Jimmy Smith R.I.P.

[Ron Hearn]

The following was posted to thhe Alt.Obituaries Newsgroup:

from the soulful Detroit.com forum, posted at 8:10pm: "The great jazz
organist Jimmy Smith passed away approximately 2hrs ago. God Bless him
and his family."

Anybody remember him a Lucy's in the 70s with Ray Crawford on guitar?
Ron

[Nimish]

wow, I didn't see anything on any online news source but I geuss it just happened. Do all organ players pay respect by playing with there drawbars half out?

Wow, that joke had no taste.

[Ron Hearn]

More on Jimmy Smith's passing
Ron


Jimmy Smith
King of the Hammond B-3 organ
b. Dec. 8 1928 Norristown PA
d. Feb. 8 2005 NYC

For all its versatility, the Hammond B-3 organ has had comparatively
few champions in jazz, none greater than Jimmy Smith. The nearly
unchallenged master of the jazz organ, humorous and soulful to the very
end, died at home on February 8, 2004, exactly two months after his
76th birthday.

Ron Goldstein, President and CEO of the Verve Music Group, commented,
"Jimmy Smith was truly without peer. His creativity and original style
put him in a class above all other organists. Fortunately, Jimmy leaves
behind a wealth of recordings that can be discovered and cherished
forever."

Smith studied piano at Philadelphia's Orenstein and Hamilton Schools of
Music in the late 1940s. In 1951, at the age of 23, he switched to the
organ because he enjoyed its sound and potential. Soon it became his
principal professional instrument. Not long after he erupted into New
York's consciousness at the Café Bohemia in the early 1950s, Smith
became the voice of the B-3 in jazz contexts. His fusion of R&B,
gospel, deep blues and jazz were an irresistible force at the rise of
"hard bop", a fresh new sound that set the jazz scene aflame.

Smith made his first of many recordings for Blue Note in February 1956
(issued as A New Voice, A New Star, Vols. 1 and 2). A lauded appearance
at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival really set things in motion for
Smith. Between his debut session and 1963's Rockin' the Boat, Smith
made nearly forty albums during his first tenure with Blue Note. Back
at the Chicken Shack and Midnight Special were back-to-back hits in
1960, forever sealing Smith's reputation as the primary voice of jazz
Hammond. His fluid interactions with sidemen like Stanley Turrentine,
Kenny Burrell, Jackie McLean and Lee Morgan made for some of the most
enjoyable sounds of the era.

In 1962 Smith began recording for the Verve label, where he continued
to maintain his prominence. Some of his most exciting and popular
recordings were in the company of big bands, including a titanic
version of the "Walk on the Wild Side" theme (Bashin', 1962, arranged
by Oliver Nelson) and The Cat (1964, arranged by Lalo Schifrin). Along
the way he developed an infectious onstage persona, telling ribald
jokes and getting the audience involved with performances. But after
the tremendous 1972 live session, Root Down, was released, Smith's
fortunes took a downward turn.

Throughout the 1970s Smith continued to tour vigorously but slid from
label to label, cutting uninspired albums for MGM, DJM and Mercury
where he tried his hand at such quickly-tarnishing pop hits as
"Pipeline" and "Groovin'". A 1980 reunion with Schifrin, The Cat
Strikes Again (Inner City), showed a bit of promise but was still miles
from his prior achievements. A period with Elektra better boosted his
profile, despite the continuance of questionable covers. By the time
Smith returned to the reconstituted Blue Note in 1986 (Go For Whatcha
Know, with Burrell, Turrentine and bassist Buster Williams), the public
seemed ready to embrace the wild man of the organ once more. With
further sessions for Milestone (Fourmost, 1990) and Verve (Damn!, 1995)
Smith was soon back at the apex of organ jazz. He continued to cover
both new ground and old, often reaching back to his early blues
inspirations.

In November 2004, Smith was announced as one of the National Endowment
for the Arts' Jazz Masters fellows. Smith's last completed recording
was Legacy, a session with new-generation organist Joey DeFrancesco,
due to be released one week after Smith's death. The album features the
legendary master and one of his most ardent followers interpreting some
of Smith's best material, such as "Back to the Chicken Shack", "Got My
Mojo Workin'", and the more recent "Dot Com Blues".

Smith and DeFrancesco were scheduled to perform together at Yoshi's in
Oakland, California from February 16-20, 2005. That will now be a
tribute show led by DeFrancesco. Further information can be found at
www.yoshis.com.