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Jimmy Smith (musician)
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Jimmy Smith (December 8, 1925 [birth year is disputed and is often given as 1928] – February 8, 2005) was a jazz musician whose performances on the Hammond B-3 electric organ helped to popularize this instrument. In 2005, Jimmy Smith was awarded the NEA Jazz Masters Award from the National Endowment for the Arts, the highest honors that the United States bestows upon jazz musicians.
inally a pianist, Smith switched to organ in 1953 after hearing Wild Bill Davis.
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Encyclopedia
Jimmy Smith (December 8, 1925 [birth year is disputed and is often given as 1928] – February 8, 2005) was a jazz musician whose performances on the Hammond B-3 electric organ helped to popularize this instrument. In 2005, Jimmy Smith was awarded the NEA Jazz Masters Award from the National Endowment for the Arts, the highest honors that the United States bestows upon jazz musicians.
Career
Originally a pianist, Smith switched to organ in 1953 after hearing Wild Bill Davis. He purchased his first Hammond organ, rented a warehouse to practice in and emerged after little more than a year with an exciting new sound which was to completely revolutionize the way in which the instrument could be played. On hearing him playing in a Philadelphia club, Blue Note's Alfred Lion immediately signed him to the label and with his second album, also known as The Champ, quickly established Smith as a new star on the jazz scene. He was a prolific recording artist and as a leader, recorded around 40 sessions for Blue Note in just 8 years beginning in 1956. His most notable albums from this period include The Sermon!, House Party, Home Cookin' , Midnight Special, Back at the Chicken Shack and Prayer Meetin' .
Smith then signed to Verve Records label in 1962. His first album Bashin, sold well and for the first time, set Smith with a big band led by Oliver Nelson. Further Big band collaborations followed, most successfully with Lalo Schifrin for The Cat and guitarist Wes Montgomery, with whom he recorded two albums: The Dynamic Duo and Further Adventures Of Jimmy and Wes.
Other notable albums from this period include Blue Bash and Organ Grinder's Swing with Kenny Burrell, The Boss with George Benson, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Got My Mojo Workin, and the funky Root Down.
During the 50s and 60s, Smith recorded with some of the great jazz musicians of the day such as Kenny Burrell, George Benson, Grant Green, Stanley Turrentine, Lee Morgan, Lou Donaldson, Tina Brooks, Jackie McLean, Grady Tate and Donald Bailey.
In the 1970s, Smith opened his own supperclub in L.A. and played there regularly.
Smith had a career revival in the 1980s and 90s, again recording for Blue Note and Verve, and for Milestone and Elektra. Smith also recorded with other artists including Quincy Jones/Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Joey DeFrancesco.
His last major album Dot Com Blues (Blue Thumb, 2000), featured many special guests such as Dr. John, B.B.King and Etta James.
Musical style
While the electric organ was used in jazz by Fats Waller and Count Basie, Smith's virtuoso improvisation technique on the Hammond helped to popularize the electric organ as a jazz and blues instrument. For ballads, he played walking bass lines on the bass foot pedals. For uptempo tunes, he would play the bass line on the lower manual and use the pedals for emphasis on the attack of certain notes, which helped to emulate the attack and sound of a string bass.
Influence
Smith influenced many other jazz organists, as well as rock keyboardists like avowed Smith fan Keith Emerson. More recently, Smith influenced bands such as the Beastie Boys, who sampled the bassline from "Root Down (and Get It)" from Root Down—and saluted Smith in the lyrics—for their own hit "Root Down," Medeski, Martin & Wood, and The Hayden-Eckert Ensemble. The Acid Jazz movement also reflects Smith's organ style. In 1999, Smith guested on two tracks of a live album, Incredible!- with his protégé, Joey DeFrancesco, a then 28-year-old organist. Smith and DeFrancesco later played together on the collaborative album Legacy, released in 2005 shortly after Smith's death.
