House Party

Jimmy Smith was the king of jazz organ, the man most identified with the sound who also happened to do the most with the instrument during its popular heyday. An absolutely stunning player, he locked in with his drummers (most often Donald Bailey, but plenty of others as well) and drove the groove right through the middle of the club. This 1958 album, recorded like its companion, The Sermon, at sessions in August 1957 and February 1958, features larger than usual ensembles for Smith. He’s joined by, depending on the track, trumpeter Lee Morgan, alto saxophonist George Coleman, tenor saxophonist Tina Brooks, trombonist Curtis Fuller, guitarists Kenny Burrell and Eddie McFadden, and drum duties are split between Bailey and Art Blakey. It’s a surprisingly bebop-oriented album, too, opening with a 15-minute version of Charlie Parker’s “Au Privave” and also including versions of the standards “Lover Man” and “Just Friends.” The music swings hard but lightly, and every solo is smooth and pretty, including Smith’s.