BLP 4002

Jimmy Smith - House Party

Released - November 1958

Recording and Session Information

Manhattan Towers, NYC, August 25, 1957
Lee Morgan, trumpet; Curtis Fuller, trombone; George Coleman, alto sax; Jimmy Smith, organ; Eddie McFadden, guitar #1; Kenny Burrell, guitar #2; Donald Bailey, drums.

tk.4 Just Friends
tk.11 Blues After All

Manhattan Towers, NYC, February 25, 1958
Lou Donaldson, alto sax; Jimmy Smith, organ; Eddie McFadden, guitar; Donald Bailey, drums.

tk.5 Lover Man

Lee Morgan, trumpet; Lou Donaldson, alto sax; Tina Brooks, tenor sax; Jimmy Smith, organ; Kenny Burrell, guitar; Art Blakey, drums.

tk.13 Au Privave

Session Photos

Photos: Francis Wolff

Track Listing

Side One
Title	Author	Recording Date	Duration
Au Private	Charlie Parker	25/02/1958	15:09
Lover Man	Jimmy Davis, Ram Ramirez, James Sherman	25/02/1958	07:00
Side Two
Just Friends	John Klenner, Sam M. Lewis	25/08/1957	15:15
Blues After All	Kenny Burrell	25/08/1957	06:06

Liner Notes

The Hammond organ, the powerful vehicle with which Jimmy Smith so openly, passionately and dexterously tells -and often shouts - his story, is an instrument of extraordinary expressive capacities, many of which remained un-utilized in the jazz context until Smith began an investigation of them in 1953. Since that time, when he abandoned the piano for it, Smith has explored the possibilities of the organ more deeply than anyone in jazz (and particularly "modern" jazz) before him and, in doing so, has developed both an awareness and a command of the instrument's potentials that are unusually strong.

The majority of jazz organists began as, or continued to be throughout their careers primarily, pianists (Fats Waller, Count Basie and Wild Bill Davis are the first and most prominent to come to mind) and consequently their approach to the organ has been largely a pianistic one. Smith, though he too started as a pianist (many who heard him recall his as a more percussive Bud Powell style) and has, to an extent, carried his concepts and manner on it to the organ, is more concerned than most others have been with playing the organ, as such, rather than simply adjusting a piano style to it. As a result he has both illuminated and animated many previously latent facets of the organ in jazz.

Probably Smith's most immediately apparent attribute is his technical facility. A prerequisite for the organist is, of course, an exceptional physical co-ordination which must, perhaps, be even more keen than that of the drummer. The jazz organist needs not only to play chordal and (when in solo) melodic lines -the ordinary role of the piano - but, with a foot pedal, must simultaneously sustain the bass line as well. Though elementary, this is a function that requires a remarkable adeptness. Smith carries the bass line more firmly and clearly than any organist I have heard and his uncommon concern with the beat, of which he is a continuous demonstration, would seem to be a natural outgrowth of his rhythm and blues background -outlined on several of his earlier LPs. In addition Smith is well aware of the importance of dynamics and makes effective use of the many and diversified tonal colors -textures and shadings at his disposal. Correspondingly his attack, though most often highly propulsive and vigorous, generally contains a good sense of form and continuity of ideas.

Here both his solos and comping on "Au Privave", "Just Friends" and "Blues After All" (none of which are taken at particularly fast tempos) exemplify his constant percussiveness and rhythmic drive which make the presence of a drummer seem, at times, almost superfluous. On "Lover Man" (which is primarily Lou Donaldson's vehicle) Smith is more restrained, but even in his more lyrical moments such as this, the innate power and force, while less overwhelming, are strongly in evidence and Donaldson is obviously affected and extended by Smith's accompaniment.

Donaldson, one of Smith's many collaborators on this record, is also heard on Charlie Parker's "Au Privave" where he contributes a fine solo in his Parker-informed, but highly personalized style. He has always been one of the more consistently capable altoists in the Parker school and his work here is indicative of this. George Coleman who, since his recent appearance on the scene has confined himself, primarily, to the tenor saxophone, plays alto on "Just Friends" and "Blues After All" with spirit and conviction. Tina Brooks, a tenor saxophonist with a tone that while comparatively "small" is well projected by a considerable energy of expression and effective ideas, has a heated solo on "Privave", his single appearance here. Trumpeter Lee Morgan, present on "Privave", "Friends" and "Blues", is apparently beginning to learn the virtues of economy and plays here with a purposeful directness that does not at all detract from his usual open-emotion expressiveness. Trombonist Curtis Fuller's forceful statements on "Friends" and "Blues" suggest that he is becoming aware of the capacities of his talent and that it is a large talent. Guitarist Eddie McFadden ("Man" and "Friends") and drummer Donald Bailey ("Man", "Friends" and "Blues") are the other two members of Smith's current trio and, it would seem as a result, work quite sympathetically with him here. Kenny Burrell has an outstanding solo on "Privave" and Art Blakey makes his presence obvious on that tune.

