DAVID BIANCULLI, HOST:
This is FRESH AIR. I'm TV critic David Bianculli. Reference books give the birth date of the great jazz organist Jimmy Smith as December 8, 1925, 100 years ago. More recent sources cite 1928 as Smith's birth year. Our jazz historian, Kevin Whitehead, says at this point, the latter date looks more plausible. That'd make Monday Jimmy Smith's 97th birthday, not his 100th. But just to be on the safe side, Kevin Whitehead offers this tribute.
(SOUNDBITE OF JIMMY SMITH'S "THE CAT")
KEVIN WHITEHEAD, BYLINE: Organist Jimmy Smith in crisp, bluesy cooking default mode on 1964's "The Cat." In the '60s, Smith and big bands often squared off as evenly matched sparring partners. In the 1950s, Smith had reinvented jazz organ, becoming the most imitated organist since Bach. An early inspiration was Wild Bill Davis, who played a blurrier version of the big band style shout choruses Smith would later tighten up. Here's Wild Bill in 1950.
(SOUNDBITE OF LOUIS JORDAN SONG, "TAMBURITZA BOOGIE")
WHITEHEAD: Wild Bill Davis. Jimmy Smith could sound much like that early on when he first switched over to organ from piano. But from his first sessions as leader in 1956, his mature concept was there, the three-piece band with guitar, the deep bluesiness and swing feel, the earthy licks and heavy complications, and the clean and dirty colors he'd draw from the Hammond B-3 organ's tone controls. And while his hands kept busy with all that, his left foot tapped out bass lines on a pedal board as his right foot controlled the volume.
(SOUNDBITE OF JIMMY SMITH'S "YOU GET 'CHA")
WHITEHEAD: Jimmy Smith on "You Get 'Cha." His 1956 Blue Notes sides were an instant sensation. In no time, his base camp Philadelphia was rife with new-style organ players like Shirley Scott, Charles Earland, Groove Holmes and Jimmy McGriff. Smith taught a few of them, including Joey DeFrancesco later. Soon, there were organ rooms everywhere. Setting the style one more way, Jimmy Smith manipulated the foot pedals and tone controls to give each note a percussive attack, in effect making organ a percussion instrument. He'd drum on a single key or two to make the point.
(SOUNDBITE OF JIMMY SMITH'S "WALK ON THE WILD SIDE")
WHITEHEAD: An electric organ keyboard has easier action than piano, so Smith could really get around. But that percussive attack made hitting the keys sound like work, making his fastest playing seem even more superhuman. Jimmy Smith's insane 1957 variations on "Body And Soul" look ahead a decade to Sun Ra's interstellar organ solos.
(SOUNDBITE OF JIMMY SMITH'S "BODY AND SOUL")
WHITEHEAD: Jimmy Smith might pepper his LPs with bewhiskered oldies like "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" and "Swanee." But in the 1960s, like other jazz stars, he hoped to connect with younger rock record-buyers. Smith was better positioned to cross over than most, with electric guitar and drums for a band and plenty of boogieing momentum on his own electric axe. And you can bet rock organists checked him out.
(SOUNDBITE OF JIMMY SMITH'S "DUCK THEME/JIMMY AND THE DUCK/PETER'S THEME/MEAL TIME")
WHITEHEAD: Jimmy Smith on Oliver Nelson's 1966 version of "Peter & The Wolf," one of a few good albums the arranger and organist made together, one with Wes Montgomery on guitar. In search of radio gold, Jimmy Smith stepped out as a singer on a 1968 session. Jazzers aiming for youth dollars didn't always hit the mark, but his playing was still on the money.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "STAY LOOSE")
JIMMY SMITH: (Singing) Yeah, keep in step, and keep your eyes on me. Now shuffle your feet and keep your body free. Here's a freedom dance for one and all. Here's a freedom dance whether you're short or tall. It's a freedom dance. Let's have a ball, a freedom freak-out and free-for-all.
WHITEHEAD: Then portable keyboard synthesizers came along, and groovy Hammond B-3 organ suddenly sounded old hat. From the 1970s on, jazz organ groups would go out of and come back into fashion. And Jimmy Smith's career had its corresponding downs and ups. He'd spawn so many admirers, it could be hard to hear him with fresh ears. But Jimmy Smith always delivered the goods, even as the beats behind him changed. And he always displayed what I think of as outlandish good taste. The history of his instrument is neatly split. There's jazz organ before Jimmy Smith arrived and jazz organ after. Simple as that.
(SOUNDBITE OF JIMMY SMITH "FUNGII MAMA")
BIANCULLI: Kevin Whitehead is the author of "New Dutch Swing," "Why Jazz? " and "Play The Way You Feel." Coming up, we remember the celebrated playwright Tom Stoppard. This is FRESH AIR. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
