Results for "Jimmy Smith"

Jimmy Smith

Born James Oscar Smith in Norristown, Pennsylvania, USA. Smith was influenced by both gospel and blues. He first achieved prominence in the 1950s where his recordings became popular on jukeboxes before there were commonly used terms to describe his unique musical flavor. In the sixties and seventies he helped create the jazz style known as 'funk' or 'soul jazz'. There had been earlier limited use of the electronic organ in jazz (notably by Fats Waller and Count Basie), though these early examples sometimes had a novelty feel. Smith is widely recognized as introducing the electric organ as a legitimate musical instrument, capable of virtuoso improvisation. Smith employed a unique technique to emulate a string bass player on the organ

James Bond and other Secret Agents, Spies and Detectives - Part 2

By LUDOVICO GRANVASSU

In the first part of the show [click here to listen to it] we focuse on jazz inspired by the music composed by James Barry for the James Bond series. Here we switch our attention to other great soundtrack composers like Lalo Schifrin, or Quincy Jones, and other movie characters like Sherlock Holmes, Ms. Marple, Nero ...

Back At The Chicken Shack

By THOMAS FLETCHER

Back At The Chicken Shack celebrates 60 years since its recording date at the Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs. The same session produced Midnight Special (Blue Note, 1961), though Back At The Chicken Shack would have to wait three years for its release. The label's co-founder, Alfred Lion, later revealed that the healthy sales of ...

B.B. King: Through the Years

By ALAN BRYSON

Sixty-six years passed from the time in 1948 when Riley King auditioned for a spot on Sonny Boy Williamson's radio program, until his final performance at the House of Blues on October 3, 2014 in Chicago. His life was a remarkable odyssey from a sharecropper's cabin to the pinnacle of success. We'll never know how many ...

Prestige Records: An Alternative Top 20 Albums

By CHRIS MAY

Along with Alfred Lion's Blue Note and Orrin Keepnews' Riverside, Bob Weinstock's Prestige was at the top table of independent New York City-based jazz labels from the early 1950s until the mid 1960s. Like those other two labels, Prestige built up a profuse catalogue packed with enduring treasures. Originally a record retailer, Weinstock ...

Diane Schuur, Scott Joplin, Carmen Lundy and More!

By JOE DIMINO

This week we open with Jazz legend Diane Schuur who shares how she is living with the COVID-19 jazz shutdown and talks about her new upcoming CD Running on Faith. Prior to the silence of live jazz, we caught up with Jae Sinnett to discuss a rich life in music and his latest album. Enjoy the ...

John Hart: Act Three

By EDWARD BLANCO

Guitarist John Hart has long had an affinity for working with groups that feature the organ as a primary instrument. Having worked with Jimmy Smith and logged a 16-year tenure with organist Jack McDuff, the guitarist now presents Act Three, yet another project with another organ master, this time New York-based keyboardist Gary Versace on the ...

First, Ohm’s Law (musically)

By MARC COHN

Starting out, a 'physics lesson' courtesy of Seamus Blake, Hank Mobley & Tain! We revive our R&B compare and contrast feature with Ivory Joe Hunter versus Jimmy Smith. Centennials? Of course: Bird and Dave Brubeck (solo)! Along the way, John Patitucci, Bud Powell, Gregory Agid and Anat Cohen, as well as our continuing chronological celebration of ...

3D Jazz Trio: I Love To See You Smile

By DAN BILAWSKY

The spirit of sisterhood isn't based on size, but, rather, built on the power of kinship. If anybody in the jazz world truly understands that fact, it's drummer Sherrie Maricle. Way ahead of the curve when it comes to spotlighting the need for female empowerment and equality in the music, she's helmed the Diva Jazz Orchestra ...

Top Ten Horizontal Guitar Players

By ALAN BRYSON

Who could have imagined that a few serendipitous events on a remote Pacific island in the 19th century would fundamentally change American music. In 1832 Hawaii's king brought Mexican cowboys to the Big Island to teach native Hawaiians how gain control of their rapidly increasing cattle population. As luck would have it, some of these cowboys ...