Jimmy Smith Piano

[DMP]

Once in awhile a Jimmy Smith piano solo pops up - off the top of my head I can think of one on his Elektra album ("Keep On Coming"?) and on "Unfinished Business," on Mercury... Anything else?

[michel devos]

Well, I seem to remember he was playing some Monk pieces at home in the documentary retracing his tour in Germany back in 1965.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

The only piano recording I know of (off the top of my head) is 'Cha cha J' on the TOCJ Jimmy Smith trio + LD (Lou Donaldson).

MG

[colinmce]

The session released in Japan as Cherokee was meant to be done as a piano trio but he switched to organ. He plays very pianistically there, and so it's a very accessible date for someone like myself who's not a big organ fan.

[CJ Shearn]

The session released in Japan as Cherokee was meant to be done as a piano trio but he switched to organ. He plays very pianistically there, and so it's a very accessible date for someone like myself who's not a big organ fan.

Correct, Colin. I wonder how a piano trio would have been for Jimmy, if that unique identity would have crossed over or if he would have sounded anonymously like Bud Powell, Horace Silver and Monk. That said, Cha cha J reveals a unique conception, almost like steel drums, and the solo on "Keep on Comin" reminds me of Cecil Taylor in its percussiveness. He does solo on piano on "Paid in Full" also.

[six string]

Circa 1990 our local NPR station that had been playing jazz at night only decided to add a second station that would be totally jazz (KXJZ) and to celebrate this momentus occasion they threw a big party at the local Hyatt utilizing the various bars/restaurants/poolside/lobby to allow multiple acts either simultaneously or allowing a reduced pause between acts. It was a pretty incredible list including Jimmy Scott, Joey Calderazo, SFBay Area singers Madeline Eastman, Kitty Margolis and Ann Dyer and a few local acts. Joey Calderazo was playing solo piano in the lobby and towards the end of one of his sets Jimmy Smith, who was living in Sacramento at the time, sat in (literally) next to Joey and played a little with him. When they finished Joey took a break and we were rewarded with a set by Jimmy. That was the first and only time I ever saw him play piano although he did play many times at the local jazz club either with his own group or sitting in with others. That Hyatt celebration was one of the best multi-group jazz shows I ever witnessed in Sacramento.

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

Circa 1990 our local NPR station that had been playing jazz at night only decided to add a second station that would be totally jazz (KXJZ) and to celebrate this momentus occasion they threw a big party at the local Hyatt utilizing the various bars/restaurants/poolside/lobby to allow multiple acts either simultaneously or allowing a reduced pause between acts. It was a pretty incredible list including Jimmy Scott, Joey Calderazo, SFBay Area singers Madeline Eastman, Kitty Margolis and Ann Dyer and a few local acts. Joey Calderazo was playing solo piano in the lobby and towards the end of one of his sets Jimmy Smith, who was living in Sacramento at the time, sat in (literally) next to Joey and played a little with him. When they finished Joey took a break and we were rewarded with a set by Jimmy. That was the first and only time I ever saw him play piano although he did play many times at the local jazz club either with his own group or sitting in with others. That Hyatt celebration was one of the best multi-group jazz shows I ever witnessed in Sacramento.

thats very interesting