Dave Stryker BLUE FIRE

December 24, 2025

DAVE STRYKER

BLUE FIRE

Strikezone Records

Dave Stryker, guitar; Jared Gold, organ; McClenty Hunter, drums.

Dave Stryker is back with another energy-infused package of exciting guitar and organ trio music. Surrounded by his dependable trio members, Jared Gold on organ and McClenty Hunter solid on drums, they bring us a package of nine tunes recorded at the famous Rudy Van Gelder Recording Studio.

Stryker opens the set with an original named for the iconic engineer and studio owner called “Van Gelder’s Place.” It swings hard, pumped up by Hunter’s drums and spotlighting first Stryker on guitar and then Gold’s improvised solo on organ.

Stryker cut his teeth working with legends like Jack McDuff and Stanley Turrentine. Eventually, after honing his skills, he was eager to lead his own band. Stryker branched out on his own, never looking back. This album, like all the ones before it, is fire! In this case, “Blue Fire.”

Stryker has recorded in a number of settings including his work with the WDR Big Band, where they celebrated the music of Marvin Gaye, playing from his “Trouble Man” film score.

This album is back to the roots where Stryker feels most comfortable. His organ-trio package is packed with excitement. “Blue Fire,” his original tune, races onto the scene, powerful and impressive as a lightning strike.

The trio has included a few familiar standard tunes for our listening pleasure including a fresh arrangement of, “The Fool on the Hill” and Charlie Parker’s “Dexterity” composition played at a very quick pace. They also give a sweet arrangement of Jerome Kern’s “The Folks Who Live on the Hill.”

“This recording was a longtime dream for me. I had always wanted to record at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio but never got the chance when he was alive. Thankfully, Rudy’s assistant, Maureen Sickler and her husband Don have taken over the operation to keep it preserved. When you walk into this amazing space, the history, not to mention the incredibly warm sound of the huge room, are palpable. … With my 20-year working trio of Jared Gold (playing the original Jimmy Smith/Larry Young Hammond organ) and McClenty Hunter on drums, we were inspired and captured some of the magic. We can now add “Blue Fire” to the long list of albums recorded at this legendary temple of Jazz,” Dave Stryker bragged with pride and excitement.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil