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Jimmy Smith (1928-2005)

Born James Oscar Smith, December 8, 1928 in Norristown, Pennsylvania; died February 8, 2005 in Scottsdale, Arizona. American jazz organist who single-handedly turned the Hammond B-3 into a jazz instrument and bridged jazz and 1960s soul music.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-jimmy-smith.md]

Early years

  • Self-taught piano; at nine he won a Philadelphia radio talent contest as a boogie-woogie pianist.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-jimmy-smith.md]
  • After the U.S. Navy he studied at the Royal Hamilton College of Music (1948) and the Leo Ornstein School of Music in Philadelphia (1949).
  • Explored the Hammond organ in 1951; played piano then organ in Philly R&B bands (Don Gardner and the Sonotones, 1951-54).
  • Switched to organ permanently in 1954 after hearing Wild Bill Davis play — the most influential gig-jumping decision in organ history.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-jimmy-smith.md]

Style

  • Virtuoso improvisation on the B-3 combined with hornet-like single-note lines: bebop vocabulary for fast tempos; walking-bass pedal work on ballads; pedals for attack emphasis on uptempo pieces to imitate a string bass.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-jimmy-smith.md]
  • Signature drawbar recipe = first three drawbars on the "B" preset, upper manual, with 3rd-harmonic percussion added. Frequently quoted as "888000000" (16' + 5 1/3' + 8' at full volume).
  • Used the harmonic percussion aggressively as a percussive horn attack.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-hammond-organ.md]
  • Almost always performed in a trio (organ, guitar, drums) — the format that made the B-3 affordable and club-friendly.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-jimmy-smith.md]

Career milestones

  • 1956: signed by Blue Note Alfred Lion after hearing him in a Philadelphia club. ~40 Blue Note sessions in 8 years. Albums: A New Sound... A New Star..., The Champ!, The Sermon!, House Party, Home Cookin', Midnight Special, Back at the Chicken Shack, Prayer Meetin'.
  • 1962: jumped to Verve. Bashin' (with the Oliver Nelson big band), The Cat (Lalo Schifrin big-band arrangements), The Dynamic Duo and Further Adventures of Jimmy and Wes (with Wes Montgomery), The Boss (with George Benson), Who is Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.
  • 1972: opened a supper club at 12910 Victory Blvd, North Hollywood. Recorded Root Down there — a live album that became a seminal influence on later generations of funk and hip-hop; the Beastie Boys sampled its bassline for their "Root Down" and tipped Smith in the lyrics.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-jimmy-smith.md]
  • 1980s-1990s revival: Blue Note, Verve, Elektra, Milestone. Recorded with Quincy Jones, Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson (on the title track of Bad), Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Joey DeFrancesco (a protege whose own wiki page has not yet been added — pending a dedicated source).^[raw/articles/wikipedia-jimmy-smith.md]
  • 2000: last album, Dot Com Blues (Blue Thumb/Verve), with B. B. King, Dr. John, Etta James.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-jimmy-smith.md]
  • 2005: posthumously released Legacy with Joey DeFrancesco. Died in his sleep of natural causes shortly before a planned joint tour.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-jimmy-smith.md]

Honors

  • 2005 NEA Jazz Masters Award — the highest U.S. honor for a jazz musician.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-jimmy-smith.md]

Influence

  • The next generation of jazz organists: Jimmy McGriff, Brother Jack McDuff, Don Patterson, Richard "Groove" Holmes, Joey DeFrancesco, Tony Monaco, Larry Goldings.
  • Rock keyboardists who openly cited him: Jon Lord, Brian Auger, Keith Emerson.
  • Downstream: Medeski, Martin & Wood; the entire acid-jazz scene of the 1990s (Smith is widely called the "father of acid jazz"); the Beastie Boys via the Root Down sample.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-jimmy-smith.md]