About

Recorded on June 14, 1965, at Rudy Van Gelder's Englewood Cliffs studio and produced by Creed Taylor, Organ Grinder Swing marked Jimmy Smith's return to the organ-trio format after several large-ensemble Verve projects, pairing him with guitarist Kenny Burrell and drummer Grady Tate in a compact setting that highlights the immediacy of his Hammond B-3 sound.

Burrell's clean melodic lines and subtle comping mesh with Smith's harmonically rich phrasing, while Tate's crisp, steady time anchors the trio across a program that includes the driving title track, the reflective "I'll Close My Eyes," and the blues-inflected "Blues for J." A commercial success and one of the most enduring small-group albums of Smith's Verve years, the record reaffirmed the trio as a central vehicle for his artistry and remains a defining document of his mid-1960s style. — (via Label)

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Most of organist Jimmy Smith's recordings for Verve during the mid- to late '60s were with big bands, making this trio outing with guitarist Kenny Burrell and drummer Grady Tate a special treat. This outing is a throwback to Smith's Blue Note sets (which had concluded two years earlier) and gives the organist the opportunity to stretch out on three blues and three standards. This release shows that, even with all of his commercial success during the period, Smith was always a masterful jazz player. — (via AllMusic)

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— Pressed on 180g black vinyl
— Housed in a Stoughton Printing tip-on gatefold jacket
— Mastered by Matthew Lutthans at The Mastering Lab from the original master tape

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Label: Analogue Productions / Verve Records
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Stereo, Gatefold
Reissued: 2026 / Originally Released: 1965
Genre: Jazz
Style: Soul-Jazz, Hard Bop

File under: Audiophile Jazz
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