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Soul-jazz guitar chief Dave Stryker has long led one of the best current trios of the genre with Jared Gold on Hammond B3 organ and McClenty Hunter on drums. But Stryker has been known to mix it up with records that lean into certain loves of his, whether it’s being backed by strings (Goes To The Movies) or a big band (Blue Soul).
Blue Fire, The Van Gelder Sessions (Strikezone Records) is another excursion, but this one is a physical excursion, because Stryker and his band recorded these tracks in the hallowed halls of Rudy Van Gelder’s recording studio in Englewood, NJ. This is the place where famous albums from Blue Note, Prestige and CTI were recorded, including those by Stryker’s old employers Jack McDuff and Stanley Turrentine.
It’s a realization of a dream for Stryker to make a record there, but this benefits the listener, too. That’s because it becomes immediately clear from taking in Blue Fire that with an old analog-warm sound, these sides wallows in that vintage, smokey sonic essence; it’s easy to imagine that these tracks were laid down in 1965 instead of 2025. Most of the tunes, though, are new, but they adhere to the spirit of the era when Van Gelder engineered historic recordings.
Stryker is a blues guy at heart, and his blues shuffle “Van Gelder’s Place” is him and the guys playing right in his comfort zone. During his solo turn, Gold is shooting off bonafide heaters from his B3. Stryker invents a climb-up/climb-down note patter for “Blue Fire” that incorporates elements of blues, bebop and modern jazz into a memorable motif. And then, the guitarist proceeds to sizzle on his solo run.
“The Fool On The Hill” is a bleed over from Stryker’s 8 Track series of baby boomer covers, but that’s quite alright. Hunter puts a bossa nova pulse underneath it and come to think of it, it seems more inspired by Sergio Mendes’ Brasil 66 1968 version than the Beatles’ original take. Regardless, Stryker’s tasteful, velvety lines does the song justice.
Charlie Parker’s “Dexterity” is an opportunity for Stryker to shows off his ample bop chops and he does so with superb accompaniment from Gold and Hunter.
It’s easy to think that “Waiting For Ruby” is a perennial ballad standard but, no, it’s a fresh Stryker original and Gold imbues it with a lot of soul. “The Folks Who Live on The Hill” is indeed a ballad standard — from Jerome Kern — and Stryker with his spotless fingerpicking and octaves cradles this classic melody with the reverence it deserves. In between these two cuts is abrupt change-of-pace funky number from Gold called “Back And Forth,” which is full of interesting chord changes and breaks out into a swing for Gold’s thoughtful asides.
“Every Dark St.” is a nocturnal, simmering affair and Gold knows just how to accentuate that mood with his B3. Stryker, for his part, uses laid-back blues lines to do the same.
If laying down tracks where John Coltrane’s A Love supreme was birthed is a jazz pilgrimage, then Blue Fire, The Van Gelder Sessions is a truly religious experience in the jazz sense.
*** Dave Stryker CD’s and vinyl on Amazon ***
- Soft Machine – ‘Thirteen’ (2026) - March 4, 2026
- Devin Gray – ‘Hz Of Gold‘ (2026) - March 2, 2026
- Triple Blind – ‘Cold Walk’ (2026) - February 27, 2026
