Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing in deluxe gatefold jacket. Root Down was Hammond B-3 jazz legend Jimmy Smith's 1972 live album for Verve. Recorded in Los Angeles in 1972, it features a young band that were very influenced by the funk and rock scenes of the time. The album's title track was famously sampled by the Beastie Boys for their 1995 recording of the same name. Verve Acoustic Sounds Series features transfers from analog tapes and remastered.

Jimmy Smith was a self-taught pianist who helped popularize the Hammond B3 organ with a revolutionary style that caught the ear of Alfred Lion at Blue Note who later dubbed him The Incredible Jimmy Smith. Back At The Chicken Shack was recorded at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in 1960 with Stanley Turrentine on tenor saxophone, Kenny Burrell on guitar, and Donald Bailey on drums. Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is all-analog, mastered from the original tapes on 180g LP.

Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing in deluxe gatefold jacket. The Cat is jazz organist Jimmy Smith's 1964 album, a notable release that reached No. 12 on the Billboard 200. Featuring Smith on the Hammond B-3, this set has some tasteful big band arrangements by Lalo Schifrin and some other-worldly playing by the great organist on a variety of other blues-oriented material. Verve Acoustic Sounds Series features transfers from analog tapes and remastered.

Vinyl LP pressing. As far as B-3 Hammond organ is concerned, Jimmy Smith is the greatest ever at that instrument. Like the best recordings of the greatest period for improvisational jazz that lasted from about 1950 to the late 1960's, The Sermon is only one example of the numerous sessions that many top notch players gathered for, taking turns as leaders and sidemen. On The Sermon, Smith is accompanied by the likes such as Kenny Burrell, Lee Morgan, Lou Donaldson, Tina Brooks and Art Blakey. It was produced by Rudy Van Gelder for Blue Note, and was Smith's fifteenth album in three years. The Sermon is a bebop-hardbop masterclass and at least a decade ahead of it's time.

It's a testament to Jimmy Smith's volcanic creativity that the Hammond B3 organ firebrand recorded not one but two soul jazz classics-Midnight Special and Back at the Chicken Shack-in a single day when he entered Van Gelder Studio on April 25, 1960 with Stanley Turrentine on tenor saxophone, Kenny Burrell on guitar, and Donald Bailey on drums. Smith had been a self-taught pianist before abandoning the instrument in 1954 in favor of the organ, renting a Philadelphia warehouse, and woodshedding for a year until he emerged with a revolutionary style that immediately caught the ear Alfred Lion. The Blue Note boss dubbed him The Incredible Jimmy Smith and recorded the B3 innovator as frequently as he could between 1956-1963. Midnight Special opens with the soulful title track which chugs along at a laid-back pace giving ample space for Smith, Turrentine, and Burrell to state their case. Other highlights of the set include the up-tempo burner "Jumpin' the Blues" and a deeply felt ballad performance of the standard "Why Was I Born?" This Blue Note Classic Vinyl Edition is stereo, all-analog, mastered by Kevin Gray from the original master tapes, and pressed on 180g vinyl at Optimal.