• Name: Jimmy Smith
• Birthday: 12/08/1928
• Birth Place: Norristown, PA
• Died: 02/08/2005
• Decades Active: 1950,1960,1970,1980,1990,2000
• Genre: Jazz
• Styles: Hard Bop, Jazz-Funk, Soul-Jazz, Mainstream Jazz, Fusion
• Moods: Amiable/Good-Natured, Earthy, Energetic, Exuberant, Gritty, Gutsy, Joyous, Laid-Back/Mellow, Organic, Party/Celebratory, Passionate, Playful, Boisterous, Bravado, Confident, Dramatic, Earnest, Effervescent, Freewheeling, Fun, Greasy, Literate, Lively, Rambunctious, Rousing, Searching, Slick, Sophisticated, Sprawling, Stately, Street-Smart, Uplifting, Urgent, Warm, Witty, Wry

Title	Release
Champ: 1962-1999	11/25/2008
Testifyin'	10/20/2008
Definitive Collection	02/05/2008
Ready 'n' Able	07/16/2007
Finest in Jazz	06/05/2007
Straight Life	06/05/2007
Hootchie Coochie Man [Lilith]	04/02/2007
Milestone Profiles [Milestone]	06/06/2006
Music for Lovers W	01/24/2006
Thousand Yen Jazz: Best	12/12/2005
Cat Nip	10/11/2005
Easy Listening WA	06/29/2005
The Very Best	05/24/2005
My Dear Little Sweetheart	09/27/2004
The Cat Swings Again	08/09/2004
Black Cat	06/29/2004
New Sound, A New Star: Jimmy Smith at the Organ, Vol. 3	05/04/2004
Blue Note Years, Vol. 7	04/27/2004
New Sound New Star	04/27/2004
The Dynamic Duo WA	04/28/2003
La Metamorphose des Cloportes	02/04/2003
Best of Jimmy Smith [Toshiba]	10/28/2002
The Definitive Jimmy Smith WA	09/24/2002
The Fantastic Jimmy Smith	02/05/2002
Daybreak	2002
Dot Com Blues	01/09/2001
Midnight Blues	12/19/2000
Jimmy Smith's Finest Hour	06/13/2000
Ultimate Jimmy Smith	05/25/1999
Cherokee	11/27/1996
Platinum	04/23/1996
A Date with Jimmy Smith, Vol. 1 [CD]	1996
Date with Jimmy Smith, Vol. 2 [CD]	1996
Angel Eyes: Ballads & Slow Jams	01/25/1995
Damn! WA	01/24/1995
Verve Jazz Masters 29	10/18/1994
Master 2	12/24/1993
The Master	12/24/1993
Sum Serious Blues	1993
Get Yourself a College Girl	03/24/1992
The Best of Jimmy Smith [Curb]	09/24/1991
Fourmost	11/16/1990
Prime Time	1989
Go for Whatcha' Know	01/02/1986
Keep on Comin'	09/03/1983
Off the Top	06/07/1982
The Cat Strikes Again	07/1980
Bluesmith	09/11/1972
Livin' It Up	05/13/1968
Stay Loose...Jimmy Smith Sings Again	01/1968
Jimmy & Wes: The Dynamic Duo	09/21/1966
The Further Adventures of Jimmy and Wes	09/21/1966
Peter and the Wolf WA	05/11/1966
Got My Mojo Workin'/Hoochie Cooche Man	12/16/1965
Organ Grinder Swing	06/14/1965
Jimmy Smith and His Trio	05/28/1965
Christmas Cookin' WA	09/29/1964
The Cat	04/27/1964
Christmas '64 [2005] WA	04/20/1964
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? WA	01/20/1964
Any Number Can Win	07/10/1963
Talkin' Verve: Roots of Acid Jazz WA	03/20/1963
Hobo Flats	03/15/1963
Jimmy Smith Plays the Blues	03/15/1963
Rockin' the Boat	02/02/1963
Bucket!	02/01/1963
I'm Movin' On	01/31/1963
Jazz 'Round Midnight: Jimmy Smith	1963
Bashin': The Unpredictable Jimmy Smith	03/26/1962
Compact Jazz: Jimmy Smith	03/26/1962
Jimmy Smith Plays Fats Waller	01/23/1962
Walk on the Wild Side: The Best of the Verve Years WA	1962
Prayer Meetin'	06/13/1960
Back at the Chicken Shack WA	04/25/1960
Midnight Special	04/25/1960
Open House/Plain Talk	03/22/1960
Plain Talk	03/22/1960