The title of this set "Houseparty", is an accurate description of the informal "sitting-in" atmosphere which prevails. The ultimate value of most records of this type is more often dependent on the general quality of the solos it contains than on the property of material, or how well specific musical concepts are collectively pursued and handled. Here, I think, an extraordinarily high level of excellent solos is maintained and much of the credit for this is due to Smith in his role of accompanist. His seemingly inexhaustible rhythmic energy, combined with the intrinsic power of the organ itself, provides a consistently forceful and inspiring foundation that, in turn, could not help but provoke equally inspiring solos.

-ROBERT LEVIN

Cover Photo by FRANCIS WOLFF
Recording by RUDY VAN GELDER

RVG CD Reissue Liner Notes

A NEW LOOK AT HOUSE PARTY

When Blue Note entered the era of the 12-inch LP, it came up with an effective two-volume format that employed the same cover art (though in different colors) and liner notes. This was used for collecting previously issued studio material (by Miles Davis, Bud Powell, etc.) and presenting the lengthier performances that the label had begun taping in clubs (initially with Art Blakey's pre-Messengers quintet). Jimmy Smith, whose explosion on the jazz scene in 1956 quickly made him the most frequently recorded on the label, did several of these paired sets as well. His own live dates, at the Club Baby Grand and Small's Paradise, conformed to the general style, though when it to studio releases Smith broke the mold.

The first project to place Smith in the company of horn soloists and guest rhythm section accompanists was a three-day affair in February 1957, and it generated enough music for five separate albums — the two-volume A Date With Jimmy Smith and Jimmy Smith At The Organ, plus the single-volume The Sounds Of Jimmy Smith. Alfred Lion extracted so much music from the occasions by employing simple yet effective strategies. The organist's working trio was alternated with Kenny Burrell and Art Blakey, and one or more of the horns were omitted on some tracks to provide feature space and textural variety. The same approach was employed on the sessions of August 1957 and February 1958 that comprise this album and The Sermon, which depart from previous label practice by bearing separate titles, yet can be viewed as the most outstanding of Smith's paired efforts.

The August date featured three young horn players, two of whom were already Blue Note artists. Lee Morgan had actually used the same front line earlier that his City Lights album, where George Coleman was heard on tenor as well as alto sax. While the alto may seem like an odd choice for Coleman here in light of his later history on tenor with Max Roach, Miles Davis and his own quartet, he had actually made his recording debut playing the alto on B.B. King's 1955 hit "Woke Up This Morning." Fuller had quickly become a familiar presence on the label, and in the weeks surrounding Smith's session he had also been heard with Bud Powell and John Coltrane, two other leaders that had not previously featured trombone on their sessions. Fuller had also recorded his own second Blue Note date four days earlier. Burrell was once again brought in to split guitar duties with Smith regular Eddie McFadden.

The session yielded seven performances, two of which made up the second side of the original Houseparty LP. The lengthy "Just Friends," with McFadden, features good solos all around and a good introduction to Colernan'ss alto, as does the more concise "Blues After All," where Burrell is the guitarist. Yet the music pales in comparison to the truly monumental output of the February date. That session featured two separate rhythm sections, McFadden/Donald Bailey and Burrell/Blakey, plus a more fully-formed Morgan, Lou Donaldson (who had proven to be extremely compatible with Smith on the sessions held a year earlier) and — in his first appearance on Blue Note — Tina Brooks.

These musicians were simply on fire, and produced some of the best work of their individual careers. Certainly the magnificent alto solos on "Au Privave" (mistakenly titled "Au Private" on the original release) and the ballad feature "Lover Man" belong in any essential Lou Donaldson collection, and place Donaldson right up there with Sonny Stitt as a Charlie Parker disciple who stayed close to the master while injecting his own distinct personality on the horn. Morgan's greater maturity can be detected in the use of the half-valve effects that would become central to his conception, while Brooks, with his lean logic and harmonic fluency, was impressive enough to land his own initial session for Blue Note a month later, and to be invited to once again join the Smith trio plus Donaldson and Blakey for live recordings at Small's Paradise in April. And that Smith/Burrell/BIakey rhythm section is astounding in its ability to sustain a hard groove over a lengthy performance. The track from the February session not released at the time, "Confirmation," is included here as a most savory second helping from the Parker canon.

This music should be heard in conjunction with The Sermon, which is also being reissued in the Rudy Van Gelder series.

—Bob Blumenthal