Rating: 6.5/10
Sound Quality: Lossless
Format: Flac
Record Label: Blue Note
Year Released: 1970
Album Covers: Included
Pass: radiodada
Lonnie Smith - I Can't Stand It
Lonnie Smith - Scream
About Lonnie SmithDr. Lonnie Smith (born July 3, 1942 in Lackawanna, New York) is a jazz Hammond B3 organist and pianist.
He was born in Lackawanna, New York, into a family with a vocal group
and radio program. Smith says that his mother was a major influence on
him musically, as she introduced him to gospel, classical, and jazz
music. He was part of several vocal ensembles in the 1950s, including
the Teen Kings. Art Kubera, the owner of a local music store, gave Smith
his first organ, a Hammond B3.
Smith's affinity for R&B melded with his own personal style as he
became active in the local music scene. He moved to New York City, where
he met George Benson, the guitarist for Jack McDuff's band. Benson and
Smith connected on a personal level, and the two formed the George
Benson Quartet, featuring Lonnie Smith, in 1966.
After two albums under Benson's leadership, It's Uptown and Cookbook,
Smith recorded his first solo album (Finger Lickin' Good) in 1967, with
George Benson and Melvin Sparks on guitar, Ronnie Cuber on baritone sax,
and Marion Booker on drums. This combination remained stable for the
next five years.
After recording several albums with Benson, Smith became a solo
recording artist and has since recorded over 30 albums under his own
name. Numerous prominent jazz artists have joined Smith on his albums
and in his live performances, including Lee Morgan, David "Fathead"
Newman, King Curtis, Terry Bradds, Blue Mitchell, Joey DeFrancesco and
Joe Lovano.
In 1967, Smith met Lou Donaldson, who put him in contact with Blue Note
Records. Donaldson asked the quartet to record an album for Blue Note,
Alligator Bogaloo. Blue Note signed Smith for the next four albums, all
in the soul jazz style, including Think (with Melvin Sparks, Marion
Booker, Lee Morgan and David Newman) and Turning Point (with Lee Morgan,
Bennie Maupin, Melvin Sparks and Idris Muhammad). Smith also plays for
college universities across the nation.
Smith's next album Move Your Hand was recorded at the Club Harlem in
Atlantic City, New Jersey in August 1969. The album's reception allowed
his reputation to grow beyond the Northeast. He would record another
studio album Drives and one more live album Live at Club Mozambique
(recorded in Detroit on May 21, 1970) before leaving Blue Note.
In the mid-1970s, Dr. Lonnie Smith converted to Sikhism. Smith has also
been referred to from around that time as "Dr. Lonnie Smith" although
the honorific does not represent an academic doctorate degree.
Smith toured the northeastern United States heavily during the 1970s. He
concentrated largely on smaller neighborhood venues during this period.
His sidemen included Ronnie Cuber, Dave Hubbard, Bill Easley and George
Adams on sax, Donald Hahn on trumpet, George Benson and Larry McGee on
guitars, and Joe Dukes, Sylvester Goshay, Phillip Terrell, Marion
Booker, Jimmy Lovelace, Charles Crosby, Art Gore, Norman Connors and
Bobby Durham on drums.
Smith has performed at several prominent jazz festivals with artists
including Grover Washington, Jr., Ron Carter, Dizzy Gillespie, Lou
Donaldson and Ron Holloway. He has also played with musicians outside of
jazz, such as Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight, Etta James, Joan
Cartwright, and Esther Phillips.
He was named the "Organ Keyboardist of the Year" in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, and 2009 by the Jazz Journalist Association.