I saw him once, at the Detroit Jazz festival, a few years ago. He played a short but good set in front of a very vocal audience. People would yell out in between songs, and he'd say something like, "I know, I know - Walk on the goddam Wild Side!" At one point he noticed the huge tv screen positioned at the top of the seating area, situated there for people walking by on the ground level. He got this look of wonder in his eyes, pointed at the screen, which was showing a closeup of his face, and said, "Look at that! That's me! Jimmy Smith!"
Even though he wasn't that strong, playing short solos (Phil Upchurch played well that night), it was still a lot of fun. I couldn't stop smiling. Some of the most interesting music he played was during the soundcheck. He just unleashed this barrage of notes that went all over the place. Our friend Duncan McMillian, (himself a fine organist from Detroit) and I just looked at each other like, "what was THAT?!"