Back at the Chicken Shack

Jimmy Smith

album cover

What, Exactly, Went On Back There?

Jimmy Smith, the man who established the sound and the vocabulary of the Hammond B3 organ in jazz, recorded a massive amount of music under his own name. Some of his best-known works are simple blues-based blowing sessions—see The Sermon, which begins with a twenty-minute throwdown. And a bunch of his records are whiplash-inducing displays of technique, like Groovin' at Small's Paradise, a highly caffeinated two-disc blur of watch-me-dazzle dexterity.

Sometimes when Smith lets his fingers (and his toes, via the foot pedals that push out the bass lines) do all the walking, his sheer speed overwhelms the delicate back-and-forth of jazz communication. That's why Back at the Chicken Shack is such a treasure: For whatever reason, Smith resists the showboating impulse here, focusing on coy, furtive moves instead. These are low-pressure jaunts through blues and standards ("On the Sunny Side of the Street"), conversations that breeze along and eventually culminate in exciting shout choruses. Smith dazzles, as expected, when he solos, but is equally impressive as an accompanist: His spiked chords and sassy rejoinders snap the grooves into high definition, and practically force tenorman Stanley Turrentine and guitarist Kenny Burrell to keep things simple.

Genre: Jazz
Released: 1960, Blue Note
Key Tracks: "Back at the Chicken Shack," "Minor Chant," "On the Sunny Side of the Street"
Catalog Choice: The Sermon; Groovin’ at Small’s Paradise
Next Stop: Kenny Burrell: Blue Bash
Book Pages: 718–719

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