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Club Baby Grand, Vol. 1 and 2
Rating: 6.7 | 0 User Reviews | Send to Friend
Nate Wiley, the esteemed leader of Bob and Barbara’s house band for over a decade, once explained in an interview that he didn’t know how to play jazz. The saxophonist, who sadly passed away earlier this year, stated: “I play liquor-drinking music.” The same could be said of Jimmy Smith, the Norristown native who tinkled the ivories of his Hammond B-3 electric organ for over 50 years until his death in 2005. These live recordings from 1956 capture Smith invoking a certain amount of soul into the clinical genre of jazz. Recorded in Wilmington, Delaware, these two records are raw and un-refined, with Smith utilizing every facet of his instrument to create sounds that run the gamut from the jaunty, upbeat “Caravan” to the melodically down-tempo “Where or When.” With no bass player in his three-piece band (just guitar and drums), Smith keeps the low end rumbling along with his base foot pedals in an astonishing feat of rhythmic duality that’s the musical equivalent of patting your head and rubbing you belly at the same time. Known as “The Incredible Jimmy Smith,” the organ player was a superhero of liquor-drinking music. Pour yourself a glass. (Blue Note)
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