JIMMY SMITH
Rockin' The Boat (Blue Note)
Reviewed by Ron Saranich

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Rockin' The Boat was one of organist Jimmy Smith's final sessions for Blue Note. Recorded in 1963, it featured Smith's regular band at the time, Quentin Warren on guitar and Donald Bailey on drums, augmented by the soulful Lou Donaldson on alto sax and John Patten on tambourine. Smith recorded many albums for Blue Note, all of them good, some of them great. Rockin' The Boat falls in the former category, as some of the songs are calypso ("Matilda, Matilda!") and spiritual ("Just A Closer Walk With Thee"). These numbers have a different pacing and beat than the down and dirty blues-based ones Smith excelled at. In addition, Smith and Donaldson, who were frequent collaborators, usually generated considerable heat when playing in the hard bop/soul jazz genre as witnessed by the tunes "Pork Chop" and "Please Send Me Someone To Love."

The sound quality of this CD is outstanding. It's another of Blue Note's Rudy Van Gelder releases using 24-bit resolution. While not earth shattering (try Back At The Chicken Shack, The Sermon, or Open House/Plain Talk), Rockin' The Boat is worth rediscovering. A good effort by Jimmy Smith is impressive by other artist's standards. It's wonderful music, one of those CDs that improves with each play. Listen and enjoy.

© 2004 - Ron Saranich