*** John Stein Trio

GREEN STREET

(A-Records)

You'd think elegant guitar/organ jazz must be an oxymoron, but guitarist John Stein brings a deceptive finesse to this familiar greasy soul-jazz sound. He has a softer attack than, say, organ-trio guitar king Grant Green, but the funk is there in his riffing original tunes, in the easy-swinging drive of his lines. Beneath the bold outlines there's infinite detail that you don't often find in the genre. Listen to the stunningly articulated ornaments on his original "Hotcakes," or the Wes Montgomery-style mix of chords, octaves, and single-note phrases in "Booga Lou." They're the kind of details that might not register the first time around but keep the album fresh on each relistening. It doesn't hurt that Stein has done serious playing time with soul-jazz (and bebop) master Lou Donaldson, or that he's joined here by another veteran of the groove, sax/flute man David "Fathead" Newman. Ken Clark is the able keyboard man, Dan Hurst the drummer.

-- Jon Garelick