Discography
As leader
Blue Note 1956-63
[Jimmy Smith recorded more than forty sessions as a leader for Blue Note between 1956-63. Many of them were not released until several years after the original recording dates, as shown] *
1956
A New Sound-A New Star Vol.1 A New Sound-A New Star Vol.2 The Incredible Jimmy Smith at the Organ Vol.3 At Club Baby Grand Vol.1 At Club Baby Grand Vol.2
1957
A Date With Jimmy Smith Vol. 1 A Date With Jimmy Smith Vol. 2 Jimmy Smith At The Organ Vol. 1 Jimmy Smith At The Organ Vol. 2 The Sounds of Jimmy Smith Groovin' at Small's Vol. 1 Groovin' at Small's Vol. 2 Plays Pretty Just for You Special Guests * Jimmy Smith Trio + LD * Confirmation * Cherokee * Lonesome Road *
1958
House Party The Sermon! Softly As A Summer Breeze Cool Blues * On the Sunny Side * Confirmation * Six Views of the Blues *
1959
Home Cookin
1960
1961
- Midnight Special
- Straight Life *
1962
1963
- Rockin' the Boat
- Prayer Meetin
- Bucket! *
- I'm Movin' On *
Verve 1962-73
1962
1963
- Any Number Can Win
- Blue Bash (with Kenny Burrell)
- Hobo Flats
- Live at the Village Gate (Metro)
- Plays the Blues (PolyGram)
1964
- The Cat
- Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
- Christmas Cookin'/Christmas '64
1965
- Monster
- Organ Grinder Swing
- Got My Mojo Workin
- In Hamburg Live (Metro)
- Live in Concert /Paris/Salle Pleyel Live (Metro)
- La Métamorphose des cloportes (Soundtrack) *
1966
- Hoochie Coochie Man
- Peter and the Wolf
- The Dynamic Duo (with Wes Montgomery)
- Further Adventures of Jimmy & Wes (with Wes Montgomery) *
1967
1968
- The Boss
- Livin' It Up
- Stay Loose
- Live Salle Pleyel (Trema) *
1969
1971
- I'm Gonna Git Myself Together
- In A Plain Brown Wrapper
1972
- Bluesmith
- Root Down - Live
- Newport In New York '72/The Jimmy Smith Jam, Vol.5 (Atlantic)
1973
- Portuguese Soul
- The Other Side Of Jimmy Smith (MGM)
Various Labels
1974
- Blacksmith (Pride)
- Paid in Full (Mojo)
1975
1976
1977
1978
- Unfinished Business (Mercury)
1980
- The Cat Strikes Again (Laserlight)
- Mr. Jim (Manhattan)
- Second Coming (Mojo)
1981
- All The Way Live (with Eddie Harris) (Milestone)
1982
1983
1986
- Go For Watcha Know (Blue Note)
1989
1990
- Fourmost Live (Milestone)
- Fourmost Return (Milestone)
1993
- Sum Serious Blues (Milestone)
- The Master (Blue Note)
- The Master II (Blue Note)
1995
1996
2000
- Dot Com Blues (Blue Thumb/Verve)
2001
- Black Cat/Daybreak (Castle)
Guest appearances
1975
- Lenny White - Venusian Summer (L.White/J.Smith/Larry Young/L.Coryell/Al DiMeola/Weldon Irvine/Hubert Laws) (Nemperor)
1983
- James Ingram - It's Your Night (QWest)
1984
- Stanley Turrentine - Straight Ahead (S. Turrentine/J.Smith/G.Benson/L.McCann) (Blue Note)
- Frank Sinatra - L.A. Is My Lady (Warners)
1987
- Michael Jackson - Bad (Epic/Sony)
1994
- Dee Dee Bridgewater - Love & Peace: A Tribute To Horace Silver (Verve)
1999
- Joey DeFrancesco - Incredible! (Concord)
2005
- Joey DeFrancesco - Legacy (Concord)
See also
External links
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