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The end of an era: Farewell Jimmy Smith |
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Written by Administrator
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Thursday, 10 February 2005 |
 Hammond B-3 Legend Jimmy Smith Passes
December 8, 1925 to February 8, 2005
Jimmy Smith, the Hammond B-3 icon who creatively revolutionized the
instrument in Jazz, died of apparent natural causes on Tuesday,
February 8, at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona. Funeral arrangements
are pending.
"Jimmy was one of the greatest and most innovative musicians of our
time. I love the man and I love the music. He was my idol, my mentor
and my friend," fellow Hammond B-3 artist and friend, Joey Defrancesco
said yesterday.
Born in Norristown, Pennsylvania on December 8, 1925, Jimmy Smith ruled
the Hammond B-3 organ in the 1950s & 1960s. He turned the instrument
into almost an ensemble itself, fusing R&B, blues, and gospel
influences with bebop references into a jubilant, attractive sound that
many others immediately absorbed before following in his footsteps.
Smith initially learned piano both from his parents and on his own.
After service in the Navy, in 1948 he studied bass at the Hamilton
School of Music and piano at Ornstein¹s School of Music in
Philadelphia. He began playing the Hammond organ in 1951, and soon
earned a great reputation that followed him to New York, where he
debuted at the Café Bohemia. A date at Birdland and then a 1957 Newport
Jazz Festival appearance launched Smith¹s career. He toured extensively
throughout the 1960s & ‘70s.
Smith's Blue Note sessions from 1956 to 1963 were extremely influential
and are highly recommended. They included collaborations with Kenny
Burrell, Lee Morgan, Lou Donaldson, Tina Brooks, Jackie McLean, Ike
Quebec, and Stanley Turrentine, among others. Smith also recorded for
Verve from 1963 to 1972, many of them featuring big bands and using
fine arrangements from Oliver Nelson. These included the excellent Walk
on the Wild Side.
Jimmy Smith persevered in times when the Hammond organ seemed like it
was down and out, and reigned as the master of the craft. The authentic
sound of the Hammond still lives on in his protégé and good buddy Joey
DeFrancesco. The pair recently recorded a studio album together,
Legacy, to be released on Concord Records February 15. A national tour
was in place for the B-3 soul mates to commence at Yoshi's February
16-20, along with a special Iridium engagement in New York, March
23-27.
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