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Jimmy Smith Has Passed


RonF

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Guest ariceffron

ONE OF THE 1ST BIG NAME JAZZ ARTISTS I SAW, AND DEFINETLY THE VERY 1ST I SAW IN LA, WAS JIMMY. THE 1ST TIME I SAW HIM WAS ABOUT 98 MAYBE 99 AND THAT WAS THE BEST TIME. AFTER THAT I THINK HE GOT A LITTLE CRAZY BEACUSE HE WOULD SOMETIMES FREAK OUT OR BE MEAN BUT THATS OK BECAUSE IM SURE HE HAD HIS REASONS. IMMAGINE WHAT YOU WOULD BE THINKING IF YOU WERE J.O.S. AND IT WAS 2004, AND YOURE LIfE IS ALMOST OVER. IM SURE HE HAD GOOD REASONS BEING CRABBY ALL THE TIME, AND IN DEATH I DONT BLAME HIM REALLY. BESIDES THAT IM SURE HE HAD A VERY INTERESTING STORY TO TELL WHICH I ASSUME WILL NEVER BE KNOWN SINCE HE PROBABLY DIDNT DO SOME KIND OF MEMOIRS, BUT IT WOULD OF BEEN INTERESTING. DIDNT HE EVEN HAVE HIS OWN CLUB IN LA FOR A WHILE? I DONT REMEMBER. ALTHOUGH THERE WERE MANY GOOD ORGAN PLAYERS AT THE TIME, I DO AGREE THAT JIMMY REVOLUTIONED THE WAY TO PLAY THE HAMMOND, ETC. HE WAS REALLY THE 1ST TO MAKE IT A BEBOP INSTRUMENT, RIGHT? MAYBE OTHERS WERE PLAYING THAT WAY IN THE CLUBS AROUND THE EARLY/MID 50S BUT I DO NOT KNOW THAT AND WOULD LIKE SOMEONE TO ELABORATE ON THAT POINT FOR ME. IT IS INTERESTING THAT JIMMY SURRVIVED AS LONG AS HE DID AND THAT IS GOOD BECASUE LIVING A LONG LIFE IS GOOD TO DO IN MOST CASES.

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So no reports in the media yet? Doesn't surprise me. He never got his due. He single handedly redefined the instrument and the music, not unlike Bird, but who cares?

I'm glad we have a little refuge here to honor him. I was just thinking the other day when reading the Wayne Shorter biography thread that someone should get a hold of Jimmy Smith and start a biography of him. Too late now.

:(

RIP Jimmy Smith... the reason why I play the instrument and the music I play.

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He did get some props before checking out, at least..

He was honored as an American Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts just a few weeks ago. This must have given him a further sense of fulfillment...for it surely represented some long over due respect and acknowledgment from the music community and industry which, historically, have been blase about Jazz Organ in general.
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