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Artist Profiles
The Incredible Jimmy Smith
Ed Hamilton
He has met and interviewed the greatest musicians and singers of all modern timesThe Incredible Jimmy Smith created the New Sounds in 1956 and the music was as tasty as Home Cookin.
The Cat could swing and Hang Loose and remind me of Back At the Chicken Shack , digging a Minor Chant or Jumpin' the Blues.
Jimmy would Walk On the Wild Side growling and sweating 'til his head looked like a Red Top.
But it was all a Cool Blues-House Party , because Jimmy Smith wrote the Encyclopedia Britannica on Hammond B-3 Organ playing.
Michael Cuscuna in his liners for Cool Blue reissue said this about JOS: "Jimmy Smith's story is an unusual one because he single handedly introduced an instrument into the modern Jazz mainstream and created a sound and style to go with it".
Jimmy inspired many in the early days; Jimmy McGriff, Jack McDuff, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Shirley Scott, Big John Patton, and Rueben Wilson. The new B-3 Lions carrying on the Jimmy Smith legacy are Mike LeDon, Larry Goldings, Tony Monaco, and Joey DeFrancesco, who has inherited Jimmy Smith's Hammond playing soul. Live on through their fingers, Jimmy.
You were incredible.
