Barbara Dennerlein - In a Silent Mood (2004)

German Hammond B-3 innovator Barbara Dennerlein not only doesn't sound like Jimmy Smith on In a Silent Mood, it is really doubtful that these tracks could even be called jazz. A tranquil suite to the power of the inner life, In a Silent Mood is made up of carefully composed segments that stand individually on their own, but taken together, form a complete whole. Using only her B-3 here (and the occasional piano), and outfitted with foot pedals that trip her MIDI synthesizer settings, Dennerlein has assembled a beautiful album that glides and reaches into the rare, thin atmosphere of dreams. As much as Smith defined the possibilities of the B-3 at the end of the 20th century, Dennerlein is beginning to define it for the 21st.