Jimmy Smith

Back at the Chicken Shack is one of the records that defined soul jazz on the Hammond B3. Jimmy Smith recorded it on 25 April 1960, at the same session that produced Midnight Special, and Blue Note held it back until early 1963. The album was later included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Smith had been a self-taught pianist before switching to the organ in 1954. He rented a warehouse in Philadelphia and woodshedded for a year. The style he came out with caught the ear of Alfred Lion, who recorded him as often as he could between 1956 and 1963. Here Smith leads a quartet with Stanley Turrentine on tenor saxophone, Kenny Burrell on guitar and Donald Bailey on drums, recorded by Rudy Van Gelder.

The four tracks are long and unhurried. Smith's title tune opens the album at an easy, grooving pace that leaves plenty of room for the tenor. When I Grow Too Old to Dream, a song by Sigmund Romberg and Oscar Hammerstein II, is taken slowly, and Turrentine contributes Minor Chant. The album ends with Smith's Messy Bessie, which runs past twelve minutes and gives each player plenty of space.

Turrentine was 26 at the time of this session, and it marked the start of a long association. Through the 1960s he made many soul jazz records, both with Smith and as a leader for Blue Note. The original back cover credited When I Grow Too Old to Dream to Richard Rodgers and Hammerstein instead of Romberg, a slip that collectors still point out.

This is the Japanese Ultimate High Quality CD from Universal Music Japan (UCCQ-9717, 2024), with the original four-track programme mastered by Kevin Gray. It comes in a jewel case with obi, with the original sleeve notes by Ira Gitler reproduced on the back inlay.