Friday, December 16, 2005

Jimmy Smith - Back At The Chicken Shack

ORIGINATION Back At The Chicken Shack LP
LAST LISTENED TO this week
CHANCE OF WAKING TO IT lots of them
RATING

I listen to organ player Jimmy Smith a lot (check this out, if you want proof). There is just something about his tone and playing that i don't seem to tire of. For the most part his sound was the quintessential organ sound, the one that everyone that came after copied and most did come after. He also can solo for extended periods and maintain excitement and interest, which is no small feat.

Back At The Chicken Shack
is from his Blue Note period, when he played with a small band that was centred around Smith (who played the bass on his organ as well), a guitar (often Kenny Burrell) and drums. Here Stanley Turrentine is also along on tenor sax. The track is a Smith original and is a mid-tempo affair that stretches out over eight minutes, giving both Burrell and Turrentine time to solo as well as Smith. It's a breezy infectious number with a melody that is easy to catch onto. Little wonder that i woke to it.

If you want to know more about Jimmy Smith, i've been working on a discography project here.

2 comments:

RIOTCHERD said...

I'm pretty sure that Howard Roberts played guitar on this also.

Unknown said...

According to the album cover and the published notes, it was actually Kenny Burrell.