Jimmie Smith

This article discusses jazz drummer Jimmie Smith; for the jazz organist of the same name, see Jimmy Smith .

James Howard "Jimmie" Smith (born January 27, 1938 in Newark , New Jersey ) is an American drummer of swing and mainstream jazz .

"Jimmie" Smith studied from 1951 to 1954 at Al Germansky's drum school in Newark, from 1959 to 1960 at the Juilliard School . Around this time he began his career as a professional musician in New York . Around 1960 he worked on Larry Young's debut album Testifying and played in his band until 1962; in the 1960s he also worked with Jimmy Forrest 1960, Lambert, Hendricks and Ross 1962/63, with whom he also appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival , with Pony Poindexter 1963, Jimmy Witherspoon 1963, Gildo Mahones 1963, Jimmy McGriff1963–65 and Richard "Groove" Holmes 1965.

From 1967 to 1974 he played in Erroll Garner's band; then he moved to California . There he worked with Sonny Criss and several times with Benny Carter , whom he also accompanied at the Montreux Jazz Festival . There he was involved in several jam sessions with Dizzy Gillespie , Count Basie , Eddie Lockjaw Davis and Milt Jackson in changing line-ups.

In the mid-1970s, Smith mainly worked as a session musician for the mainstream jazz label Concords , where he a. a worked with Hank Jones in 1976, Ernestine Anderson in 1976 and 1986, Plas Johnson in 1976. During this time he was also involved in recordings of Phineas Newborn 1976, Sweets Edison 1976-78, Tommy Flanagan 1978, Barney Kessel 1981, Herb Ellis 1981, Buddy DeFranco 1981, Al Cohn 1983, Red Holloway 1987 and Dave McKenna 1988. In 1993 he went on a tour of Japan with organists Jimmy Smith and Kenny Burrell .

literature

• Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD . 6th edition. Penguin, London 2002, ISBN 0-14-051521-6 .