.

What was the first instrument you can remember playing?

The piano.

Who influenced you to play the piano?

There was one in our living room, but no one in the family played it. I was fascinated by it since being a toddler. In primary school a friend of mine showed me how to play the Pink Panther theme and I was amazed to be able to play a favourite tune with only two fingers.

When did you first start to play the organ?

The organ was something everybody’s uncle played at weddings with all the Schlagers and what not. I was fascinated though by all the different sounds and rhythm-accompaniments. At 17 I got my first Farfisa organ. It was battered, sparkling green and had a ski slalom effect making everything sound wobbly.

What about the Hammond organ, who influenced you to play that?

Not so much the obvious legends, to be honest. It would´ve been Mick Talbot from the Style Council, Jerry Dammers and especially James Taylor. They were more or less my age and made organ-playing a very cool thing in the so not very cool eighties.

How did the Hamburg Spinners form?

I made the old-school funky German chanson-album ‚ Yvon Im Kreis der Liebe‘with Dennis as a producer. He is the go-to guy in Hamburg when you want uncompromised analogue sound on a recording. We both have a love for a diverse range of sixties music. The idea of a classic Hammond Quartet in the style of Booker T and the MGs was something we fancied for a while. When the world went into lockdown in 2020, the other guy’s Lucas and David had time to join us.

Have the band members always been yourself on organ, Dennis Rux on guitar, David Nesselhauf on bass and Lucas Kochbeck on drums?

Yeah, and it’s not interchangeable. You need the four different personalities to keep the balance in the music.

How does the band’s material come to fruition? Do all the band members contribute to the song writing?

Yes, really. It’s the first fully functional democratic band, I have ever been in.

Are early James Taylor Quartet, Booker T and the MG’s, The Meters and KPM library music all influences on the band’s sound?

Well, you guessed it right. Add some chamber-music from long ago and a bit of German sesame street and we‘re getting there.

The band’s previous albums Skorpion im Stiefel and Der Magische Kraken have followed the same/similar 60’s film soundtrack influence. Is this something the band enjoy reenacting?

We see it as a trilogy. The black, the red and now the white album. All artwork is very much influenced by old children’s books illustrations and a combining element of the three records as well.

How do you get the specific sound of the Hammond organ you generate? Its very unique and incredibly infectious.

I don’t really know, we should ask Dennis as he is engineering all our records. But it always seems to be on the brink of distortion, and that’s something I really like. A little bit of punk amid all of the tastefulness.

Do the band enjoy playing live?

The four of us love it. We recorded our new album playing live in the studio, now we cannot wait to play it in front of an audience.

Do you envisage the band ever making a live appearance in the UK?

We would love to.

The band’s latest album Im Schwarzwald has just been released. What can fans expect from this latest release?

We recorded it at the legendary MPS-Studio in the Black Forest, which was like a folly for the successful owner of a big brand of German hi-fi equipment in the sixties. The room and the recording facilities all have this vintage flair and sound about them, and the spirit of those, who recorded there: Errol Garner, Joachim Kühn, Dave Pike an Oscar Peterson to name but a few…

I’m personally glad the album doesn’t divert much from the previous 2 albums, staying on the thick Hammond organ, retro grooves. Do you envisage any dramatic diversion from the band sounds in future releases?

Not really as our instrumentation is set. But we could envisage to accompany a singer or a choir in the future. We‘ll see.

Do you have any plans to release any material as a solo artist or with any other projects?

Yes, all the time.

Finally, what’s on your turntable at present?

It‘s German jazz pianist Jutta Hipp’s early recordings.