From the uncanny, sure-footed way in which Jimmy Smith picks his way over the keyboard, I would have thought that a better title for this album would have been The Cat’s Paw! Joking apart, this is one of Jimmy’s most swinging sets, and there is some scintillating interplay between the organ and the big band which is featured on every track. The title piece and the opening Theme are both from a movie, Joy House, for which Lalo Schifrin wrote the score. As he also arranged and conducted the album, he deserves full credit for his share in making this album the shouting, roaring effort it is.
I find Jimmy Smith’s work on St. Louis too fiddly, but the band creates an impressive climax, as they do in Basin Street, whilst the more subdued Delon’s Blues, dedicated to French actor Alain Delon, catches Smith in subtle form. But the two high spots must be Blues In The Night, taken at a leisurely tempo with magnificent roaming phrases by the organ, and the faster rip-roaring Cat, where great chunks of biting brass contrast with the almost effeminate mutterings and screechings of the organ.
Discography
Theme From “Joy House”; The Cat; Basin Street Blues; Main Title From “The Carpetbaggers” (16 min) – Chicago Serenade; St. Louis Blues; Delon’s Blues; Blues In The Night (16¼ min)
Jimmy Smith (org); Ernie Royal, Bernie Glow, Jimmy Maxwell, Marky Markowitz, Snooky Young, Thad Jones (tpts); Ray Alonge, Jim Burlington, Earl Chapin, Bill Correa (fr-h); Billy Byers, Jimmy Cleveland, Urbie Green (tbns); Tony Studd (bs, ten); Don Butterfield (tba); Kenny Burrell (g); George Duvivier (bs); Phil Kraus (perc); Grady Tate (d). April 27-29, 1964.
(Verve VLP9079 12inLP 32s.)
