Back at the Chicken Shack is one of organist Jimmy Smith’s classic Blue Note sessions, and the first to draw attention to tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine. Recorded in 1960 with Kenny Burrell on guitar, Donald Bailey on drums, and Turrentine, the group reaches the peak of funky soul-jazz that…
Midnight Special is a perfect complement to Back at the Chicken Shack, which was recorded the same day. Organist Jimmy Smith, tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine, and guitarist Kenny Burrell always make for a potent team, and with drummer Donald Bailey completing the group, the quartet digs soulfully into such…
The tracks that make up Straight Life had been sitting in the Blue Note vaults since they were recorded on June 22, 1961, representing the only recorded output that year by Jimmy Smith and his trio of the era, which included guitarist Quentin Warren and drummer Donald Bailey. Somehow…
Softly As a Summer Breeze is one of Jimmy Smith’s more obscure Blue Notes. The six-song trio program finds the organist joined by either guitarist Kenny Burrell and drummer Philly Joe Jones or guitarist Eddie McFadden and drummer Donald Bailey. In the original liner notes, Leonard Feather makes it…
The debut of organist Jimmy Smith on records (he was already 30) was a major event, for he introduced a completely new and very influential style on the organ, one that virtually changed the way the instrument is played. This LP features the already-recognizable organist in a trio with…
The Hammond organ mastery of Jimmy Smith is arguably nowhere as profound as on this collection. Support is provided by the formidable trio of Donald Bailey (drums), Kenny Burrell (guitar) and Percy France (tenor sax). On Home Cookin’ (1959), they couple a few understated cool R&B classics with their…
Organist Jimmy Smith’s next-to-last LP for Blue Note after a very extensive seven-year period is up to his usual level. With altoist Lou Donaldson joining Smith’s regular group (which included guitarist Quentin Warren and drummer Donald Bailey), the quartet swings with soul on such fine numbers as “When My…
Playing piano-style single-note lines on his Hammond B-3 organ, Jimmy Smith revolutionized the use of the instrument in a jazz combo setting in the mid-’50s and early ’60s, and arguably his best albums for Blue Note during this period were the ones he did with tenor sax player Stanley…
The debut of organist Jimmy Smith on records (he was already 30) was a major event, for he introduced a completely new and very influential style on the organ, one that virtually changed the way the instrument is played. This LP features the already-recognizable organist in a trio with…
The debut of organist Jimmy Smith on records (he was already 30) was a major event, for he introduced a completely new and very influential style on the organ, one that virtually changed the way the instrument is played. This LP features the already-recognizable organist in a trio with…