ENDEIT
Jimmy Smith
Photo: Bruno of Hollywood, NYC. Distributed by Joe Glaser 's…, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Guitarists · 1925–2005

Jimmy Smith

American jazz organist

Born
8 December 1925
Norristown
Died
8 February 2005
Phoenix
Country
United States
Active
1956–1972
Record labels
Blue Note, Verve Records
Discography
91 albums

Biography

Jimmy Smith was a jazz musician who played guitar, organ, Hammond organ and voice. Jimmy Smith was born on 8 December 1925 in Norristown and died on 8 February 2005 in Phoenix. The music is usually filed under jazz fusion, soul and funk. Record labels: Blue Note and Verve Records. The discography here lists 91 albums, from “A New Sound, a New Star: Jimmy Smith at the Organ, Volume 1” (1956) to “Groovin' At Smalls' Paradise (Volume 2)” (2019). Honours include NEA Jazz Masters.

James Oscar Smith (December 8, 1928 – February 8, 2005) was an American jazz musician who helped popularize the Hammond B-3 organ, creating a link between jazz and 1960s soul music. In 2005, Smith was awarded the NEA Jazz Masters Award from the National Endowment for the Arts, the highest honor that America bestows upon jazz musicians.

Read the full article on Wikipedia ↗ · From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Discography

Studio and live albums

A New Sound, a New Star: Jimmy Smith at the Organ, Volume 1 1956 · Blue Note A New Sound, a New Star: Jimmy Smith at the Organ, Volume 2 1956 · Blue Note At Club “Baby Grand” Wilmington, Delaware, Volume 1 1956 · Live · Blue Note At Club “Baby Grand” Wilmington, Delaware, Volume 2 1956 · Live · Blue Note The Incredible Jimmy Smith at the Organ, Volume 3 1956 · Blue Note A Date With Jimmy Smith, Volume 1 1957 · Live · Blue Note A Date With Jimmy Smith, Volume 2 1957 · Live · Blue Note Jimmy Smith at the Organ, Volume 1 1957 · Blue Note Jimmy Smith at the Organ: Plays Pretty Just for You 1957 · Blue Note The Sounds of Jimmy Smith 1957 · Blue Note House Party 1958 · Blue Note Jimmy Smith at the Organ, Volume 2 1958 · Blue Note Home Cookin’ 1959 · Blue Note The Sermon! 1959 · Blue Note Crazy! Baby 1960 · Blue Note Midnight Special 1961 · Blue Note Bashin’: The Unpredictable Jimmy Smith 1962 · Verve Any Number Can Win 1963 · Verve Back at the Chicken Shack 1963 · Blue Note Hobo Flats 1963 · Verve Rockin’ the Boat 1963 · Blue Note The Amazing Jimmy Smith 1963 · Live · Metro Christmas Cookin’ 1964 · Verve Prayer Meetin’ 1964 · Blue Note The Cat 1964 · Verve Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 1964 · Verve Got My Mojo Working 1965 · Verve Monster 1965 · Verve Organ Grinder Swing 1965 · Verve Softly as a Summer Breeze 1965 · Blue Note Bucket 1966 · Blue Note Hoochie Coochie Man 1966 · Verve Jimmy & Wes: The Dynamic Duo 1966 · Verve Peter & The Wolf 1966 · Verve I’m Movin’ On 1967 · Blue Note Respect 1967 · Verve Livin' It Up 1968 · Verve Open House 1968 · Blue Note Plain Talk 1968 · Blue Note Stay Loose 1968 · Verve The Boss 1968 · Live · Verve Further Adventures of Jimmy and Wes 1969 · Verve Groove Drops 1969 · Verve The Other Side of Jimmy Smith 1970 · MGM Records I'm Gon' Git Myself Together 1971 · MGM Records In a Plain Brown Wrapper 1971 · Verve Bluesmith 1972 · Verve Newport in New York '72, Volume 5 1972 · Live · Cobblestone Root Down 1972 · Live · Verve Portuguese Soul 1973 · Verve Blacksmith 1974 · Pride Paid in Full 1974 · Mojo Records ’75 1975 · Mojo Records
It's Necessary 1977 · Live
Sit on It! 1977 · Mercury Records Unfinished Business 1978 · Mercury Records Confirmation 1979 · Blue Note Cool Blues 1980 · Live · Blue Note The Cat Strikes Again... 1980 · Wersi Music Produktion On the Sunny Side 1981 · Blue Note Second Coming 1981 · Mojo Records Off the Top 1982 Plays Fats Waller 1982 · Applause Records Keep On Comin' 1983 · Live · Elektra Musician Go for Whatcha Know 1986 · Blue Note Prime Time 1989 · Milestone Fourmost - Recorded Live at Fat Tuesday's NYC 1991 · Live Open House / Plain Talk 1992 · Blue Note Sum Serious Blues 1993 · Milestone The Master 1994 · Live · Blue Note Damn! 1995 · Verve All the Way Live 1996 · Live · Milestone Angel Eyes 1996 · Verve Groovin' at Small's Paradise, Volume 2 1996 · Live · Blue Note Lonesome Road 1996 · Blue Note Got My Mojo Working / Hoochie Coochie Man 1997 · Verve The Master II 1997 · Live · Blue Note Standards 1998 · Blue Note Groovin’ at Smalls’ Paradise 1999 · Live · Blue Note Six Views of the Blues 1999 · Blue Note Dot Com Blues 2000 · Blue Thumb Records La Métamorphose des Cloportes 2002 · Universal Music France The Fantastic Jimmy Smith 2005 · Empire Musicwerks Fourmost Return 2006 · Live · Milestone Straight Life 2007 · Blue Note Daybreak 2008 · West Wind Respect / Livin' It Up 2010 · Hip‐O Select Bashin’: The Unpredictable Jimmy Smith / Hobo Flats 2012 · Verve Complete at Club "Baby Grand" Wilmington, Delaware 2017 · Live · J. Joes J. Edizioni Musicali Groovin' At Smalls' Paradise (Volume 2) 2019 · Blue Note
Walk on the Wild Side

