Playing piano-style single-note lines on his Hammond B-3 organ,
Jimmy Smith revolutionized the use of the instrument in a jazz combo setting in the mid-'50s and early '60s, and this piano approach makes him a natural to adapt the piano tunes associated with
Fats Waller to the B-3, which is what he did at the January 23, 1962, session that is represented here (
Waller, by the way, was no stranger to the organ himself, and recorded several sides on the instrument). Working with guitarist
Quentin Warren and his longtime drummer
Donald Bailey (who worked with
Smith throughout his Blue Note years),
Smith brings his amazing rapid runs to
Waller standards "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Honeysuckle Rose," and gives "Ain't She Sweet" a wonderfully warm and soulful groove. It's fairly typical
Smith, who careens, bolts, stutters, glides, and flashes notes all over the place at a frequently breathless pace, doing what he always does, which is being
Jimmy Smith at the organ. That's what you want, and that's what you get here. ~ Steve Leggett