BOOKLET

 

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

These recordings from 1957 are among the most momentous to appear in the Rudy Van Gelder series, marking the first American appearance on CD of these early live recordings and adding four previously unreleased tracks. Accompanied by his regular band of guitarist Eddie McFadden and drummer Donald Bailey, Smith is an extraordinary musical presence, combining the energy of a big band and a sanctified congregation as he serves up kinetic versions of pop songs, jazz standards, and blues. Among the new additions are a scintillating version of Smith’s own up-tempo blues feature “The Champ,” a marvel of keyboard technique, and a treatment of “Walkin'” that could define the idea of swing. Smith wasn’t just using the organ as a jazz instrument, he was creating a new idiom that fused elements of modern jazz and R&B. The extended tunes also highlight a neglected jazz-blues talent in McFadden. –Stuart Broomer

Album Info from Blue Note Records

In the 20 months between Jimmy Smith’s first Blue Note session and this live appearance at the great Harlem club Small’s Paradise, he’d become a nationwide hit and launched a whole new sound in jazz, playing the electric organ. He’d made 15 albums (!) in a variety of contexts, but this live session captured how he reached people night after night with his working trio. Nine selections here had made up two volumes of “Groovin’ At Small’s Paradise”. Making its first appearance on CD, the session has been restored to the original order in which the band played the music that night with four previously unissued tunes added. Rudy Van Gelder returned to the original tapes he made in a corner of the club that night to achieve the best possible sound for this valuable document.

Disc: 1

1. Imagination

2. Walkin’

3. My Funny Valentine

4. It’s Only A Paper Moon

5. I Can’t Give You Anything But Love

6. Laura

Disc: 2

1. Indiana

2. Body And Soul

3. The Champ

4. Lover Man

5. Slightly Monkish

6. After Hours

7. Just Friends