Biography
Although predecessors had already played the organ in jazz, none matched the profound impact Jimmy Smith exerted on the instrument. Drawing a lush, swinging sound from the Hammond B-3, he rose to prominence as a leading instrumentalist during the 1950s and 1960s, and his approach offered lasting lessons to numerous rock and R&B keyboardists who followed.
Born James Oscar Smith in Norristown, Pennsylvania, on December 8, 1925 (though some records list 1928 instead), he grew up with a father who worked as a musician and entertainer. At age six the boy joined his parent’s song-and-dance routine; by twelve he had become a skilled stride pianist who won local competitions. When his father’s knee troubles ended performing and led to work as a plasterer, Jimmy left school after eighth grade and took odd jobs to help support the household. He enlisted in the Navy at fifteen, and after returning home he used the GI Bill to study at Philadelphia’s Hamilton School of Music and Ornstein School.
In 1951 he began accompanying various R&B groups in Philadelphia while assisting his father by day, yet the example of pioneering organist Wild Bill Davis prompted him to change instruments. Purchasing a Hammond B-3, Smith created a practice area inside a warehouse where he and his father were employed; over the following year he developed the essentials of his technique, drawing more from horn players than from fellow keyboardists and making fresh use of the bass pedals and drawbars. By 1955 he was performing in Philadelphia clubs. Early the next year he made his New York debut at the historic Harlem venue Small’s Paradise, where Blue Note Records founder Alfred Lion discovered him. Lion offered a recording contract, and after well-received early releases such as The Incredible Jimmy Smith at Club Baby Grand and The Champ, plus acclaimed appearances at Birdland and the Newport Jazz Festival, Smith emerged as jazz’s brightest new figure.
Between 1956 and 1963 he cut more than thirty albums for Blue Note, working with Kenny Burrell, Stanley Turrentine, and Jackie McLean among others. In 1963 he moved to Verve, where his debut Bashin’: The Unpredictable Jimmy Smith achieved both critical and commercial success and featured the minor hit “Walk on the Wild Side.” He sustained an active schedule of concerts and recordings through the 1960s, including two notable collaborations with guitarist Wes Montgomery in 1966. When his Verve agreement lapsed in 1972, he and his wife opened a supper club in California’s San Fernando Valley to escape the rigors of touring; he played there regularly until the venture closed after a few years. Although he continued recording for assorted labels, his era of stardom seemed finished.
Renewed attention arrived in the late 1980s through several well-regarded Milestone albums that reaffirmed his mastery, reinforced by joint performances with fellow organ virtuoso Joey DeFrancesco. Producer Quincy Jones recruited him for the sessions that produced Michael Jackson’s 1987 album Bad. A younger audience discovered his work when hip-hop DJs sampled his funky organ lines; the Beastie Boys famously lifted “Root Down (And Get It)” for their track “Root Down,” while other performances underpinned songs by Nas, Gang Starr, Kool G Rap, and DJ Shadow.
Smith rejoined Verve for the 1995 album Damn! and, on 2001’s Dot Com Blues, collaborated with blues and R&B figures including Etta James, B.B. King, Keb’ Mo’, and Dr. John. The National Endowment for the Arts named him a Jazz Master in 2004, the same year he moved from Los Angeles to Scottsdale, Arizona. Months after the relocation his wife died of cancer, and less than a year later, on February 8, 2005, he was found deceased at home. His final recording, Legacy, appeared several months after his passing.
Born James Oscar Smith in Norristown, Pennsylvania, on December 8, 1925 (though some records list 1928 instead), he grew up with a father who worked as a musician and entertainer. At age six the boy joined his parent’s song-and-dance routine; by twelve he had become a skilled stride pianist who won local competitions. When his father’s knee troubles ended performing and led to work as a plasterer, Jimmy left school after eighth grade and took odd jobs to help support the household. He enlisted in the Navy at fifteen, and after returning home he used the GI Bill to study at Philadelphia’s Hamilton School of Music and Ornstein School.
In 1951 he began accompanying various R&B groups in Philadelphia while assisting his father by day, yet the example of pioneering organist Wild Bill Davis prompted him to change instruments. Purchasing a Hammond B-3, Smith created a practice area inside a warehouse where he and his father were employed; over the following year he developed the essentials of his technique, drawing more from horn players than from fellow keyboardists and making fresh use of the bass pedals and drawbars. By 1955 he was performing in Philadelphia clubs. Early the next year he made his New York debut at the historic Harlem venue Small’s Paradise, where Blue Note Records founder Alfred Lion discovered him. Lion offered a recording contract, and after well-received early releases such as The Incredible Jimmy Smith at Club Baby Grand and The Champ, plus acclaimed appearances at Birdland and the Newport Jazz Festival, Smith emerged as jazz’s brightest new figure.
Between 1956 and 1963 he cut more than thirty albums for Blue Note, working with Kenny Burrell, Stanley Turrentine, and Jackie McLean among others. In 1963 he moved to Verve, where his debut Bashin’: The Unpredictable Jimmy Smith achieved both critical and commercial success and featured the minor hit “Walk on the Wild Side.” He sustained an active schedule of concerts and recordings through the 1960s, including two notable collaborations with guitarist Wes Montgomery in 1966. When his Verve agreement lapsed in 1972, he and his wife opened a supper club in California’s San Fernando Valley to escape the rigors of touring; he played there regularly until the venture closed after a few years. Although he continued recording for assorted labels, his era of stardom seemed finished.
Renewed attention arrived in the late 1980s through several well-regarded Milestone albums that reaffirmed his mastery, reinforced by joint performances with fellow organ virtuoso Joey DeFrancesco. Producer Quincy Jones recruited him for the sessions that produced Michael Jackson’s 1987 album Bad. A younger audience discovered his work when hip-hop DJs sampled his funky organ lines; the Beastie Boys famously lifted “Root Down (And Get It)” for their track “Root Down,” while other performances underpinned songs by Nas, Gang Starr, Kool G Rap, and DJ Shadow.
Smith rejoined Verve for the 1995 album Damn! and, on 2001’s Dot Com Blues, collaborated with blues and R&B figures including Etta James, B.B. King, Keb’ Mo’, and Dr. John. The National Endowment for the Arts named him a Jazz Master in 2004, the same year he moved from Los Angeles to Scottsdale, Arizona. Months after the relocation his wife died of cancer, and less than a year later, on February 8, 2005, he was found deceased at home. His final recording, Legacy, appeared several months after his passing.
Albums