Groovin' at the Smalls in the Sky

Hammond organ icon Jimmy Smith passed away yesterday at the vernal age of 79. He leaves behind quite a legacy with a discography numbering well into the upper double digits & dating back a half century in years. The pioneering Blue Note period constitutes the arguable plum of the batch; the proving ground by which his prodigious talents at the still newfangled contraption took hold. My own introduction was through my mom’s worn & frayed copy of Prayer Meetin’, an album I still spin (now on pristine, if sterile, cd) with undiminished relish. Other favorites: Cool Blues (1958), Groovin’ at Smalls' Paradise (1957), Standards (1959), Root Down (1972), All the Way Live (1981) and Open House/Plain Talk (1960), which afaik marks his only released conclave with Jackie McLean, Blue Mitchell & Ike Quebec. Some reports were that Smith could be an irascible cuss, often drunk on the ego-feeding fame that was his remuneration, but he never lost his grip on the crown commensurate with the “Emperor of the B-3” mantle. Here’s hoping he’s groovin’ with his old pals Eddie McFadden and Donald Bailey somewhere in the great beyond.