Jimmy McGriff

One of the towering figures on the Hammond B-3, Jimmy McGriff often fades into the background beside other leading soul-jazz organists who also hailed from Philadelphia. Among the principal architects of the style, he stood out as the most deeply rooted in blues, a point he himself frequently underscored by describing his work as blues rather than jazz, yet his openness to varied influences kept his music from fitting neatly into any single category. The earthy, groove-driven quality of his playing, saturated with blues and gospel inflections, won him a stronger following among R&B listeners than many contemporaries enjoyed; moreover, he translated that appeal into compact, hard-grooving 45s that regularly registered on the R&B charts. His 1962 reworking of Ray Charles’ “I Got a Woman” reached the R&B Top Five, and additional successes such as “All About My Girl,” “Kiko,” and “The Worm” appeared throughout the decade. During the 1970s McGriff experimented with electric keyboards in an effort to align with fusion trends, gradually favoring a sleeker, more refined approach. By the early 1980s he abandoned the pursuit of current trends and reinstated his original organ-trio format; fortunately, classic soul-jazz was simultaneously enjoying renewed appreciation among a loyal circle of listeners and writers, allowing McGriff to regain artistic momentum and assume the role of a respected senior figure in the idiom.

James Harrell McGriff, Jr. entered the world on April 3, 1936, in Philadelphia. Both parents played piano, and he was related to saxophonist Benny Golson and soul singer Harold Melvin. His earliest musical experiences occurred in the family church; at age eight he received a drum kit, and by the end of high school he had also become proficient on acoustic bass, alto saxophone, vibes, and piano. For a period bass served as his main instrument until an encounter with Richard “Groove” Holmes in a Camden, NJ club prompted him to explore the Hammond organ. Shortly after graduation he was drafted and served as a military policeman during the Korean War. Returning home, he trained for and briefly pursued a career in law enforcement, spending two and a half years on the Philadelphia police force. Music remained a sideline; around 1955 he began playing bass behind vocalists including Carmen McRae and, most regularly, Big Maybelle at Pep’s Showboat.

As the Hammond organ gained favor in Philadelphia, bass opportunities dwindled, so McGriff approached Groove Holmes for serious instruction. He acquired his own B-3 in 1956 and devoted the following six months to intensive practice, often at Holmes’ residence or at Archie Shepp’s home where the instrument was kept. Increasingly absent from his day job for gigs, he eventually left the police department and enrolled at Combe College to study music formally. He later attended the Juilliard School of Music and took private lessons from Milt Buckner, Jimmy Smith, and Sonny Gatewood. His earliest recording, the 1958 single “Foxy Due” on the White Marsh label, featured saxophonist Charles Earland, who subsequently studied organ with McGriff and himself became a leading exponent of the instrument.

While performing in a Trenton, NJ club in 1962, McGriff attracted the attention of a scout from the Jell label, which recorded him. His instrumental soul-jazz version of Ray Charles’ “I’ve Got a Woman” appeared as a single and sold sufficiently for Sue Records to acquire it for national distribution. With improved promotion the track climbed to the R&B Top Five and the pop Top 20. Sue released the album I’ve Got a Woman in 1963; it nearly reached the pop Top 20 and yielded two further chart singles, “All About My Girl” (number 12 R&B, Top 50 pop) and “M.G. Blues.” Over the next two years Sue issued additional LPs, among them the live At the Apollo, Jimmy McGriff at the Organ (source of the charting single “Kiko”), the holiday success Christmas With McGriff (his highest-charting album at number 15 pop), the orchestral Topkapi, and Blues for Mister Jimmy, his final Sue release.

In 1966 McGriff signed with Solid State and began a long association with producer Sonny Lester. His label debut, Jimmy McGriff and the Big Band, placed him in front of a swing orchestra largely composed of Count Basie alumni (later reissued as A Tribute to Count Basie). He recorded extensively for Solid State through the remainder of the decade, issuing titles such as A Bag Full of Soul (1966), A Bag Full of Blues (1967), and I’ve Got a New Woman (1968). The single “The Worm” became another R&B hit, reaching the Top 30 and propelling its parent album into the R&B Top Ten in early 1969. Concurrently he cut several Blue Note albums between 1969 and 1971, most prominently Electric Funk, an early jazz-funk fusion effort arranged with Horace Ott; Capitol released the similar Soul Sugar during the same span. He also toured with Buddy Rich’s band in the late 1960s and again from 1971 to 1972.

McGriff made Groove Merchant his principal outlet beginning in 1971. Although he briefly retired in 1972 to operate a horse farm in Connecticut, he soon returned. Early in the decade he alternated between electric fusion projects featuring contemporary covers and more traditional small-group organ sessions. Highlights include the 1973 summit Giants of the Organ Come Together with Groove Holmes, a duo album with Junior Parker, 1976’s Mean Machine (which returned him to the R&B album Top 50), and its 1977 follow-up Red Beans. After Tailgunner (LRC, 1977) his recorded activity diminished until he resurfaced on Milestone in 1983 with Countdown, a return to blues-infused soul-jazz that restored his visibility. Strong follow-ups appeared throughout the 1980s: Skywalk (1984), State of the Art (1985), the well-received The Starting Five (1986), and Blue to the ’Bone (1988), the latter nearly reaching the jazz Top Ten. A 1990 Headfirst session, You Ought to Think About Me, also charted in the jazz Top Ten. He co-led a group with saxophonist Hank Crawford in the late 1980s, producing the popular On the Blue Side (number three on the jazz charts) among other releases, and contributed to Tramaine Hawkins’ 1990 live gospel album. The Crawford partnership continued on Telarc with Right Turn on Blue and Blues Groove (1994–1995). As soul-jazz regained cult status in the United States and Britain, McGriff performed in higher-profile venues on both sides of the Atlantic. He rejoined Milestone for The Dream Team (1996), featuring David “Fathead” Newman and Bernard “Pretty” Purdie, both of whom appeared on subsequent recordings. Later Milestone albums include Straight Up (1998), McGriff’s House Party (2000), Feelin’ It (2001), and McGriff Avenue (2002), the last revisiting several 1960s successes.