Search - Jimmy Smith :: Retrospective

The classic room-warming sound of the Hammond organ has so ingrained itself in the jazz consciousness--and Jimmy Smith has figured so prominently in that ingraining process--that some fans may forget that the B-3 master had all manner of sounds in his bag of tricks when he started out. Retrospective, a choice four-disc sampling of his work for Blue Note from the mid '50s to early '60s, celebrates the variety of his attack: the rough swipes and charming clip-clopped phrases, the convulsive chords and breakneck notes. Bringing his profound blues sensibility to originals, standards, and bop, Smith started out and has spent much of his career leading a trio including drums and guitar, a format that gave him the freedom to wail (and to showcase his incomparable skills on foot pedals). But he scored some of his greatest triumphs in expanded groups that included members of the close-knit Blue Note family: trumpeter Lee Morgan, alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson, guitarist Kenny Burrell, drummer Art Blakey, and, on expanded tunes such as the consistently rewarding, 20-minute "The Sermon," neglected tenor saxophonist Tina Brooks. After leaving Blue Note for Verve, Smith elevated his commercial profile with big-band orchestrations, movie themes, and superstar summits, but as ear-opening as some of those recordings are, they lack the seat-of-the-pants magic and spiritual thrust of these inspired tracks. --Lloyd Sachs