Jim Alfredson Posted March 6, 2003 Report Posted March 6, 2003 Just got done listening to Jimmy's masterful work on "Midnight Special". I think I like this record even more than the oft-requested "Back at the Chicken Shack". Your favorite Jimmy Smith recording? Quote
Soul Stream Posted March 6, 2003 Report Posted March 6, 2003 Jimmy, My favorite Jimmy Smith record, and I know it's cliche', has got to be "The Sermon." Or now that the CD version sessions have been combined and re-sequenced, it might be "Houseparty." Those two kill me. Midnight Special is better than Chicken Shack IMHO, I'm with you on that one. Quote
Bill Fenohr Posted March 6, 2003 Report Posted March 6, 2003 Although im down with just about any Jimmy, i think my favorite is Crazy!Baby. Even though i have owned this one since the day it came out on vinyl back in the 60's, the groove on When Johhny Comes Marching Home still kills me. Quote
Soul Stream Posted March 7, 2003 Report Posted March 7, 2003 All those Blue Notes from that period are just killer. As good as jazz organ gets or ever will get. His concept is still unfathomable, even beyond organ itself. Name a musician period who plays in the capacity that Jimmy did and you'd be hard-pressed beyond Coltrane. Genius stuff. If he played another instrument besides organ he would be a lot better known. Sad but true I think. Organ is jazz's biatch. Quote
mikeb Posted March 7, 2003 Report Posted March 7, 2003 I have to admit, before 1957, Jimmy sounds to me like he is noodling more than anything else. I've played some early stuff for friends, and most say it sounds like roller rink music. After I slap them around a bit , I play the Trio + L.D. session, and the lightbulb starts to go off. Anything after and including that record, is music to my ears! I would have to say my favorite -- if I am pressed to pick just one -- is "Root Down" on Verve. I listened to that damn thing twice a day for a week after I bought it, and I never do that with a CD! Quote
Harold_Z Posted March 7, 2003 Report Posted March 7, 2003 CRAZY BABY gets a lot of play from me. MIDNIGHT SPECIAL and PRAYER MEETIN' are great records. Perhaps CHICKEN SHACK isn't getting as much play as it used to becasue I've heard it TOO much. It really is a good record. Lately I've been checkin' out some of the lower profile things. I really like STANDARDS and JS PLAYS FATS WALLER. As much as I dig hearing Jimmy groove out on a blues, it's nice to hear his approach to standards and his treatment of chord changes.....and .of course, I dig the hell out of his basslines. Quote
mr jazz Posted March 7, 2003 Report Posted March 7, 2003 I'm listening to his stuff with Wes Montgomery (from the Impressions collection) as I type this. What's the name of the actual cd they did together and is it worth picking up? I also really like the dotcom blues cd he released recently Quote
Jim Dye Posted March 7, 2003 Report Posted March 7, 2003 My favorite is the Club Baby Grand date: The version of Caravan here gives me goose bumps. Quote
mikeb Posted March 7, 2003 Report Posted March 7, 2003 mr jazz: Jimmy & Wes did two albums together, "The Dynamic Duo" and "The Further Adventures Of ...". Both are DEFINITELY worth picking up, esp. if you like the stuff on "Impressions". Quote
reg Posted March 7, 2003 Report Posted March 7, 2003 i think i play "groovin' at smalls' paradise" the most Quote
Jim Alfredson Posted March 7, 2003 Author Report Posted March 7, 2003 Yeah, the stuff with Wes is fantastic. It's a shame they only did two records together. Quote
Chuck Nessa Posted March 9, 2003 Report Posted March 9, 2003 I put together a Jimmy Smith Jam Session for the Chicago Jazz Festival in the early '80s. Setting it up, I had to deal with Jimmy's wife/manager Lola, and all she wanted was George Benson, Grady Tate and Stanley T to cash in on a recent lp, but I wanted something different. I discovered Benson and Stanley would be unavailable because of a fest in Japan, but she wanted me to call them and ask them to cancel for Jimmy. On about my third phone arguement with her, I heard a voice in the background say "Give me that phone, woman!". Jimmy said "What you want to do?" and I replied "LD, Junior Cook, Bill Hardman, Ray Crawford and Art Blakey". He said "Damn, I see what you're doin'". Then he said to go ahead and he'd be there. It turned out Blakey was on the same tour to Japan as the others and could not make it. As a concession to Lola, we let Jimmy bring his drummer. Afterwards and the next day Jimmy walked around the festival grounds with his chest puffed out, asking everyone he saw if they heard his set. Quote
