Jimmy Smith & Lalo Schifrin: The Cat (1964)

Jimmy Smith & Lalo Schifrin: The Cat (1964)

Jimmy Smith fans will likely have this album already. If you're not one of these take a listen. The fact that Smith moved the Hammond organ from the dance floor to the jazz scene and upgraded it to become a fully-fledged improvisation instrument is to be found in every good dictionary of music. The results of this transition can be heard here. However when Jimmy shifted from Blue Note to Verve in the early '60s his outings for the new label were not always considered as impressive from a jazz perspective. But he redressed that on this album. Here he uses some full-blown big band arrangements by Argentinian Lalo Schifrin as a backdrop for his mainly blues oriented material. If you dig the interplay between these two, suggest you track down "The Unpredictable Jimmy Smith", his first release for Verve. It's another with big band backing -- this time with arrangements by Oliver Nelson.

Tracks:
01) Joy House Theme
02) The Cat
03) Basin Street Blues
04) Main Title from The Carpetbagger
05) Chicago Serenade
06) St. Louis Blues
07) Delon's Blues
08) Blues In The Night

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