Crazy! Baby	01/04/1960
Home Cookin'	07/17/1958
Six Views of the Blues	07/16/1958
Cool Blues	04/07/1958
Softly as a Summer Breeze	02/26/1958
The Sermon! WA	02/25/1958
Lonesome Road	11/20/1957
House Party WA	08/25/1957
Standards	08/25/1957
Plays Pretty Just for You	05/08/1957
Jimmy Smith at the Organ, Vol. 1	02/12/1957
Jimmy Smith at the Organ, Vol. 2	02/12/1957
The Sounds of Jimmy Smith	02/11/1957
Jimmy Smith at the Organ, Vol. 3	06/17/1956
The Incredible Jimmy Smith at the Organ	06/12/1956
The Best of Jimmy Smith: The Blue Note Years WA	03/27/1956
A New Sound, A New Star: Jimmy Smith at the Organ, Vol. 2	03/11/1956
The Champ	03/11/1956
Jazz Profile	02/18/1956
A New Sound, A New Star: Jimmy Smith at the Organ, Vol. 1	02/13/1956
A New Sound, A New Star: Jimmy Smith at the Organ, Vols. 1-3	02/13/1956

Jimmy Smith ruled the Hammond organ in the '50s and '60s. He revolutionized the instrument, showing it could be creatively used in a jazz context and popularized in the process. His Blue Note sessions from 1956 to 1963 were extremely influential and many, like 1960's Back at the Chicken Shack and 1958 's The Sermon, are classics. Smith turned the organ into almost an ensemble itself. He provided walking bass lines with his feet, left hand chordal accompaniment, solo lines in the right, and a booming, funky presence that punctuated every song, particularly the up-tempo cuts. Smith turned the fusion of r&b, blues, and gospel influences with bebop references and devices into a jubilant, attractive sound that many others immediately absorbed before following in his footsteps. Smith initially learned piano both from his parents and on his own. He attended the Hamilton School of Music in 1948, and Ornstein School of Music in 1949 and 1950 in Philadelphia. Smith began playing the Hammond in 1951, and soon earned a great reputation that followed him to New York, where he debuted at the Café Bohemia. A Birdland date and 1957 Newport Jazz Festival appearance launched Smith's career. His Blue Note recordings included both trio recordings and superb collaborations with Kenny Burrell, Lee Morgan, Lou Donaldson, Tina Brooks, Jackie McLean, Ike Quebec, and Stanley Turrentine, among others. Smith scored more hit albums on Verve from 1963 to 1972, many of them featuring big bands and using fine arrangements from Oliver Nelson. These included the excellent Walk on the Wild Side and Jimmy & Wes: The Dynamic Duo, a collaboration with guitarist Wes Montgomery. His '70s output was quite spotty, though Smith didn't stop touring, visiting Israel and Europe in 1974 and 1975. He and his wife opened a club in Los Angeles in the mid-'70s. Smith resumed touring in the early '80s and continued wowing audiences around the world. He re-signed with Blue Note in 1985, and has done more representative dates for them and Milestone in the '90s. After a five-year layoff, Smith returned in early 2001 with the blues projects Fourmost Return and Dot Com Blues. He remained a fixture in both small jazz clubs and large festivals until his untimely passing in February of 2005. ~ Ron Wynn and Bob Porter, All Music Guide