Jimmy McGriff - Master of Hammond Jazz

This early-'70s title features a mixed program by the great soul-jazz organist Jimmy McGriff. McGriff not only digs into some Jimmy Smith-style, early '60s-era organ trio numbers like his original "Old Grad Dad" and Hoagy Carmichael's "Georgia on My Mind," but he also includes the kind of contemporary soul fare he had turned to by the late '60s; McGriff spares no expense, going for the heart of soul royalty with Al Green's "Let's Stay Together," Isaac Hayes' "Theme From Shaft," and Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On." Inspired by their attractive melody lines and challenging chord sequences, McGriff and band enliven these already great songs with fine horn arrangements and superb solos (Harold Bennett's passionate and assured flute solo on "What's Going On" especially stands out). McGriff registers some nasty, in-the-pocket solos himself and contributes one of the hottest tracks here, the chicken-shack cooker "Tiki." Let's Stay Together is a great set by one of the masters of the Hammond B-3 organ sound.

1972 - Let's Stay Together

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Jimmy McGriff - Jazz B-3 Organ

Jimmy McGriff - Jazz & Blues (Hammond)

Jimmy Mcgriff - Electric Funk

Jimmy McGriff - Jazz & Blues (Hammond)

Blues for Mr. Jimmy was the last album Hammond B-3 ace Jimmy McGriff recorded for Sue Records before moving on to Solid State Records in 1965, and in some ways it is the archetypal McGriff record. Working in a trio format with drummer Jimmie Smith and guitarist Larry Frazier, McGriff is in fine form, bringing his patented blues- and gospel-inflected soul jazz to the edge of funk on a group of mostly original pieces ("The Party's Over" is the only cover). Highlights of this amazingly cohesive set are the two upbeat opening tracks, "Discotheque U.S.A." and "Cash Box," the undeniably funky "The Dog (You Dog)," and the gorgeous and heavily atmospheric ballad "Turn Blue." Collectables reissued the same set in the same running order in 1990 as Blues for Mister Jimmy, but this version from Stateside Records appears to have slightly better sound.

(1963) Blues For Mister Jimmy

Musicians:

Jimmy McGriff - Hammond organ;

Larry Frazier - guitar;

Jimmie Smith - drums. 

1969 - Eletricfunk

Alternative Link 1

Alternative Link 2

Musicians:

Jimmy McGriff – electronic organ

Blue Mitchell – trumpet

Stanley Turrentine – tenor saxophone

Horace Ott – electric piano, arranger

Unknown – guitar

Chuck Rainey – electric bass

Bernard Purdie – drums

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Jimmy McGriff - Jazz B-3 Organ

James Harrell McGriff (April 3, 1936 – May 24, 2008) was an American hard bop and soul-jazz organist and organ trio bandleader. He played piano since the age of 5 but later adopted the Hammond organ. In the mid- and late 1970's he was also often featured on electric piano and other keyboards.

One of the all-time giants of the Hammond B-3, Jimmy McGriff sometimes gets lost amid all the great soul-jazz organists from his hometown of Philadelphia. He was almost certainly the bluesiest of the major soul-jazz pioneers, and indeed, he often insisted that he was more of a blues musician than a jazz artist; nonetheless, he remained eclectic enough to blur the lines of classification. His sound -- deep, down-to-earth grooves drenched in blues and gospel feeling -- made him quite popular with R&B audiences, even more so than some of his peers; what was more, he was able to condense those charms into concise, funky, jukebox-ready singles that often did surprisingly well on the R&B charts. His rearrangement of Ray Charles' "I Got a Woman" was a Top Five R&B hit in 1962, and further hits like "All About My Girl," "Kiko," and "The Worm" followed over the course of the '60s. McGriff spent much of the '70s trying to keep pace with the fusion movement, switching to various electric keyboards and adopting an increasingly smooth, polished style. As the '80s dawned, McGriff gave up trying to sound contemporary and returned to his classic organ-trio sound; as luck would have it, vintage soul-jazz soon came back into vogue with a devoted cult of fans and critics, and McGriff was able to recover his creative vitality and take his place as one of the genre's elder statesmen.

1971 - Black Pearl