Jimmy Smith - Organ Grinder Swing (Verve Acoustic Sounds Series)

Jimmy Smith goes back to basics on Organ Grinder Swing, the 1965 trio date reissued in Verve's Acoustic Sounds Series on 180-gram vinyl.

By the mid-1960s Smith was the most famous organist in jazz, and his Verve years often found him fronting big bands arranged for maximum punch. Here producer Creed Taylor stripped things back to the format that made his name, pairing the Hammond master with guitarist Kenny Burrell and drummer Grady Tate at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. The album climbed to number 15 on the Billboard 200, a remarkable showing for a straight-ahead jazz record.

The title track "Organ Grinder's Swing" is a brisk, grinning romp, and "Oh No, Babe" stretches out over nine minutes of greasy, slow-cooking blues. "Greensleeves" turns the old English folk melody into a smoky, swinging workout, while "Satin Doll" closes the set with Ellington-style elegance and Burrell's gorgeous, unhurried comping.

This is organ trio jazz at its most conversational: three players listening hard, leaving space and letting the groove do the talking. With the Acoustic Sounds Series name and a heavyweight pressing, it is a lovely way to hear one of the most relaxed and swinging sessions Smith ever cut, ideally late in the evening with the volume up.