Jimmy Smith

CD version. Prayer Meetin' pairs Jimmy Smith, the organist who changed the role of the Hammond B-3 in jazz in the mid-1950s, with tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine. Recorded in February 1963 and issued by Blue Note in 1964, it belongs to the run of Smith and Turrentine collaborations that helped shape soul jazz. These meetings, all blues, gospel feeling and slow-burning groove, rank among the organist's best records. Smith's partners here, Warren and Bailey, give the music a lean, uncluttered sound.

It was cut on 8 February 1963 at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, one day after the session for Smith's Rockin' the Boat. Alfred Lion was the producer and Rudy Van Gelder the engineer. The quartet is completed by Quentin Warren on guitar and Donald Bailey on drums, with no bass player, so the organ covers the bottom of the music.

The title track, written by Smith, sets a churchy pulse and lets organ and tenor trade at length. I Almost Lost My Mind, the Ivory Joe Hunter song, is Turrentine's ballad feature, more than nine minutes of unhurried playing. On Red Top, the Gene Ammons tune, the four lock into an easy swing. The programme also includes the calypso Stone Cold Dead in the Market, When the Saints Go Marching In and Smith's Picnickin'.

For AllMusic, Steve Leggett called it "a delight from start to finish". Although the cover gives top billing to Smith, Turrentine's big, bluesy sound carries as much of the record as the organ does. The original sleeve notes were written by Joe Goldberg.

This is the Japanese Ultimate High Quality CD from Universal Music Japan (UCCQ-9733, 2024), remastered by Kevin Gray and packaged in a jewel case with obi. It presents the six tracks of the original LP, without the two 1960 bonus tracks found on earlier CD editions.