Jazz Articles about Johnny "Hammond" Smith

Johnny "Hammond" Smith: Opus de Funk

by David Rickert
July 20, 2004

Johnny “Hammond" Smith will always be tagged as the other Smith on the B-3, grouped together with a host of other organists who never managed to break free from the club circuit into the realm of true infamy. However, Smith's recordings are slowly making their way back into print via generous two-fer CDs from Prestige, giving us an opportunity to reassess the career of an artist stuck in the minor leagues.

At the time that the two sessions ...

Johnny "Hammond" Smith: Good 'Nuff

by David Rickert
October 9, 2003

Good Nuff is a perfect title for a Johnny Smith record, given that it aptly describes most of his records. Johnny “Hammond” Smith never earned the acclaim of the other organist who bears his last name, and for good reason; he simply isn’t as talented or inventive as the one who carved out several dynamic sessions for Blue Note. Often resorting to a template of well-worn grooves and clichés, Smith is fortunate enough on the first of the two sessions ...

Johnny Hammond: Breakout

by Jim Santella
April 12, 2002

The CTI jazz catalog holds many surprises. This one features a strong 8-piece band led by organist Johnny Hammond (1933-1997), who was known earlier as Johnny “Hammond" Smith. Recorded in 1971, the album emphasized swinging mood music with a flair for popular sounds. It marked a turning point in the career of Grover Washington, Jr. He, Hank Crawford and Eric Gale are all over the place, alongside Hammond's B-3. It’s a party. A previously unissued track, recorded shortly after the ...

Johnny Hammond: Breakout

by David Rickert
April 12, 2002

A prime example of the CTI label’s indulgence in the commercial possibilities of jazz, Breakout gave Johnny Hammond the opportunity to escape from the long shadow cast by Jimmy Smith. Sticking with the Hammond B-3, by this time a bit old-fashioned as many had become enchanted with the Fender Rhodes, Hammond and his band contribute an album’s worth of soul jazz workouts. By this time, rock tunes had become the new would-be standards and Hammond proves that such unlikely candidates ...

Johnny "Hammond" Smith: Open House

by David Rickert
July 1, 2001

The best organ jazz records fuse elements of gospel, blues, and soul together with the atmosphere of a jam session, as if a bunch of friends got together one night to toss a few back and play some tunes. Johnny “Hammond" Smith certainly has the right idea on the first of the sessions on this two-fer reissue; the instrumentation approximates that of Jimmy Smith's classic “The Sermon" but the music burns at a slightly lower temperature. Whereas Jimmy Smith punctuates ...

Johnny "Hammond" Smith: The Soulful Blues

by Derek Taylor
November 1, 2000

Smith was one of many in a long line of second tier Soul Jazz organists that flourished during the instrument’s stratospheric ascendancy during the 1960s. Appropriately titled, this disc delves generously into two sides of Smith’s oeuvre. The first session focuses prominently on Soul and R&B hits from the era touching on the songbooks of Ben E. King and others. While the material isn’t the most constructive to imaginative improvisation the solid crew of sidemen on hand enables Smith to ...

Johnny "Hammond" Smith: Soul Flowers

by Derek Taylor
February 1, 2000

P>Considering the sometimes-swaggering braggadocio of the soul jazz scene any B-3 player audacious enough to attach the instrument to his name was begging for a fracas from his peers. Fortunately for Smith he had several decades of experience at the organ under his belt when he cut this pair of sessions and the requisite chops to hold his own against most dissenters. Adding to his advantage was the large group of veteran session players assembled for the dates, particularly the ...