Midnight Special [Remaster]

Performer: Jimmy Smith (Jazz)
Artist: Stanley Turrentine; Kenny Burrell
Producer: Alfred Lion; Michael Cuscuna (Reissue)
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: Personnel: Jimmy Smith (organ); Stanley Turrentine (tenor saxophone); Kenny Burrell (guitar); Donald Bailey (drums). Recorded at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on April 25, 1960. Includes liner notes by Del Shields. Personnel: Jimmy Smith (organ); Kenny Burrell (guitar); Stanley Turrentine (tenor saxophone); Donald Bailey (drums). Audio Remasterer: Rudy Van Gelder. The name Jimmy Smith is practically synonymous with jazz organ, and albums such as MIDNIGHT SPECIAL are part of the reason. Of course, there is Smith's legendary gospel- and blues-rooted style and brilliant bebop chops, present on SPECIAL in ample doses. Also, one could not ask for a better band: Donald Bailey, one of Smith's regular drummers; Kenny Burrell on guitar; and Stanley Turrentine on tenor sax. As great as Smith is, it's Turrentine's lusciously rich tenor tone and big bluesy honks that makes MIDNIGHT SPECIAL such a true joy. (Burrell's burr, elegant guitar isn't too shabby either.) In the end, this album is simply a party waiting to happen, for fans of Smith and soul-jazz alike.

Down Beat (p.76) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Saxophonist Stanley Turrentine is heard as the perfect front-line complement to Smith's organ."

Though he was a late bloomer (he didn't start playing organ until age 28), Jimmy Smith is the single most influential figure in the history of jazz organ. He was the pioneering force in making the organ a lead instrument. And while he had bebop chops aplenty, his blues/R&B influences and preference for space over clutter also made him an icon of the subsequent acid jazz movement. Though his heyday was in the 1960s, the larger-than-life organist blazed ahead for decades afterward, until his death in February 2005.

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