The sound of the Hammond B-3 organ in jazz was popularized by JIMMY SMITH. After a stint in the Navy, while he was studying bass and piano at the conservatory and gigging nightly, he obtained his first Hammond B-3. By the mid-1950s, Smith had released several albums on the legendary Blue Note label. In 1962, Jimmy moved to Verve Records where his recordings regularly “crossed-over” into the pop bestsellers: during the 1960s, he was ever-present in the charts with a total of 12 albums, many making the Top 20. Since that time, Smith has continued to record and expand his international following and influence. In 1995, after several years on other labels, Smith returned to Verve for Damn!, an album on which he was joined by some of the finest young jazz players in jazz today, many of whom were barely born at the time of Smith’s legendary recordings. Jimmy Smith is called the “Frank Sinatra” of the jazz organ, and is both the instrument’s greatest ambassador and its finest interpreter.

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