Hammond B-3 jazz master Jimmy Smith (1925 - 2005) is someone whose music I've always
enjoyed, but I've never owned any of his work until recently. While
perusing the used jazz bins at a local, independent record store I saw his
2001 collaborative CD and grabbed it without reading any of the liner
notes, so I really didn't know what I was buying. I would have preferred to
have picked up a set that was truly a showcase for Smith's virtuosity, but it's my fault that I didn't.
The disc, Dot Com Blues, is over an hour long with eleven tracks. Five of them feature
guest vocalists, and that's more than any other full-length record Smith has ever released.
William Ruhlmann of AllMusic accurately described this album as Smith's version of Santana's Supernatural record - an attempt to "broaden his appeal" by bringing in a lot of guests.
All of the singers spotlighted here identify more with blues than jazz and have greater name recognition than Smith ever had. The star-studded cast includes Dr. John who opens the set with his self-penned "Only in it for the Money." Taj Mahal takes the lead on "Strut" - one of his own compositions - while Etta James covers Willie Dixon's "I Just Wanna Make Love to You" that she also recorded for her debut LP way back in 1960. Keb' Mo' contributed "Over and Over," one of his originals. Finally, B.B. King gave the best performance on the set with his cowritten, "Three O'Clock Blues."
The instrumentals include Ma Rainey's "C.C. Rider," Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo," and Smith brought three of his own works to the sessions: "Eight Counts for Rita,"
"Tuition Blues" and the title track.
The core trio features Reggie McBride on bass and drummer Harvey Mason with guitarist
Russell Malone adding his virtuosity on four tracks. They all get considerable
room to show off their chops.
Everything on Dot Com Blues is well sung and played, but if you want to learn what Smith was all about, I'd start elsewhere because it feels like he's just a hired session hand on his own record.
Comments
Post a Comment