28. The Incredible Jimmy Smith - Back at the Chicken Shack (1956)

Tracks: Back at the Chicken Shack//When I Grow Too Old to Dream//Minor Chant//Messy Bessy//On the Sunny Side of the Street

I feel as though I should like this more than I do. I mean, it’s on the list isn’t it? That means it must be either very good or very important – or possibly both. Well, in this instance I know it’s the latter. Jimmy Smith is apparently responsible for popularising the use of the Hammond organ in jazz, which is kind of a big deal. He does make a good case for it – he mimics an upright bass with considerable alacrity, carrying the songs on simple walking lines and some interesting comping and subtle melodics. Every now and then, he busts out a solo, and he does quite well there, too. As a consequence of all the organ everywhere, the result is a feel much closer to the blues than to straight jazz, and it’s probably for this reason that people tend to type this as a new, hybrid form – soul-jazz.

In keeping with this “soulful” bent, things are by and large quite laid back and relaxed. There aren’t many grand gestures here. The result is something extremely pleasant and listenable, more about a sustained and cheery mood than anything else. The organ chugs along, there’s some subtle yet persistent drumming back in there somewhere, and the solos are for the better part taken by a smoky sax on the right and a gently Latinate guitar on the right. It’s extremely cool and soothing.

Unfortunately, this also translates into it not always being immediately dazzling. I do like this album, but I doubt I could ever care about it. I have always liked the Hammond, but at the same time I’ve never been all that fond of smoky, switched-on blues. This is the sort of stuff you’d expect to hear playing in a middle-brow art house cinema before the film starts. I don’t have much of a problem with it, I suppose, but it’s not doing much to excite me beyond featuring an organ.

Which, I suppose, is unfair to Jimmy Smith. Look at the cover – he’s not trying to change the world. I’m basically criticising this for being exactly what it sets out to be – pleasant, frequently silly mood music for summer afternoons spend frying things on a hotplate. Smith’s captured the feel of late February wonderfully, and he’s owed props for that. This is a charming, unpretentious little album, worth checking by anyone with a fondness for either soul or jazz. It swings when it needs to and grooves fine most of the rest of the time, and that’s probably enough. The title track builds gradually in insistency throughout its length without ever breaking a sweat, and is ideal for either slow dances or fucking. “Minor Chant” has a neat little melody that I’m sure I’ve heard somewhere before and some pretty cool break-out drum solos. And “Messy Bessy” has a great mid section where everything falls in together and gradually just gets more, I don’t know... “Intense” seems like an inappropriate word to use in connection with an album this determinedly relaxed.

So! I put this album on again intent on giving it a poor review, and instead it works its magic on me and I end up reviewing it poorly. I do feel less tense, now. I have taken a nap in two years, but now I sort of want to. I can almost feel Smith, reaching out from the aether, gently rubbing his key-polished fingers into the rigid cords of my trapezius. No real high or low points, just sort of there, but in a good way. I suppose in that sense it manages to sum up most everything I love and hate about jazz in one package.

And hey! It's basically all the good parts of the first Doors album with a sense of humour and none of the shit, so it's worth it just for that.

7.5/10

Download: The Incredible Jimmy Smith - Back at the Chicken Shack Mp3