Kreisberg

with the quartet, fueled by the sound that was taking shape nightly on the bandstand. It wasn’t so much a conscious decision as a consequence of the band’s growing cohesion.

“After seven or eight world tours, you can’t even tell anymore whether you’re doing it on purpose,” Kreisberg says. “You’re hearing ( band members) in your head. ‘ Wave Upon Wave’ isn’t exactly a concept album, but there is a loose connection to the record, and a big part of that is about traveling and presenting your music with humility, offering your music as way to make people feel something.”

If there’s one musician that Kreisberg credits with allowing him to spread his wings creatively, it’s organ great Dr. Lonnie Smith. He’s been touring and recording with the Hammond B- 3 legend for the past five years or so, contributing mightily to Smith’s most recent albums “Spiral” and “The Healer.”

Working with Smith has encouraged Kreisberg to fully express himself. The wily organist always approaches material with a sideways slant, turning clichés inside out and drawing ideas from unexpected sources. Kreisberg is more confident than ever taking a similarly unfettered tack.

“There’s so much gospel and soul and funk in his playing, and even though you can say our music is very different on some levels, we’re kindred spirits,” Kreisberg says. “Lonnie’s open to a 20th- century classical idea or some kind of strange world music thing we heard in Hungary or Greece. I love getting down and grooving, but at the end of the day, the music has to be both earthy and have this cosmic openness, this sense of wonder.”

Contact Andrew Gilbert at jazzscribe@ aol. com.