If Skip Heller didn’t exist, it would be necessary for someone somewhere to invent him. For several years this guitarist and walking musical encyclopedia resided and created music in Los Angeles, where he collaborated with X drummer DJ Bonebrake, fellow Philly-born pianist Uri Caine, Doug Fieger, Katy Moffatt, and other kindred, wayward musical spirits. The music he created hinted at his love of jazz, but also at a love of pure music, whether it be R&B, jazz organ combo, orchestral exotica, soundtrack music, or whatever. You see, in Skip Heller’s universe, no music is beneath one if it is created with heart and sincerity. Music is actually not even big enough to contain Skip’s enthusiasm for life—he’s inspired by books, movies, cool people, and all manner of cultural flotsam and jetsam. Not for him is the carefully crafted CD containing such well-worn chestnuts as “Autumn Leaves” or “Satin Doll.” It’s not that anything is wrong with that music, but there is simply so much music out there, and so much of it is escaping our notice on a daily basis, that more of it simply MUST be captured, placed under the bell jar for our inspection, and thoroughly enjoyed.

Heller is a musician who never got over being a listener. That’s damned important because it means that he not only wants to have fun playing music, he wants YOU to have fun listening to it. Many musicians will say they want their listeners to have fun, but then they go and make it difficult for that to happen. Not Skip. First, he selects music that he knows you are going to enjoy hearing. Yeah, he enjoys playing it, but that isn’t the only criteria. That alone is just not good enough. And you know this because he shares his enthusiasm with you in his liner notes which are written, not to show off his vast (vast, vast, vast) musical knowledge (not only of the music itself, but of who played on what, on liner notes and album covers and who knows what else) but to further your enjoyment of the music at hand. That’s not just the mark of someone whose music you want to hear, it is the mark of someone you would enjoy hanging out with and listening to some records over a couple of brewskis.

Hyena Records would seem to be the perfect home for Skip. For one thing, Hyena’s Kevin Colabro has been hip to Skip for some time. I know this because Kevin sent me a copy of Skip’s CD Homegoing last year and seemed very eager to hear my reaction to it. I am very sad to report that I didn’t find time to listen to it for a few months, by which time it seemed to have disappeared somewhere in the pit and pendulum-type hell that is my office. I only recently unearthed it while excavating in Sector 12, and by that time I had received Fakebook. The other reason that Hyena is perfect for Skip and vice versa is the label’s founder Joel Dorn. When I interviewed Dorn last year, he and I talked a lot about the beauty of the jazz organ combo and the great soul jazz organ groups of the late 1960s. “You know” Dorn told me point blank, “one of the drags with jazz now is that it ain’t fun.” And here’s Heller in his liner notes: “Although the groove/organ combo albums of the sixties didn’t get much respect, they always had fresh song choices and inventive arrangements. And that connection to rhythm and blues.” Yep, this seems like a marriage made in heaven.

So now here is Skip’s Hyena debut, Fakebook, recorded after his newfound rhythm section of drummer John Wicks and organist Joe Doria (woodwind player Robert Drasnin is the only holdover from Homegoing) played a minitour of the Northwest. It was recorded in Doria’s basement studio for “about a thousand dollars.” Like George Romero’s original zombie trilogy, the investment paid out more bang for the buck than any big production would have or could have. And that’s because it is played with heart and sincerity, and a big dose of fun and good humor as well.

Every song here is a gem, even those that were recorded live and contain what Skip refers to as “warts.” It doesn’t matter a damn, though, because you’ll be much too interested in listening to the music to spot any possible errors. The many moods here range from a version of Grant Green’s “The Yodel” complete with a New Orleans second line drum motif and one of the best, tightest small group arrangements you’re likely to hear this year. Then there’s bandleader/composer Les Baxter’s “Sophisticated Savage,” which has unusual melodic turns and a dreamy island feel with just a hint of darkness—something like when the Gilligan’s Island castaway’s discover that there are natives on the island with them, but we know nothing bad will happen to them. To many Baxter’s music is merely retro kitsch, but Skip treats it as the thing of beauty that it can be. In fact, Heller learned the piece from Baxter after writing him a letter and receiving a warm response. In similar fashion, Heller covers Raymond Scott’s “Powerhouse,” a great piece of music, without the smallest hint of irony. Scott was a pianist, composer and bandleader as well as an inventor and engineer who pioneered many ideas in electric music. Scott’s music has most frequently been heard as an accompaniment to animated cartoons, including classic Warner Brothers cartoons and Ren and Stimpy. The music is demanding and Heller’s ensemble pulls it off with ease. Listen and enjoy as Heller opens his solo with a quote from the Warner “Merry Melodies” theme.

Then there’s a soulful, driving arrangement of “Never Can Say Goodbye” that could have come from the classic George Benson/Jack McDuff guitar-organ combo. It’s one of only two numbers that sound like what you might expect from a guitar/organ group, the other being a supremely soulful rendition of Eddie Harris’ “Cold Duck Time” from the seminal Swiss Movement album. Seattle trumpeter Jay Roulston burns with post-bop energy here, adding a nice touch to the group’s sound. There’s sheer beauty as well, in the form of Jerry Goldsmith’s haunting “Chinatown” theme featuring the gorgeous alto work of Bob Drasnin. Drasnin also does his best Johnny Hodges on “(Just) Squeeze Me.” Skip himself provides a lonely, delicate version of “Monk’s Mood” performed as a guitar solo. He allows those dissonant Monk chords to hang in the air like an unfinished conversation. “I used to listen to this all the time when I was in high school” writes Heller. “As for the other kids at school…Apparently, the Styx records they were all listening to didn’t offer the same inspiration.”

The two live performances on Fakebook are real standouts, even if Skip does think they reveal some warts. “Arriverderci, Roma” is another example of how supposedly kitschy musical material can really provide inspiration if handled with dignity and respect. But, of course, not too much respect—there’s gotta be some room for fun. This is an all-out group performance that really gets some sparks flying, and you can hear at the end how appreciative the audience is. The other live track is a cover of Prince’s “Sometimes It Snows In April.” Heller rightly points out how great the soundtrack recording is, even though the movie from which it comes—Under the Cherry Moon—is a real stinker. This song, which closes out the soundtrack, has a really beautiful lyric to go with its slightly melancholy melody, making it something of a non-dramatic cousin to “Purple Rain.” Here Heller and ensemble treat it to a folk/gospel feel that is very reminiscent of The Band at times, which is eerie when one considers Heller’s comment that drummer Wicks is in “deep Levon Helm mode.” When Skip says that, you know damn well it’s a compliment to both Wicks and Levon. The disc concludes with a short reading of Dylan’s “The Man In Me” with Stan Ridgway doing a guest vocal. Skip plays the guitar part like Curtis Mayfield and it comes off beautifully.

In his brief message on the liner notes, Joel Dorn says “I rarely ever talk about the music on an album, but I will tell ya, this one almost coulda come out on Prestige in the 60s. But it ain’t old music, it’s brand new, and Skip’s thread in the great American tapesty.” I couldn’t agree more. If you truly love music—I mean REALLY love it to the point where you sometimes neglect everything for days after hearing something so new, so powerful that it sets you back on your heels—then you need to get this thing on order right now. Operators are standing by.