Jimmy Smith

[duaneiac]

Could some one please clearly explain to me how this particular piece of music/arrangement/performance is "watered down"?  To me, it is a vibrant, exciting, swaggering showcase and would certainly be on my list of 100 essential jazz recordings..  It's one of my favorite JOS tracks.

You gotta be sure of your skills when it's your record and you give the band a whole two and a half minutes to strut their stuff before you even make your highly anticipated entrance!

Edited January 7, 2020 by duaneiac

[sgcim]

5 hours ago, duaneiac said:

Could some one please clearly explain to me how this particular piece of music/arrangement/performance is "watered down"?  To me, it is a vibrant, exciting, swaggering showcase and would certainly be on my list of 100 essential jazz recordings..  It's one of my favorite JOS tracks.

You gotta be sure of your skills when it's your record and you give the band a whole two and a half minutes to strut their stuff before you even make your highly anticipated entrance!

Watered down? WTF? Sounds like classic JS and ON (using his hippest chords) playing a classic Elmer Bernstein movie theme to me.

Sounds like something Lester Bangs would say...

[duaneiac]

3 hours ago, sgcim said:

Watered down? WTF? Sounds like classic JS and ON (using his hippest chords) playing a classic Elmer Bernstein movie theme to me.

Y'see, I woulda thought so too, but I guess we're both wrong.  it's one of Jimmy Smith's Verve recordings, so obviously it must be a watered down piece of puerile drivel suitable only for the listening pleasure of the Kenny G loving unwashed masses.  No serious jazz fan would ever deign to listen to such trifling "music" as this.

[felser]

19 minutes ago, duaneiac said:

Y'see, I woulda thought so too, but I guess we're both wrong.  it's one of Jimmy Smith's Verve recordings, so obviously it must be a watered down piece of puerile drivel suitable only for the listening pleasure of the Kenny G loving unwashed masses.  No serious jazz fan would ever deign to listen to such trifling "music" as this.

Do ya think maybe there's a stretch of middle ground between classic Blue Note and Kenny freakin' G?

[sgcim]

Hey man, don't get me into one of those Organissimo Jimmy Smith fights! I heard they can get pretty violent, and I'm not gettin' any younger!

[duaneiac]

16 hours ago, felser said:

Do ya think maybe there's a stretch of middle ground between classic Blue Note and Kenny freakin' G?

I would think so, but the common knowledge around here seems to be "Blue Note or bust".  Jimmy Smith's Blue Note albums are great, but they never would have had the budget for him to record an arrangement like that at Blue Note.  So,  I for one am very thankful that the Jimmy Smith Verve albums exist.  Great music can be found there, in some cases quite different in style or scope from the Blue Note albums.   BTW, people who pass on his Christmas album -- either because it is a Verve album or simply because it is Christmas music -- are missing out on one heck of a good Jimmy Smith album.