Jimmy Smith

Root Down - 1972

As an undeniable master of the Hammond organ and one of the cornerstones of soul-jazz, Jimmy Smith's official output on the Blue Note and Verve labels is surprisingly tame - mildly funky at best. Root Down, recorded live in Los Angeles in February of '72, is the exception. Fronting a band of younger musicians with a clear bend on funk as opposed to the trad-jazz contemporaries that he had paired with throughout much of his career, Smith stretches the grooves to their limit throughout the LP and pulls the funk off in a much more earthy and soul dominant direction than JB, Sly or Funkadelic were taking it around the very same time. While most listeners will immediately recognize the title track as the impetus for the Beastie Boys song and EP of the same name, once this LP gets in your ears and under your skin, it's clearly runs deeper than a sample. The version here includes the full length tunes as they were recorded - as opposed to the truncated versions that made up the original LP. Get it good.