Billboard : 08/11/1958
Score of 3 stars

Jimmy Smith can do some incredible things on organ and on this new Blue Note set, his eighth for the label, he shows off his remarkable talent again. With him on this new set are such fine jazzmen as L. Donaldson, K. Burrell, E. McFadden on guitars and A. Blakey and D. Bailey on drums. Tunes are both originals and standards, and they include Summertime, There’s a Small Hotel and Yardbird Suite and Plum Nellie. Good jazz here.

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Cashbox : 08/16/1958

A companion piece to a previous Smith issue with the same personnel on support, the disk provides another vivid display of the organ in jazz time. The most unusually striking demonstration on the four tune (all-originals) session is the unrelentingly title, The Duel. Smith and able crew take the other three items in blues Plum Nellie; romp Billie’s Bounce and medium-tempo Buns A Plenty fashion. Sure-fire jazz favorite.

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Down Beat : 08/07/1958
John A. Tynan : 3 stars

Most of organist Smith‘s sessions are furiously rolling dates with the accent on free, eloquent blowing. This followup album to that review in Down Beat, June 12, is no exception.

Only two tracks (Plum and Billie’s) are quartet numbers with altoist Donaldson sounding a little impatient on the slow blues and caught inextricably in the whirling vortex of the bop classic. The opening ensemble chorus on the latter, incidentally, is quite sloppy, as if Donaldson and Burrell never bothered to run through the line together before tape started rolling. But in his solo Lou cooks vigoroiusly, belting out his lines in flowing, hard-hitting fashion.

The Duel might as well have been called Free-For-All, for that’s what it develops into as Smith and Blakey wrestle wildly through chorus after chorus of forensics. On grounds of assertiveness alone, Art the Thunderer must be declared victor.

Most relaxed track is the closer, Buns. Here is the best example of the Jimmy Smith trio per se. The organist is in fine fettle as he extends his improvisations on the blues while McFadden and Bailey content themselves with steady rhythmic accompaniment.

This does not equal the first volume, but it has its moments.

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Liner Notes by Robert Levin

The jazz world is in a chronic state of confusion. Young musicians, aching with the desire to say something new and “different”, are forever going off in scores of directions, hoping to fulfill themselves artistically, draw plaudits from yawning critics and maybe “pick up some loot” in the bargain. Any direction is valid if it is intelligent and sincere but as to its ultimate importance, well, that’s something else. Many progressive musicians have lengthened the form but, in the process, have lost the concept of swinging. What they play and write may be music but is it jazz?

These contemporary musicians who, in my opinion, may be classified as greats; Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Milt Jackson, and a few others, all play with a modern conception but never lose sight of their origins. Spirituals, gospels, blues (no matter how latent they may be at times) are always an integral part of their music – the underlying, basic factor. These men are direct descendants of the exponents of the above musical forms. They have a profound knowledge of, and respect for the history of their art. They know – feel intrinsically, what’s “happening” and apply these qualities, perhaps without realizing it.

Jimmy Smith is such a musician.

He is definitely on his way to becoming a “great.” A swinging, highly percussive organist, firmly entrenched in jazz tradition, Jimmy projects an earthy warmth, through a bop conception, that is analogous to the blues shouters of bygone days. He is an exciting, dynamic performer, capable of playing ballads and uptempo numbers with consummate skill (certainly unequalled skill on his instrument) and has already (he’s been on the “big-time” scene only a year) received much praise from what are usually caustic critics, musicians and fans.

Only the late Fats Waller and Wild Bill Davis had achieved any real prominence as jazz organists until Jimmy made his spectacular debut last year (1956) at the Café Bohemia in New York’s Greenwich Village. Those in the audience that first night could not help but remark in endless superlatives about his striking originality and brilliant technique.

Out of Norristown, Pennsylvania, Jimmy’s professional background consists, in the main, of R&B gigs that, dull and inartistic as they may be, no doubt had much to do with the development of his inherent “blues feeling.”

These are Jimmy’s eighth and ninth albums for Blue Note, but he remains one of the few “new” musicians who has not been overrecorded.

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A pensive, melancholy mood is affected with George Gershwin‘s lovely ballad, Summertime, which has Lou Donaldson on alto sax along with Jimmy and no rhythm section (none is needed). Donaldson, one of the best but most underrated and neglected musicians ever, solos twice (opening and closing the piece) with long, flowing, graceful lines and sticks close to the melody. Jimmy’s backing is appropriately delicate and his solo is sensitive and moving.

There’s A Small Hotel features Jimmy with the youthful, upcoming guitarist, Kenny Burrell and the rocking Art Blakey on drums. The standard is taken at a medium pace. Burrell leading off with a lightly swinging solo is followed by a by a long, driving organ excursion, then Kenny returns to exchange fours with Smith and the two are joined in the spotlight some bars later by Blakey who adds a robust solo after which Jimmy and Kenny restate the original melody and close.

All Day Long, a stimulating minor blues by Burrell, has the same personnel as Hotel with Donaldson (in a warm, Parkerish groove) added. Lou, Kenny and Jimmy wail at length before the tune fades out as the boys make their slow, sad retreat from “Funksville.”

The same group brightens sharply with Charlie Parker’s catchy Yardbird Suite. Everyone plays with a delightful “this is a ball” feeling and Jimmy proves here just how hard an organ can swing. Blakey’s “fill ins” add much to the rhythmic forcefulness of Jimmy’s solo.

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Plum Nellie, a Smith original, is a “way down” blues with Donaldson and the other two-thirds of Jimmy’s current trio; Eddie McFadden, guitar and Donald Bailey, drums. This extended excursion into funk is highlighted by Jimmy’s “Flight to Kansas City” and McFadden’s brooding “blue guitar.” Lou’s stint is fleet and soulful.

Kenny, Lou, Jimmy and Art romp through Charlie Parker’s Billie’s Bounce with an exhilarating group of solos that will keep your foot tapping long after the tune has ended. Jimmy utilizes the surprising capacity of the organ to its fullest, swinging with the power and virility of a big band.

The Duel, an original, is between Art and Jimmy with Jimmy’s solo one of his best on record. He builds, emotionally, to fantastic proportions, expanding vertically and horizontally with a frenetic intensity. Blakey’s “jungle drums” are in keeping with the hot, frenzied mood.

The Jimmy Smith trio (McFadden and Bailey) are heard on Burns a Plenty, a breezy, middletempo blues original by Smith.

Jimmy has come far within the past year and will go farther. He is a still growing talent and a welcome addition to the “East Coast” school.

These sides were cut at several relaxed, informal, “groovy” (as Alfred Lion likes to call them) sessions that had everyone in fine spirits and exceptional form.

Listen! The albums tell the story. They belong in every “hip” collection.