Jimmy Smith

Playing piano-style single-note lines on his Hammond B-3 organ, Jimmy Smith revolutionized the use of the instrument in a jazz combo setting in the mid-'50s and early '60s with his recordings for Blue Note Records. After he moved to Verve Records, though, he began working in more big-band settings, experimenting a bit, although he was always the same Jimmy Smith whose rapid runs on the B-3 careened, stuttered, glided, and flashed all over the place at a frequently breathless pace. No matter what venue he was playing, where he recorded, or what label he was on, Smith was steady in what he did, and although he stayed close to the blues, there may not be a more continuously joyful sounding legacy in the history of modern jazz. This release brings together two albums previously unavailable on CD, 1974's Paid in Full, which Smith sold only through mail order and at his concerts, and 1975's Jimmy Smith, a live album with, in the original LP format, a show from Tel Aviv on side one and a show from L.A. on side two. It's all Jimmy Smith being Jimmy Smith, and if these two rare LPs aren't exactly essential to the Smith canon, they certainly don't diminish it. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music Guide