The Dr. Lonnie Smith Trio performing at the Jazz Standard in 2010. Photo Credit: Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

On one of the most bone-chilling winter nights of the year, Dr. Lonnie Smith’s organ spirit reached exhilarating heights in trio with guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg and drummer Jamaire Williams. Though this arrangement lies on the intimate end of Smith’s quintet and nonet spectrum, the band enveloped the Jazz Standard as would a full-sized orchestra. Stirred about by a gently permeating stream of chords off Kreisberg’s guitar, the set began its ascent toward whole-body catharsis with the tune “River Walk”.

The evening eased in with a reflective vibe in the hands of Smith’s bass-like organ hum and Williams’ tenderly rhythmic drums. The mellow piece, featured on Smith’s 1991 release The Turbanator, took an explosive turn a few minutes in, clearing the aural sinuses with an acidic yet soulful flavor. Heads began bobbing across the audience at first listen of Smith’s signature trail-blazing tang. The organist riffed, cascaded, and pounded on his Hammond B3 with blissful abandon, spearheading into assertive zest alongside Kreisberg’s jolting crescendos and Williams’ creative dynamism.

The trio grasped their flaming momentum by the reigns in a rock-jazz fusion jam taken from Spiral, their latest release. A drum-organ storm bubbled and broke the anthem into heavily rhythmic discord, zapped by blurts of guitar. The edgy turmoil abruptly whittled down to light acoustic for a few moments, steeping deeply in Kreisberg’s earthy chord bits and streaming riffs. And just as abruptly, his riffs morphed to fiery grenades, providing a virtuosic battlefield upon which Smith’s piercing, violin-like organ tousled into Williams’ intensely rocking beats. The resulting sound embodied explosive convolution to anarchic appeal, dancing upon the verge of spilling over.

Though the trio undoubtedly masters bold fanfare, its way with heart-touching composition is most gripping of all. “Pilgrimage”, a tune featured on Smith’s 2009 album Rise Up, carried the set to a bittersweet close, at the crossroads of serene romanticism and fierce melancholy. Kreisberg filled the shoes of alto saxist Donald Harrison (who appeared on the original recording), and soon twisted those shoes into a musical sculpture of his own. His tender tone set forth a gently captivating melody laced with enveloping aural warmth. Smith’s sparse vocals were the true clincher, however, mingling with his raspy organ as though the very same instrument.