Root Down - Jimmy Smith

Rating: 6/10
Sound Quality: Lossless
Format: Flac
Record Label: Verve
Year Released: Original (1972), Reissue (2000)
Album Covers: Included
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Note From Dada!

Ώτα μου καλή σας μέρα και με αφορμή τη νέα ψηφιακή ενδυμασία του blog καλή σας άνοιξη.

Root Down! Εξαιρετικός live δίσκος του Jimmy Smith, ηχογραφημένος τον Φεβρουάριο του 1972 στο Los Angeles. Μιλάμε για εκείνη την περίοδο κατά την οποία κάποιοι μουσικοί πηγαίναν την jazz λίγο παραπέρα,  ενσωματώνοντας πιο "funky" στοιχεία στον ήχο τους. Ακούγωντας το συγκεκριμένο album, μου έρχεται στο νου ένας αγαπημένος μου πανομοιότυπος (επίσης live) δίσκος του Grant Green το "Live At Club Mozambique" με πάρα πολύ παρεμφερή ενορχήστρωση και ατμόσφαιρα, που συστήνω ανεπιφύλακτα σε όσους βρουν ενδιαφέρον και το παρόν album του Smith. (κλικ εδώ) Το μόνο σίγουρο είναι ότι δε μιλάμε για "κλασικό" Jimmy Smith από ενορχηστρωτικής άποψης, καθώς η μπάντα που τον πλαισιώνει είναι σαφώς πιο ηλεκτρική από προηγούμενες δουλειές του. Ιδιαίτερη εντύπωση προκαλεί ο ήχος της κιθάρας του Arthur Adams, καθώς "ακροβατεί" με μπόλικό distortion (όχι μόνο για την jazz/αλλά ακόμα και για το funk), ανάμεσα σε jazz, blues, funk και αρκετές φορές και rock ηχητικές αποχρώσεις και κλίμακες. Πέντε μουσικά θέματα (και ένα alternate take στο ομώνυμο "Root Down") στα οποία περιέχεται ίσως μία από τις καλύτερες ορχηστρικές προσεγγίσεις στο "κλάσικ" του Al Green "Let's Stay Together".

Καλή ακρόαση!
Radiodada

Σύνθεση:

Jimmy Smith: organ
Arthur Adams: guitar
Wilton Felder: bass

Buck Clarke: congas, percussion
Paul Hamphrey: drums
Steve Williams: harmonica

About Jimmy Smith
Jimmy Smith (December 8, 1925 [birth year is disputed and is often given as 1928] – February 8, 2005) was a jazz musician whose performances on the Hammond B-3 electric organ helped to popularize this instrument. In 2005, Jimmy Smith was awarded the NEA Jazz Masters Award from the National Endowment for the Arts, the highest honors that the United States bestows upon jazz musicians.Originally a pianist, Smith switched to organ in 1953 after hearing Wild Bill Davis. He purchased his first Hammond B-3 organ, rented a warehouse to practice in and emerged after little more than a year with an exciting new sound which was to completely revolutionize the way in which the instrument could be played. On hearing him playing in a Philadelphia club, Blue Note's Alfred Lion immediately signed him to the label and with his second album, also known as The Champ, quickly established Smith as a new star on the jazz scene. He was a prolific recording artist and as a leader, recorded around 40 sessions for Blue Note in just 8 years beginning in 1956. His most notable albums from this period include The Sermon!, House Party, Home Cookin' , Midnight Special, Back at the Chicken Shack and Prayer Meetin' .

Smith then signed to Verve Records label in 1962. His first album Bashin', sold well and for the first time, set Smith with a big band led by Oliver Nelson. Further Big band collaborations followed, most successfully with Lalo Schifrin for The Cat and guitarist Wes Montgomery, with whom he recorded two albums: The Dynamic Duo and Further Adventures Of Jimmy and Wes. Other notable albums from this period include Blue Bash and Organ Grinder's Swing with Kenny Burrell, The Boss with George Benson, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Got My Mojo Workin, and the funky Root Down.During the 50s and 60s, Smith recorded with some of the great jazz musicians of the day such as Kenny Burrell, George Benson, Grant Green, Stanley Turrentine, Lee Morgan, Lou Donaldson, Tina Brooks, Jackie McLean, Grady Tate and Donald Bailey. In the 1970s, Smith opened his own supperclub in L.A. and played there regularly.

Smith had a career revival in the 1980s and 90s, again recording for Blue Note and Verve, and for Milestone and Elektra. Smith also recorded with other artists including Quincy Jones/Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Joey DeFrancesco. His last major album Dot Com Blues (Blue Thumb, 2000), featured many special guests such as Dr. John, B.B.King and Etta James.