Also plays on

Albums where Jimmy Smith is credited as a sideman

1963 Blue Bash! — Kenny Burrell & Jimmy Smith organ, performer
1970 Get Ready — King Curtis organ
1972 Everybody’s Talkin’ — King Curtis organ, piano
1974 Newport Jazz Festival Japan — Joe Newman, Art Farmer, Illinois Jacquet, James Moody, Gerry Mulligan, Jimmy Smith, Kenny Burrell, Jack Six, Roy Haynes keyboard
1975 Venusian Summer — Lenny White organ
1977 Ellington Is Forever, Volume 2 — Kenny Burrell organ
1985 Plays Gershwin & Kern — Erroll Garner drums (drum set)
1985 Straight Ahead — Stanley Turrentine organ
1995 Love and Peace: A Tribute to Horace Silver — Dee Dee Bridgewater Hammond organ
1995 Magician / Gershwin and Kern — Erroll Garner drums (drum set)
2000 Incredible! — Joey DeFrancesco Hammond organ

Awards

Historic 78 rpm records

  • Variations in Jazz; I Never Knew Peck's Bad Boys · Allan Reuss · Jimmy Smith · Mike Midmer · Leonard… · 1939 archive.org ↗
  • I Never Knew Peck's Bad Boys · Allan Reuss · Jimmy Smith · Mike Widmer · Leonard… · 1942 archive.org ↗

Listen on Spotify

Frequently asked questions

What instrument did Jimmy Smith play?

Jimmy Smith is known for playing guitar, organ, Hammond organ and voice.

When and where was Jimmy Smith born?

Jimmy Smith was born 8 December 1925 in Norristown.

What are Jimmy Smith's best-known albums?

Albums in our database include A New Sound, a New Star: Jimmy Smith at the Organ, Volume 1 (1956), A New Sound, a New Star: Jimmy Smith at the Organ, Volume 2 (1956), At Club “Baby Grand” Wilmington, Delaware, Volume 1 (1956), At Club “Baby Grand” Wilmington, Delaware, Volume 2 (1956) and The Incredible Jimmy Smith at the Organ, Volume 3 (1956).

External links

Data compiled from open sources; see the source links below. Spotted an error? Let us know.