Jazz Great Dr. Lonnie Smith
Dr. Lonnie Smith is a renowned jazz organist performing in a variety of jazz mediums. A dominant talent and pace-setting proponent of the Hammond B3 Organ and widely recognized and gifted pianist, Lonnie has been at the forefront of the jazz scene since 1969 when he was named Top Organist by Down Beat Magazine. He was born in Lackawanna, New York, (just outside of Buffalo), into a musical family. His family had a singing group and a radio show. Smith credits his mother as a major influence in his musical career, introducing him to gospel, classical, and jazz music. As a young man in the 1950s, Smith sang in several groups including the Teen Kings. Music store owner Art Kubera gave Smith his first Hammond B3 organ. From his early years with George Benson to present day performances and recordings, Lonnie has acquired critical acclaim for his work in the jazz community.
His affinity for R&B melded with his own personal style, and he quickly became a local legend. He moved to New York City, where he met George Benson, the guitarist for Jack McDuff's band. Benson and Smith connected on a personal level, and the two formed the George Benson Quartet featuring Lonnie Smith, in 1966.
After two albums under Benson's leadership, (It's Uptown and Cookbook), Smith recorded his first solo album (Finger Lickin' Good) in 1967, with George Benson on guitar, Ronnie Cuber on baritone sax, Melvin Sparks on guitar and Marion Booker on drums. This combination remained stable for the next five years.
After recording several albums with Benson, Smith became a solo recording artist and developed a career that has produced over 30 albums under his own name. Several legendary jazz artists have joined Smith on his albums, including Lee Morgan, David "Fat Head" Newman, King Curtis, Blue Mitchell, and Joe Lovano among others. In 1967, Smith met Lou Donaldson, who put him in contact with Blue Note Records. Donaldson asked the quartet to record an album for Blue Note, Alligator Boogaloo. Blue Note was so impressed by the album that they signed Smith for the next four albums, all of which are now considered classics of soul jazz. This highly influential period produced Think (with Melvin Sparks, Marion Booker, Lee Morgan and David Newman) and Turning Point (with Lee Morgan, Bennie Maupin, Melvin Sparks and Idris Muhammad). The latter is largely regarded as his most seminal studio album.
Smith's next album Move Your Hand was recorded at the Club Harlem in Atlantic City, New Jersey in August of 1969. This surprise hit spread allowed his reputation to grow beyond the Northeast. He would record another studio album Drives and one more live album Live at Club Mozambique before leaving Blue Note. Live at Club Mozambique was recorded in Detroit on 21 May 1970, and is considered to be his finest live recording.
Smith toured the northeastern United States heavily during the 1970s, proving himself to be one of New York's finest musicians. He concentrated largely on smaller neighborhood venues during this period. His sidemen included Ronnie Cuber, Dave Hubbard, Bill Easley and George Adams on sax, Donald Hahn on trumpet, George Benson and Larry McGee on guitars, and Joe Dukes, Sylvester Goshay, Phillip Terrell, Marion Booker, Jimmy Lovelace, Charles Crosby, Art Gore, Norman Connors and Bobby Durham on drums.
Lonnie has performed at the major world jazz festivals with Dizzy Gillespie, Grover Washington, Jr., Ron Carter, Lou Donaldson, Jimmy McGriff, Jimmy Scott, Frank Foster, Leon Thomas, Willis Jackson and other prominent jazz artists. His extraordinary range has also included performances with the rhythm and blues greats Gladys Knight, Dionne Warwick, Etta James, Esther Phillips, Joan Cartwright, the Impressions and the Coasters.
Dr. Smith continues to tour and produce albums (his latest work is Jungle Soul. When asked why he calls himself 'Doctor', he calmly states that it is for the same reason why he now wears a turban to all of his shows: "No particular reason." Dr. Smith has been awarded the Organ Keyboardist of the Year award in 2003, 2004 and 2005 by the Jazz Journalist Association.
-Wikipedia
Lonnie Smith Discography
Finger Lickin' Good, Columbia, 1966.
Think!, Blue Note, 1968.
Turning Point, Blue Note, 1969.
Move Your Hand (live), Blue Note, 1969.
Lonnie Smith Drives, Blue Note, 1970.
Live at Club Mozambique, Blue Note, 1970.
Mama Wailer, Blue Note, 1971.
When the Night Is Right!, Chiaroscuro, 1975.
Lenox and Seventh Avenue, 1985.
Afro Blue, Music Masters, 1993.
Purple Haze: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix, Music Masters, 1995.
The Turbanator, 32 Jazz, 2000.
Boogaloo to Beck: A Tribute, Scufflin', 2003.
Too Damn Hot, Palmetto, 2004.