Parkertown Posted March 9, 2003 Report Posted March 9, 2003 Jimmy will be leading his quintet at The Boulder Theater next Friday, the 14th. Can anyone tell me who is in his current band? I'm looking for recommendations. I mean, I'm sure it will be worth the $26 ticket cost (each). Just wanted to see if I could get the skinny on Jimmy's current band. Thanks! Quote
Saint Vitus Posted March 9, 2003 Report Posted March 9, 2003 Wow, a great story ... Thanks, Chuck. This and other anecdotes I've read about and heard about over the years seem to paint a picture of a man a bit on the eccentric side ... Hey, whatever gets an artist going ... Quote
Soul Stream Posted March 9, 2003 Report Posted March 9, 2003 Amazing story Chuck. Wish i could have seen THAT show!!!!! What a line-up. Someone with enough insight to try and reunite Jimmy Smith with Art Blakey should get a Nobel Peace Prize. (don't happen to have a tape of it do you... put that out on your label, I'd buy that on 8-track!) Quote
scottb Posted March 9, 2003 Report Posted March 9, 2003 My favorite JOS is THE SERMON / HOUSEPARTY. Not necessarily saying this is Jimmy at his best, but the overall performances are outstanding and this session ranks among the best in jazz not just organ jazz or Jimmy Smith in my opinion. I like his work with Kenny Burrell more than the Wes stuff. Actually I've been holding off on Back At The Chicken Shack and Midnight Special because I'm afraid they'll be RVG'd as soon as I get them. ( I have been burned on Our Man in Paris, Mode for Joe, Search For the New Land, Grantstand all of which I've gotten in the past year and are due out on RVG. I just can't figure out what's coming!!!) I do have Organ Grinder Swing, Bucket and Home Cookin' and these I really dig about half of and tolerate the rest. Quote
Jim Alfredson Posted March 9, 2003 Author Report Posted March 9, 2003 No shit, Chuck. That's awesome! I wish I could've seen that show. Of course, I was three years old at the time! HA! Quote
Big Wheel Posted August 11, 2009 Report Posted August 11, 2009 (edited) Bringing up this ancient thread because it seems like the most appropriate place. Jimmy Smith was an underrated master of intros. Listening now to "Indiana" from the Small's Paradise set...that intro where he quotes Misterioso gives you almost no indication of what's about to come next, but it somehow works. Same goes for the Bach-like intro on The Champ two tracks later, with that crazy dissonance on the second-to-last chord of the intro. I always dig it when a player throws in something surreal/random like that. Edited August 11, 2009 by Big Wheel Quote
michel devos Posted August 11, 2009 Report Posted August 11, 2009 I have always liked Groovin' at Small's, as well as Jimmy Smith Vol.3 (BLP1525) and crazy baby. Some of his later albums should not be disregarded such as Live at Pleyel or in Hamburg. Also like Angel eyes. Quote
CJ Shearn Posted August 11, 2009 Report Posted August 11, 2009 yeah JOS' intros were amazing on "Groovin at Smalls". The ending of "Laura" is definitely surreal. For me, my fav. JOS albums will always be "The Sermon", "Houseparty" and "Midnight Special". All indispensable records for me, since I was a baby. Quote
Jim R Posted August 11, 2009 Report Posted August 11, 2009 Wow, I don't remember ever seeing this thread. I notice it dates to the day Jim joined/started the board... was this thread #1? Anyway, I guess I wasn't the only one... only 17 posts before it disappeared. I know we've had a lot of threads about J.S. since (particularly around the time he passed), but what the hell... Quote
Big Al Posted August 11, 2009 Report Posted August 11, 2009 Just about anything JOS did with Art Blakey is tops in my book, especially "The Sermon" and the February 1957 sessions. Quote
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