Organ Jazz

Filled with soul so gritty and funky you can almost smell it, Organ Jazz generally consists of Hammond B-3 organ (surprise!), drums, guitar and sax, with the occasional addition of acoustic bass. In 1956 Jimmy Smith turned a non-jazz instrument into a valid improvisational machine and mastered the draw bars, creating a variety of tonal colors while blazing away with liquid bebop licks. Along with artists such as Jack McDuff and Richard "Groove" Holmes, Smith helped to master the fancy, dancing footwork that was to become an Organ Jazz trademark -- these performers played swinging walking basslines with the combination of their left hand and an enlarged foot-level keyboard. The sound is raw and rhythmic, with performers vamping on juicy riffs and blues-drenched melodies before taking off on long, funky improvisational journeys.