{"id":10873,"date":"2025-07-09T23:43:36","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T04:43:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=10873"},"modified":"2025-07-10T00:26:36","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T05:26:36","slug":"parlor-greens-newport-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/parlor-greens-newport-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Feeling the Spirit: A Conversation with Tim Carman, Jimmy James, and Adam Scone on Parlor Greens at Newport"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Before setting anchor at a fortress by the sea<\/a>. Before fencing the sprawling field beneath a problematic hill<\/a>. Before cramming into a small stonewalled park. The Newport Casino was where, in 1954, George Wein and the Lorrilards made possible the idea of a jazz festival in the Sailing Capital of the World<\/a>. Built between 1879 and 1881, the Casino represents a bygone era in a city of summer cottages. A social club for Newport\u2019s social elites, the venue provided its members with tennis courts and a ballroom. But jt also hosted several spaces seemingly lost to time: card rooms and reading rooms. Rooms with muted yet sophisticated colors.  And while the function of such spaces is now mostly sepia-hued impressions of an era passed, it is hard not to tie their existence to the music of the trio Parlor Greens – with Tim Carman, Jimmy James, and Adam Scone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such social rooms – often referred to as parlors- frequently housed acoustic, reed-based organs. These parlor organs were central to musical life before radio and television. They helped establish the organ as an instrument that could create vibrant music with minimal instrumentation, as a voice not relegated to the church. While there is no direct historical link, in many ways, the freeing of the organ artistically and locationally must have at least partially led to the Hammond B3s, which would dominate 1950s and 60s jazz clubs. As to the latter, particular late-night magic was found for decades in the pairing of B3, electric guitar, and drums. There was a particularly special synergy between the two amplified instruments. Jimmy Smith with Wes Montgomery, Jack McDuff with Grant Green, and Jack McDuff with George Benson<\/a> are but a few of such magical pairings. Yet the drums are essential to hold it all together. In the words of the legendary Dr. Lonnie Smith, \u201cWith the organ trio, you\u2019re painting with sound. The organ can be the rhythm, the harmony, and the melody all at once, and the drums and guitar just make it explode.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parlor Greens directly ties the social club to the smoky jazz lounge. Its name comes from the colors of the former, albeit a version from decades later. But its sound is the direct descendant of the latter. The trio\u2019s debut recording, In Green\/We Dream<\/em> (Colemine, 2024), exudes a warmth that pervades even the slow, bluesy ballad of \u201cFlowers for Sharon.\u201d The supreme funkiness of the group across most of the album, despite it being their first time together, speaks to the artistry and experiences of drummer Tim Carman (GA-20), guitarist Jimmy James (The True Loves and formerly the Delvin Lamarr Organ Trio), and organist Adam Scone (Scone Cash Players and The Sugarman 3). Overall, In Green sits comfortably alongside the output of the organ trio greats. And yet, the artists are not happy to merely replicate what came before. Instead, they find ways to update the core sound, whether drawing ancestral lines from Daptone back to Stax or dragging into both psychedelica and the deep New Orleans funk of the Meters<\/a> on \u201cParlor Strut.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The social rooms where the organ was freed have since closed. The small clubs where the format was mastered have been cleared of their smoke. But In Green \/ We Dream<\/em> reminds us that the organ trio setting remains as relevant and vibrant as ever. With Parlor Greens, the format’s legacy is left in good hands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We sat down with Carman, James, and Scone to discuss the group, their album, and the upcoming Newport Jazz Festival performance on August 3, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PG: Do you remember when you first become aware of the Newport Jazz Festival? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Adam Scone: I do. I first learned about it from Jazz on a Summer\u2019s Day<\/a> <\/em>(Galaxy Attractions, 1959). Then I went to the Festival one year in the 1990s and saw the Miles Davis band – featuring Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, and Ron Carter – but with Wallace Roney on trumpet, as Miles had passed away by then. That band was incredible. Tower of Power was there that year as well. Phenomenal. And I remember there was a big rainstorm and everyone was running around. It was all so much fun and there was amazing music. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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