Johnny Smith - Spring Is Here: The Guitar Genius of Johnny Smith

Title: Spring Is Here: The Guitar Genius of Johnny Smith Artist: Johnny Smith Release Date: 6/27/2006 Re-Released On: 0/0/2006 Label: FiveFour UPC: 5013929310827 Genre: Jazz Styles: Cool, Mainstream Jazz Moods: Gentle, Elegant, Reserved, Amiable/Good-Natured, Atmospheric, Earnest, Organic, Plaintive, Playful, Poignant, Refined/Mannered, Reflective, Restrained, Rollicking, Rousing, Stylish, Freewheeling, Sophisticated, Intimate, Laid-Back/Mellow, Light, Relaxed, Romantic, Sentimental, Smooth, Soft, Sweet, Warm, Cerebral, Complex Total Copies: 0 Members Wishing: 0 Number of Discs/SwapaCD Credits: 1

1. Where or When
2. Vilia
3. Moonlight in Vermont
4. Jaguar [Alternate Take]
5. What's New?
6. Walk Don't Run!
7. Lover Man
8. But Beautiful
9. Swinging on a Star
10. Nancy (With the Laughing Face)
11. I Thought About You
12. Polka Dots and Moonbeams
13. Django
14. Wait Till You See Her
15. 0500 Blues
16. More Bass
17. Uno Poco Loco
18. Easy Living
19. Old Girl
20. Little Girl Blue
21. Tired Blood
22. Spring Is Here

Year Type Label Catalog # 2006 CD FiveFour 8

No other editions were found for this album.

Spring Is Here: The Guitar Genius of Johnny Smith is a good compilation of 22 tracks from 1952-1955, drawn from five different sessions. Smith plays in an assured, notably Charlie Christian-influenced fashion on these recordings, the lineups that he leads usually backing him in an early bop style. The material mixes standards, interpretations of compositions by contemporary jazz players such as Bud Powell and John Lewis, and a few Smith originals. While Smith's own compositions take up a pretty small percentage of the program, these include by far the most famous of these, "Walk Don't Run" -- the same song made into one of the biggest instrumental rock hits of all time by the Ventures in the early '60s. The arrangement of that tune is pretty different here, though you can hear almost identical solo lines in the verse. Also on hand is Smith's most popular recording, "Moonlight in Vermont," one of the four tracks on which Stan Getz handles tenor sax, though Getz is the only other famed musician to play on these selections. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide

No credits were found for this album.