Jimmy "Hammond" Smith

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One of the first and top jazz organists, died last night at age 79.
Certainly one of the best known and loved jazz players.

--
I'm really Mike Rivers (mrivers@d-and-d.com)
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me here: double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

 

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Had a chance to play behind him about 15 years ago. He lit that organ
up. He IS jazz organ.

 

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EGO wrote:
> Had a chance to play behind him about 15 years ago. He lit that organ
> up. He IS jazz organ.




I'm glad i got one chance to see him at the Oakville Jazz Festival in
2000. We actually were behind the stage listening to the monitor mix (
which was way better than the FOH.. Damm Don't 'Band World' know
enough to send a decent soundman to do Jimmy Smith!!!! The FOH was
Bad.. which is a real crime )

He looked liek a little old man when they brought him onstage.. but
when he started playing .. He was beyond amazing.


Then my friend made the comment "this must be the first time I've heard
a great Hammond Player, and not had to move a B3 at the end of the
show".. and right after the show Kid Carson, who rented them the B3,
spotted us, and got us to move the Hammond.

Anyone know what he died of?


It's a big loss because he was still playing and touring and just as
good as he ever was.

 

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Mike Rivers wrote:
> One of the first and top jazz organists, died last night at age 79.
> Certainly one of the best known and loved jazz players.
>
> --
> I'm really Mike Rivers (mrivers@d-and-d.com)
> However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
> lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
> you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
> and reach me here: double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

Wow they just had a cover story with him and Joey Di-Francesco (sp?) in
Keyboard Mag.

That guy was a real character...at least him and Joey got an album out
before his passing...

Analogeezer

 

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nmm wrote:
> EGO wrote:
> > Had a chance to play behind him about 15 years ago. He lit that
organ
> > up. He IS jazz organ.
>
>
>
>
> I'm glad i got one chance to see him at the Oakville Jazz Festival in
> 2000. We actually were behind the stage listening to the monitor mix
(
> which was way better than the FOH.. Damm Don't 'Band World' know
> enough to send a decent soundman to do Jimmy Smith!!!! The FOH was
> Bad.. which is a real crime )
>
> He looked liek a little old man when they brought him onstage.. but
> when he started playing .. He was beyond amazing.
>
>
> Then my friend made the comment "this must be the first time I've
heard
> a great Hammond Player, and not had to move a B3 at the end of the
> show".. and right after the show Kid Carson, who rented them the B3,
> spotted us, and got us to move the Hammond.
>
> Anyone know what he died of?
>
>
> It's a big loss because he was still playing and touring and just as
> good as he ever was.

By the year 2000, his chops weren't as good as they had been. He had
arthritis in his hands that was impairing his playing. I have seen him
several times over the last 15 years, and the degradation in his
playing was pretty clear. He was still great, though. But when I saw
him in the early 90s he was at the peak of his powers - and I couldn't
believe what I was hearing sometimes.

He wouldn't have liked being called a "little old man". He was
arrogant, high-strung, and, according to people who knew him better
than I did, quite a fighter.

During a gig I saw at Iridium (with Grady Tate on drums), he asked "Are
there any organists in the audience?" and of course a bunch of hands
went up. He then said "Organists see me, they go home and burn their
organs."

He was very arrogant, but he had a right to be. It is hard to overstate
his importance to his instrument - he was more important to the B3 than
Hendrix was to the electric guitar, say. I'll miss him. I met him a
couple of times, though he wouldn't remember me, but to the extent I
have a musical hero, he was it. Everything I play on B3 is derived from
JOS, whether first- or second-hand.

 

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Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Got it about 6 months ago. Dynamite stuff.

--


Roger W. Norman
SirMusic Studio

<analogeezer@aerosolkings.com> wrote in message
news:1107980654.220432.163350@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
>
> Mike Rivers wrote:
> > One of the first and top jazz organists, died last night at age 79.
> > Certainly one of the best known and loved jazz players.
> >
> > --
> > I'm really Mike Rivers (mrivers@d-and-d.com)
> > However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
> > lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
> > you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
> > and reach me here: double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo
>
> Wow they just had a cover story with him and Joey Di-Francesco (sp?) in
> Keyboard Mag.
>
> That guy was a real character...at least him and Joey got an album out
> before his passing...
>
> Analogeezer
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Jimmy Smith defined the role of the jazz organist, and he will be missed.
I've been listening to organ trio records for the last week or so, including
Jimmy and Wes Montgomery.

--
Dave Martin
Java Jive Studio
Nashville, TN
www.javajivestudio.com


"Mike Rivers" <mrivers@d-and-d.com> wrote in message
news:znr1107972271k@trad...
>
> One of the first and top jazz organists, died last night at age 79.
> Certainly one of the best known and loved jazz players.
>

 

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Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

Mike Rivers <mrivers@d-and-d.com> wrote:

> One of the first and top jazz organists, died last night at age 79.
> Certainly one of the best known and loved jazz players.

One of my favourite recordings is an album by Jimmy Smith and Kenny Burrell
called "Blue Bash!". I had a taped copy from my friend who found the LP
in his Mom's basement. I listened to it over and over. Years ago I
tried to find a copy on LP or CD only to find out it had been out of
print for years. (this was in the late eighties early nineties).

So I phoned my old friend and asked if he could tape it for me again since
my cassette was pretty worn out. Well, sadly, he had left it on his
turntable which was under a skylight and it had...melted.....

So...couldn't get a copy.

Sad to see Jimmy is dead. The good news is that it inspired me to
just now search on the web and low and behold! Verve reissued it on
cd in 1999. Yay!

