has passed away, at the age of 79. Smith almost singlehandedly reinvented the jazz organ in the 1950s, and has left an indelible influence on every jazz organist since then. My own tastes in the jazz organ tend to run more in the direction of Larry Young, but there is an undeniable freshness and energy in Smith’s early recordings like Groovin’ at Smalls’ Paradise that is pretty remarkable.
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