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Jimmy Smith Corner


Jim Alfredson

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Jimmy,

My favorite Jimmy Smith record, and I know it's cliche', has got to be "The Sermon." Or now that the CD version sessions have been combined and re-sequenced, it might be "Houseparty." Those two kill me. Midnight Special is better than Chicken Shack IMHO, I'm with you on that one.

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All those Blue Notes from that period are just killer. As good as jazz organ gets or ever will get. His concept is still unfathomable, even beyond organ itself. Name a musician period who plays in the capacity that Jimmy did and you'd be hard-pressed beyond Coltrane. Genius stuff. If he played another instrument besides organ he would be a lot better known. Sad but true I think. Organ is jazz's biatch.

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I have to admit, before 1957, Jimmy sounds to me like he is noodling more than anything else. I've played some early stuff for friends, and most say it sounds like roller rink music. After I slap them around a bit ;) , I play the Trio + L.D. session, and the lightbulb starts to go off.

Anything after and including that record, is music to my ears!

I would have to say my favorite -- if I am pressed to pick just one -- is "Root Down" on Verve. I listened to that damn thing twice a day for a week after I bought it, and I never do that with a CD!

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CRAZY BABY gets a lot of play from me. MIDNIGHT SPECIAL and PRAYER MEETIN' are great records. Perhaps CHICKEN SHACK isn't getting as much play as it used to becasue I've heard it TOO much. It really is a good record. Lately I've been checkin' out some of the lower profile things. I really like STANDARDS and JS PLAYS FATS WALLER. As much as I dig hearing Jimmy groove out on a blues, it's nice to hear his approach to standards and his treatment of chord changes.....and .of course, I dig the hell out of his basslines.

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I'm listening to his stuff with Wes Montgomery (from the Impressions collection) as I type this. What's the name of the actual cd they did together and is it worth picking up? I also really like the dotcom blues cd he released recently

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I put together a Jimmy Smith Jam Session for the Chicago Jazz Festival in the early '80s. Setting it up, I had to deal with Jimmy's wife/manager Lola, and all she wanted was George Benson, Grady Tate and Stanley T to cash in on a recent lp, but I wanted something different. I discovered Benson and Stanley would be unavailable because of a fest in Japan, but she wanted me to call them and ask them to cancel for Jimmy. On about my third phone arguement with her, I heard a voice in the background say "Give me that phone, woman!". Jimmy said "What you want to do?" and I replied "LD, Junior Cook, Bill Hardman, Ray Crawford and Art Blakey". He said "Damn, I see what you're doin'". Then he said to go ahead and he'd be there. It turned out Blakey was on the same tour to Japan as the others and could not make it. As a concession to Lola, we let Jimmy bring his drummer. Afterwards and the next day Jimmy walked around the festival grounds with his chest puffed out, asking everyone he saw if they heard his set.

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Jimmy will be leading his quintet at The Boulder Theater next Friday, the 14th. Can anyone tell me who is in his current band? I'm looking for recommendations. I mean, I'm sure it will be worth the $26 ticket cost (each). Just wanted to see if I could get the skinny on Jimmy's current band. Thanks!

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Amazing story Chuck. Wish i could have seen THAT show!!!!! What a line-up. Someone with enough insight to try and reunite Jimmy Smith with Art Blakey should get a Nobel Peace Prize. (don't happen to have a tape of it do you... put that out on your label, I'd buy that on 8-track!) ;)

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My favorite JOS is THE SERMON / HOUSEPARTY. Not necessarily saying this is Jimmy at his best, but the overall performances are outstanding and this session ranks among the best in jazz not just organ jazz or Jimmy Smith in my opinion.

I like his work with Kenny Burrell more than the Wes stuff. Actually I've been holding off on Back At The Chicken Shack and Midnight Special because I'm afraid they'll be RVG'd as soon as I get them. ( I have been burned on Our Man in Paris, Mode for Joe, Search For the New Land, Grantstand all of which I've gotten in the past year and are due out on RVG. I just can't figure out what's coming!!!) I do have Organ Grinder Swing, Bucket and Home Cookin' and these I really dig about half of and tolerate the rest.

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  • 6 years later...

Bringing up this ancient thread because it seems like the most appropriate place. Jimmy Smith was an underrated master of intros. Listening now to "Indiana" from the Small's Paradise set...that intro where he quotes Misterioso gives you almost no indication of what's about to come next, but it somehow works. Same goes for the Bach-like intro on The Champ two tracks later, with that crazy dissonance on the second-to-last chord of the intro. I always dig it when a player throws in something surreal/random like that.

Edited by Big Wheel
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Wow, I don't remember ever seeing this thread. I notice it dates to the day Jim joined/started the board... was this thread #1? Anyway, I guess I wasn't the only one... only 17 posts before it disappeared.

I know we've had a lot of threads about J.S. since (particularly around the time he passed), but what the hell...

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jos_organ_grinder_swing.jpg

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