From Rockman59@comcast.net Thu Feb 10 14:41:53 2005
Subject:Blue Note Records Jimmy Smith obit


February 9, 2005
>
> Blue Note Records is saddened to announce the passing of Jimmy
Smith, the
> man who single-handedly reinvented the Hammond B3 organ for jazz
and
> created the model sound of the organ trio (organ-guitar-drums) in
the
> mid-1950s. Smith died yesterday of natural causes at his home in
> Scottsdale, AZ. He was 76 years old.
>
> Born in Norristown, PA, in 1928, Smith at first took up the piano,
> learning from his parents at an early age. He turned his attention
to the
> organ in 1951, formed his first trio in 1953, and began working
around
> Philadelphia, PA, until his reputation spilled over the city's
limits
> leading him to make his debut appearance in New York City in 1956.
>
> Years afterwards, Blue Note co-founder Francis Wolff recalled the
night he
> and his partner, Alfred Lion, first encountered Smith:
>
> "I first heard Jimmy at Small's Paradise in January of 1956. It
was his
> first gig in New York. He was a stunning sight. A man in
convulsions, face
> contorted, crouched over in apparent agony, his fingers flying,
his foot
> dancing over the pedals. The air was filled with waves of sound I
had
> never heard before. The noise was shattering. A few people sat
around,
> puzzled, but impressed.
>
> "He came off the stand, smiling, the sweat dripping all over
him. 'So what
> do you think?' 'Yeah!' I said. That's all I could say. Alfred Lion
had
> already made up his mind. When he heard a good thing-that was
enough."
>
> Just a few weeks later, on February 18, 1956, Smith hauled his
organ out
> to engineer Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Hackensack, NJ, to record
what
> would be the first of 28 sessions as a leader for Blue Note between
> 1956-63, a series of recordings that put forth "a new sound" and
launched
> a soul jazz craze that would raise Smith to a level of popularity
uncommon
> for jazz musicians.
>
> Smith's classic Blue Note recordings include Home Cookin', The
Sermon,
> Midnight Special, Prayer Meetin', and Back at the Chicken Shack.
>
> Throughout the remainder of the 60s and the beginning of the 70s,
Smith
> cemented his reputation with a fine run of successful recordings
for
> Verve, including Organ Grinder Swing, Got My Mojo Workin', and
Root Down.
>
> In 1986, after Blue Note was reactivated, current President Bruce
Lundvall
> and producer Michael Cuscuna brought Smith back to the label,
reuniting
> him with a familiar cast that included old labelmates saxophonist
Stanley
> Turrentine and guitarist Kenny Burrell, as well as Van Gelder at
the
> controls, for the recording of Go For Whacha' Know.
>
> Smith's final sessions for Blue Note came in the 1990s, when the
label's
> Japanese company recorded him in a trio that included Burrell. The
trio
> burned through a set of classic Blue Note tunes, the resulting
records
> were entitled The Master and The Master II.
>
> R.I.P. James Oscar Smith
>