I am also happy to say that I saw both of them perform in Montreal in
the 80s and it was great show.


Rob R.

 

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Rob Reedijk wrote:
>
>
> One of my favourite recordings is an album by Jimmy Smith and Kenny Burrell
> called "Blue Bash!".

CD reissue 1999, Polygram 557453


<http/www.alldirect.com/music/mItem.asp?mitemNo=731455745320>
<http/www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00000HYIA/qid=1107999504/>

 

[spud]

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

On 9 Feb 2005 16:30:30 -0800, huwgareth@my-deja.com wrote:

>
>nmm wrote:
>> EGO wrote:
>> > Had a chance to play behind him about 15 years ago. He lit that
>organ
>> > up. He IS jazz organ.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> I'm glad i got one chance to see him at the Oakville Jazz Festival in
>> 2000. We actually were behind the stage listening to the monitor mix
>(
>> which was way better than the FOH.. Damm Don't 'Band World' know
>> enough to send a decent soundman to do Jimmy Smith!!!! The FOH was
>> Bad.. which is a real crime )
>>
>> He looked liek a little old man when they brought him onstage.. but
>> when he started playing .. He was beyond amazing.
>>
>>
>> Then my friend made the comment "this must be the first time I've
>heard
>> a great Hammond Player, and not had to move a B3 at the end of the
>> show".. and right after the show Kid Carson, who rented them the B3,
>> spotted us, and got us to move the Hammond.
>>
>> Anyone know what he died of?
>>
>>
>> It's a big loss because he was still playing and touring and just as
>> good as he ever was.
>
>By the year 2000, his chops weren't as good as they had been. He had
>arthritis in his hands that was impairing his playing. I have seen him
>several times over the last 15 years, and the degradation in his
>playing was pretty clear. He was still great, though. But when I saw
>him in the early 90s he was at the peak of his powers - and I couldn't
>believe what I was hearing sometimes.
>
>He wouldn't have liked being called a "little old man". He was
>arrogant, high-strung, and, according to people who knew him better
>than I did, quite a fighter.
>
>During a gig I saw at Iridium (with Grady Tate on drums), he asked "Are
>there any organists in the audience?" and of course a bunch of hands
>went up. He then said "Organists see me, they go home and burn their
>organs."
>
>He was very arrogant, but he had a right to be. It is hard to overstate
>his importance to his instrument - he was more important to the B3 than
>Hendrix was to the electric guitar, say. I'll miss him. I met him a
>couple of times, though he wouldn't remember me, but to the extent I
>have a musical hero, he was it. Everything I play on B3 is derived from
>JOS, whether first- or second-hand.

I saw Brian Auger in an LA nightclub from about 6 feet away in '87 and
Jimmy Smith floated through in some kind of seriously altered state,
shuffled up behind Auger during a solo and deftly played the right
hand while Auger played the left, holding some kind of conversation
while Steve Stills, dressed in a business suit, tried to figure out
how to plug his guitar back in. Tito Puente was the coolest- I never
saw anybody have a better time playing music. The Friends of Tower of
Power horn section. Great night. s.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

spud wrote:
> On 9 Feb 2005 16:30:30 -0800, huwgareth@my-deja.com wrote:
>
> >
> >By the year 2000, his chops weren't as good as they had been. He had
> >arthritis in his hands that was impairing his playing. I have seen
him
> >several times over the last 15 years, and the degradation in his
> >playing was pretty clear. He was still great, though. But when I saw
> >him in the early 90s he was at the peak of his powers - and I
couldn't
> >believe what I was hearing sometimes.
> >
> >He wouldn't have liked being called a "little old man". He was
> >arrogant, high-strung, and, according to people who knew him better
> >than I did, quite a fighter.
> >
> >During a gig I saw at Iridium (with Grady Tate on drums), he asked
"Are
> >there any organists in the audience?" and of course a bunch of hands
> >went up. He then said "Organists see me, they go home and burn their
> >organs."
> >
> >He was very arrogant, but he had a right to be. It is hard to
overstate
> >his importance to his instrument - he was more important to the B3
than
> >Hendrix was to the electric guitar, say. I'll miss him. I met him a
> >couple of times, though he wouldn't remember me, but to the extent I
> >have a musical hero, he was it. Everything I play on B3 is derived
from
> >JOS, whether first- or second-hand.
>
> I saw Brian Auger in an LA nightclub from about 6 feet away in '87
and
> Jimmy Smith floated through in some kind of seriously altered state,
> shuffled up behind Auger during a solo and deftly played the right
> hand while Auger played the left, holding some kind of conversation
> while Steve Stills, dressed in a business suit, tried to figure out
> how to plug his guitar back in. Tito Puente was the coolest- I never
> saw anybody have a better time playing music. The Friends of Tower of
> Power horn section. Great night. s.

I just remembered my favorite thing that I heard Jimmy Smith say on
stage:

"Hey, they've got Jack McDuff here next week. Come and see Jack McDuff.
He's a great organ player. But he ain't no me."

 

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Archived from groups: rec.audio.pro (More info?)

On 2005-02-09 cuebf4$qi8$1@news1.chem.utoronto.ca said:
>> One of my favourite recordings is an album by Jimmy Smith and
>>Kenny Burrell called "Blue Bash!".
>CD reissue 1999, Polygram 557453
I liked JImmy SMith in a plain brown wrapper as well.

Learned a lot from listening to that guy when I was younger. JOhn
Lord, Rick Wakeman, Keith EMerson, eat your heart out and check out
the master at his craft. HE'll be missed.




Richard Webb,
Electric SPider Productions, New Orleans, La.
REplace anything before the @ symbol with elspider for real email

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