LONNIE SMITH - WITH OTHERS
NOW - Javon Jackson (Palmetto/2006)
GREASY STREET - Richie Hart (Zoho/2005)
HAVE YOU HEARD - Javon Jackson (Palmetto/2005)
NEW YORK TIME - Frode Kjekstad (Curling Legs/2004)
THE DOCTOR IS IN - Crash (Cellar Live/2003)
COAST TO COAST - Red Holloway (Milestone/2003)
HAMMOND RENS - Kresten Osgood (ILK Music/2002)
EASY DOES IT - Javon Jackson (Palmetto/2002)
THE BRIDGE - Karl Denson's Tiny Universe (Relaxed/2002)
DR. LONNIE SMITH MEETS MARTIEN
OSTER AND THE ORIGINAL GROOVES (2001)
GOES BLUE - THE JAZZ GUITAR TRIO VOL. 3 - Ximo Tébar
(Nuevos Medios/2001)
SOUL MANIFESTO - Rodney Jones (Blue Note/2001)
THE SPIRIT SPEAKS - Ed Cherry (Justin Time/2000)
MODERN MAN - Bobby Broom (Delmark/2000)
RELAXING AT SEA: LIVE ON THE QE2 - The Lou Donaldson Quartet
(Chiariscuro/1999)
McGRIFF'S HOUSE PARTY - Jimmy McGriff (Milestone/1999)
HOMEPAGE - Ximo Tébar (WEA/1998)
AFTER HOURS - Eric Allison (Contemporary/1997)
CHARLES EARLAND'S JAZZ ORGAN SUMMIT (Cannonball/1997)
SO WHAT! - THE JAZZ GUITAR TRIO VOL. 2 - Ximo Tébar (WEA/1997)
BONGOBOP - The Essence All Stars (Hip Bop Essence/1997)
ONE FOOT IN THE BLUES - Johnny Adams (Rounder/1996)
SOUL SERENADE - Jesse Jones (Contemporary/1996)
THE TRUTH - Turk Mauro (Milestone/1996)
POLKA DOTS AND MOONBEAMS - David "Bubba" Brooks (TCB/1996)
MEAN STREETS BEAT - Eric Allison (Contemporary/1996)
A LOOK WITHIN - Javon Jackson (Blue Note/1996)
ORGANIC GROOVES - Essence All Stars (Hip Bop Essence/1996)
SOUL MATES - Terry Myers (Contemporary/1995)
MATING CALL - The Chartbusters (Prestige/1995)
BOILING POINT - Melton Mustafa Orchestra (Contemporary/1995)
HITTIN' THE JUG - Turk Mauro (Milestone/1995)
STRUTTIN' - Ron Holloway (Milestone/1995)
CHARTBUSTERS VOLUME 1 - Chartbusters (NYC/1995)
THE BLUE NOTE YEARS VOLUME SEVEN: BLUE NOTE NOW AS THEN
(Blue Note/1994)
SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY - Lou Donaldson (Columbia/1994)
PLAY THE RIGHT THING - Lou Donaldson (Milestone/1993)
CARACAS - Lou Donaldson (Milestone/1993)
SECRET AGENT MEN - Secret Agent Men (Akira Tana)
(Paddle Wheel/Sons of Sound - 1992)
GOTO - Teruo Goto and the Harlem Art Ensemble (Ninety-One/1992)
NATIVE SON - Gerry Eastman (Williamsburg Music Center/1992)
LIVE JAM - Jazz Funk Masters featuring Lonnie Smith (P-Vine/1992)
COME ON DOWN - Jimmy Ponder (Muse/1990)
LIVE IN NEW YORK - The Harlem Art Ensemble (Explore/1990)
REMEMBERING WES - Richie Hart (Compose/1988-89)
BACK TO BECK - Joe Beck (DMP/1988)
TO REACH A DREAM - Jimmy Ponder (Muse/1988)
IN A JAZZ TRADITION - Eric Gale (EmArcy/1987)
CHARLIE KARP & THE NAME DROPPERS (Grudge/1987)
LIVE AT THE BLUE NOTE - Ronnie Cuber (ProJazz/1985)
IN THE BLACK - Monty Guy (Evertone/1985)
STATE OF THE ART - Jimmy McGriff (Milestone/1985)
LABOR OF LOVE - Dave Hubbard (Sybarite Music/1985)
SO MANY STARS - Jimmy Ponder (Milestone/1984)
LIVE IN MONTREUX 1980 - Marvin Gaye (Eagle/1980)
B. BAKER CHOCOLATE CO. - B. Baker Chocolate Co. (LRC/1979)
BENSON BURNER - George Benson (Columbia/Issued 1976)
RISING SUN - Teruo Nakamura (Polydor/1976)
Lou Donaldson (unissued/1975)
PRETTY THINGS - Lou Donaldson (Blue Note/1970)
EVERYTHING I PLAY IS FUNKY - Lou Donaldson (Blue Note/1970)
MIDNIGHT CREEPER - Lou Donaldson (Blue Note/1968)
MR. SHING-A-LING - Lou Donaldson (Blue Note/1967)
ALLIGATOR BOOGALOO - Lou Donaldson (Blue Note/1967)
THE GEORGE BENSON COOKBOOK - George Benson Quartet (Columbia/1966-67)
IT'S UPTOWN - George Benson Quartet (Columbia/1966)
RED SOUL - Red Holloway (Prestige/1965)