Softly as a Summer Breeze
Encyclopedia
Softly as a Summer Breeze is an album by American jazz organist Jimmy Smith
featuring performances recorded in 1958 but not released on the Blue Note
label until 1965. The album was rereleased on CD with four bonus tracks recorded at a later session.
awarded the album 3 stars stating "Softly As a Summer Breeze is one of Jimmy Smith's more obscure Blue Notes... Overall, this CD is not too essential, but it does fill in a few gaps".
Jimmy Smith (musician)
Jimmy Smith was a jazz musician whose performances on the Hammond B-3 electric organ helped to popularize this instrument...
featuring performances recorded in 1958 but not released on the Blue Note
Blue Note Records
Blue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...
label until 1965. The album was rereleased on CD with four bonus tracks recorded at a later session.
Reception
The Allmusic review by Scott YanowScott Yanow
Scott Yanow is an American jazz commentator, known for many contributions to the Allmusic website, for writing ten books on jazz and for reviewing jazz recordings for over 30 years.-Biography:...
awarded the album 3 stars stating "Softly As a Summer Breeze is one of Jimmy Smith's more obscure Blue Notes... Overall, this CD is not too essential, but it does fill in a few gaps".
Track listing
- "These Foolish ThingsThese Foolish Things (Remind Me Of You)"These Foolish Things " is a standard with words by Eric Maschwitz and music by Jack Strachey. Harry Link, an American, sometimes appears as a co-writer, but his input was probably limited to changes to suit the U.S. market. It is one of a group of 'Mayfair Songs', like "A Nightingale Sang in...
" (Harry LinkHarry LinkHarry Link, born Harry Linkey was an American songwriter. He wrote or co-wrote several well-known jazz standards....
, Holt MarvellEric MaschwitzAlbert Eric Maschwitz OBE , known as Eric Maschwitz and sometimes credited as Holt Marvell, was an English entertainer, writer, broadcaster and broadcasting executive.-Life and work:...
, Jack StracheyJack StracheyJack Strachey , was an English composer and songwriterBorn John Francis Strachey in London, England on 25 September 1894 he began writing songs in the 1920s for the theatre and the music hall, scoring his first success with songs he had written for Frith Shephard's long running musical revue Lady...
) - 5:27 - "Hackensack" (Thelonious MonkThelonious MonkThelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
) - 5:58 - "It Could Happen to YouIt Could Happen to You (song)"It Could Happen to You" is a popular standard with music by Jimmy Van Heusen and lyrics by Johnny Burke. The song was written in 1944 and was introduced by Dorothy Lamour in the Paramount musical comedy film, And the Angels Sing....
" (Johnny BurkeJohnny BurkeJohnny Burke was a Newfoundland songwriter and musician. He was nicknamed the 'Bard of Prescott Street'. He wrote many popular songs that artists in the 1930s and 1940s released.Popular songs by Burke include:* The Night Paddy Murphy Died...
, Jimmy Van Heusen) - 6:16 - "Sometimes I'm HappySometimes I'm Happy (Sometimes I'm Blue)"Sometimes I'm Happy " is a popular song.The music was written by Vincent Youmans, the lyrics by Irving Caesar. The song was published in 1927 and introduced in the Broadway musical Hit the Deck, starring Stanley Holloway, and opened in April, 1927...
" (Irving CaesarIrving CaesarIrving Caesar was an American lyricist and theater composer who wrote lyrics for "Swanee," "Sometimes I'm Happy," "Crazy Rhythm," and "Tea for Two," one of the most frequently recorded tunes ever written. He was born and died in New York.Caesar, the son of Morris Keiser, a Romanian Jew, was...
, Vincent YoumansVincent YoumansVincent Youmans was an American popular composer and Broadway producer.- Life :Vincent Millie Youmans was born in New York City on September 27, 1898 and grew-up on Central Park West on the site where the Mayflower Hotel once stood. His father, a prosperous hat manufacturer, moved the family to...
) - 8:21 - "Someone to Watch Over MeSomeone to Watch over Me (song)"Someone to Watch Over Me" is a song composed by George Gershwin with lyrics by Ira Gershwin from the musical Oh, Kay! , where it was introduced by Gertrude Lawrence...
" (George GershwinGeorge GershwinGeorge Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
, Ira GershwinIra GershwinIra Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....
) - 6:30 - "One for Philly Joe" [aka "Home Cookin'"] (Jimmy Smith) - 4:46
- "Willow Weep for MeWillow Weep for Me"Willow Weep for Me" is a popular song composed in 1932 by Ann Ronell, who also wrote the lyrics. It is mostly known as a jazz standard, but it was a Top 40 hit for the British duo Chad & Jeremy in 1964.-Notable recordings:...
" (Ann RonellAnn RonellAnn Rosenblatt, known as Ann Ronell was an American composer and lyricist best known for the jazz standard "Willow Weep for Me" .- Biography :...
) - 3:24 Bonus track on CD reissue - "Ain't No Use" (Leroy Kirkland, Sidney Wyche) - 2:40 Bonus track on CD reissue
- "Angel Eyes" (Earl Brent, Matt DennisMatt DennisMatt Dennis was a singer, pianist, bandleader, arranger, and writer of music for popular music songs.He was born in Seattle, Washington. His mother was a violinist and his father a singer, and the family was in vaudeville, so he was early exposed to music. In 1933 he joined Horace Heidt's...
) - 3:25 Bonus track on CD reissue - "Ain't That Love" (Ray CharlesRay CharlesRay Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
) - 2:45 Bonus track on CD reissue- Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studio in Hackensack, New Jersey on February 26, 1958 (tracks 1-6) and October 14, 1958 (tracks 7-10)
Personnel
- Jimmy SmithJimmy Smith (musician)Jimmy Smith was a jazz musician whose performances on the Hammond B-3 electric organ helped to popularize this instrument...
– organElectronic organAn electronic organ is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally, it was designed to imitate the sound of pipe organs, theatre organs, band sounds, or orchestral sounds.... - Kenny BurrellKenny BurrellKenneth Earl "Kenny" Burrell is an American jazz guitarist. His playing is grounded in bebop and blues; he has performed and recorded with a wide range of jazz musicians.-Biography:...
(tracks 1-4), Ray Crawford (tracks 7-10), Eddie McFadden (tracks 5 & 6) - guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Donald BaileyDonald Bailey (musician)Donald "Duck" Bailey is an American jazz drummer.He is probably best known as the drummer in the trio of jazz organist Jimmy Smith from 1956 to 1964 and also for his work with The Three Sounds on Blue Note Records. Bailey also worked as a sideman for some of the most famous musicians in jazz...
(tracks 5-10), Philly Joe JonesPhilly Joe JonesJoseph Rudolph Jones was a Philadelphia-born United States jazz drummer, known as the drummer for the Miles Davis Quintet.Philly Joe Jones was often confused with another influential jazz drummer, Jo Jones...
(tracks 1-4) – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - Bill Henderson - vocals (tracks 7-10)