Billboard : 07/15/1957

First of a series of LPs built around organist Jimmy Smith and featuring top artists from Blue note roster – D. Byrd, H. Mobley, Blakey, L. Donaldson. In Jam session tradition, set is comprised of just three tunes with all participants having a chance to spread out. Key figure of interest is Smith; one of the few organists who can validly adapt the instrument to jazz. In addition, Mobley, Byrd and strong rhythm contribute much to set’s definitive swing; an appeal that should snare “mainstream” jazz buyer.

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Down Beat : 09/09/1957
Don Gold : 3.5 stars

This is the first Jimmy Smith set with horns. It is the first of a two-volume set. Although Smith has indicated in past efforts that he can make the Hammond organ a part of jazz, the results of the mass blowing here are somewhat uneven.

The hornmen, inspired by Smith’s ferocity, play with a good deal of drive. Byrd expounds with fine tone and consistent invention. Donaldson pours forth with the fire of a Phoenix. Mobley plunges with determination, but lacks the individual style to make an impressive contribution.

Smith comps with relative taste throughout most of this, but there are moments when he strikes a chord that could scare the hell out of a soloing horn man. This is due, in part, to the tonal characteristics of his instrument, which has often sounded oppressively heavy to me. Also, there is a choppiness to some of his conception and execution that limits any linear construction. However, he can and does swing with a valid fervency.

Falling features some heated Donaldson and Smith in a creative solo. Moon, for reasons best known to Smith, features a Garneresque approach to the organ; this results in an underwater sound that, for me, was annoying. Moon, by the way, is the solo trio side in this set. The horns return for Smith’s original, Funk’s Oats, and Donaldson contributes a Bird-derived, but pulsating, solo. Byrd contributes a related statement and Smith plows through a segmented solo, also reminiscent of Bird.

Byrd and Donaldson make valid contributions here, but I have heard Smith accomplish more in other contexts. The set tends to suffer, too, by lack of organization. But ornithologists and blowing sessions enthusiasts will probably find considerable value here. I found some value, but not enough to recommend this without qualification.

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Liner Notes by Ira Gitler

When it comes to the subject of ability in concealing moods and emotions, people fall into two general categories. There are those who may be feeling miserable but still are able to effectively shield their true feelings; there are others who telegraph their moods in an overt manner, without ever alluding to them verbally, no matter how hard they try to convince everyone of the opposite.

Musicians fall into these categories until they pick up their instruments; then, there is no hiding place for the emotions. Of course, the mood of the music they play dictates the emotion to be called forth but the way the musician is feeling at the time will still hold precedence. This mood will often have much to do with the choosing of the tunes.

A Date with Jimmy Smith is the result of a meeting between the top organist in modern jazz and some of the best contemporary horn soloists; a meeting further enhanced by a new guitar stylist and the dynamic percussion of a master.

That this was a “groovy” date, as stated by Hank Mobley’s original of the same name, is self evident in the way it listens. The cats wanted to blow with Jimmy and a blowing session it is. Everyone speaks out full and strong with conviction of the thought that “It’s great to be here and blowing on this date.” No emotional hide and seek here; it’s as if the feelings are in relief right on the vinyl. Try Jimmy’s blues, Funk’s Oats, for size.

For the underlying power present on this date, we must look to Jimmy Smith and Art Blakey.

Smith is a man not only of high skill but of great taste. With a power plant like the Hammond under one’s fingers there is the temptation to roar away all the time and some organists do. Jimmy can roar (ex: The Champ in BLP 1514) when he wants to but there is so much more to the organ and his combination of talent and taste has allowed him to explore and present many of its possibilities. This is his first album with horns and in his camping he shows his sensitivity to the needs of the horn soloist. At times he camps in a soft and punching manner, at other times hard punching or then again he will spread his chords out to sound like a band behind the hornman.

Blakey’s drums have one of the most lifting, joyous pulses in jazz. The aggregate of this beat, the bass line as played by Jimmy’s feet and the aforementioned camping is a source of endless vitality throughout the entire session.

The horns, alto sax, trumpet and tenor sax are manned by Lou Donaldson, Donald Byrd and Hank Mobley respectively. Through their many noteworthy appearances on the Blue Note label, all modern jazz fans have come to know them well. All three have appeared in person with the various groups that drummer Art Blakey has headed and are most prominent on the New York scene.

A name and sound that will be unfamiliar to most of you, however, is that of Eddie McFadden, the regular guitarist with the Jimmy Smith trio since January of 1957. Eddie, born in Baltimore on August 6, 1928, did his studying in Philadelphia at the Granoff and Landers music schools for three years. A professional for nine years, he was originally inspired to play guitar when he heard Oscar Moore with the The King Cole Trio at a USO show in San Francisco in 1946. He feels that while technique is important, soul, swing and thinking are more so. His pensive, hornlike style is excellent throughout but perhaps stands out in How High The Moon], the only trio number, all the more. Eddie’s favorites, in addition to his original influence Moore, are Charlie Christian and John Collins.

BLP 1547

Volume One of A Date with Jimmy Smith begins with an extended version of Falling in Love With Love. Byrd and Donaldson split the assignment of carrying the theme and then, beginning with Mobley, everyone gets a chance to stretch out. Blakey enters for some exchanges with the horns before the close.

A groovy How High The Moon closes out the first side. There was one time in the Forties when this tune was overplayed but then it went out of vogue and has been more or less neglected ever since. Here the trio, with Jimmy’s regular drummer Donald Bailey replacing Blakey, treats it at a tempo new to the Moon.

The entire second side is filled with Funk’s Oats, a riff blues by Jimmy with solos by Donaldson (dig the Sabre Dance bit), Mobley, McFadden and Smith himself. Jimmy’s driving type of swing and intensity of feeling are especially acute here.

BLP 1548

Lou Donaldson’s plaintive statement of Duke Ellington‘s I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart opens Volume Two. Byrd and Mobley are the first two soloists. Each has sections of double-time, instigated by Blakey, in their portions. McFadden with his soft and warm style is next and Lou plays a heartfelt, extremely moving solo before Jimmy comes in. Notice Jimmy’s fantastic basswork with his feet during this stint. After Lou carries the theme out with Hank’s help on the bridge, Jimmy returns for an unaccompanied variation on the theme.

Side Two features Donaldson and Smith as the only soloists on I’m Getting Sentimental Over You. This ballad has been uptempoed by several of our modern jazzmen in recent years. Here it is rendered closer to the original tempo.

Hank Mobley’s summing up of everyone’s feeling about the session. Groovy Date, closes things out. A “Rhythm type” swinger with sales by all and four bar exchanges between Blakey and the three horns.