Lucky Peterson Blues Band ‎– Tribute To Jimmy Smith (2017)

1 	Night Train 	8:47
2 	The Sermon 	6:30
3 	The Champ 	6:47
4 	Jimmy Wants To Groove 	6:39
5 	Singin This Song 4 U 	5:50
6 	Jimmy's Jumpin 	5:20
7 	Misty 	7:58
8 	Back At The Chicken Shack 	7:49
9 	Blues For Wes 	4:45

Drums – Herlin Riley
Guitar – Kelyn Crapp, Philippe Petrucciani (tracks: 9)
Organ, Vocals – Lucky Peterson
Tenor Saxophone, Vocals – Archie Shepp (tracks: 4, 8)
Trumpet – Nicolas Folmer (tracks: A1)

On this album, Lucky Peterson pays tribute to his mentor, jazz legend Jimmy Smith. Fittingly, Peterson performs on Smith's favorite instrument, the Hammond B-3 organ. Peterson's style is anchored in blues with the beat of jazz, the groove of rhythm 'n' blues and the energy of rock 'n' roll. For this recording his virtuoso sidemen include guitarist Kelyn Crapp and drummer Herlin Riley. ---amazon.com

When I heard that Lucky Peterson was recording a tribute to pioneering organist Jimmy Smith I was excited. I discovered Jimmy Smith’s music as a teenager in the mid 60’s and bought albums like `The Cat’ and `Organ Grinder Swing’ on import. Lucky Peterson was a baby then but due to his father James Peterson owning a nightclub in Buffalo NY he got to see many great blues & jazz legends play at a young age including organist Bill Doggett. He became interested in the organ and began performing at age 5 later forging a successful music career. I discovered Lucky Peterson in the early 90’s when I bought a CD player and several of his early albums and saw him play live in the US a few years later. I knew that he had the right background and feel to do justice to Jimmy Smith’s music and when I heard the new album I wasn’t disappointed! The Album begins with the Jimmy Forrest classic `Night Train’ which settles into an easy groove with solos from the young San Francisco based guitarist Kelyn Crapp, French trumpeter Nicolas Folmer, and lastly an organ solo that builds nicely from Lucky. The tempo is faster than the original but not quite as up tempo as the Jimmy Smith/Wes Montgomery version. Next is another classic Jimmy Smith track `The Sermon’ again kicking off with a tasteful guitar solo.

Lucky really stretches out his organ solo with some trademark licks for those familiar with his playing and there’s some interesting rhythmic changes too. It lasts for six minutes and thirty seconds whereas the original version by Jimmy Smith was a jamfest which lasted for twenty minutes and featured Kenny Burrell, Lou Donaldson, Lee Morgan and Tina Brooks all soloing, as well as Smith. Another classic track `The Champ’ is next with Lucky really demonstrating his chops. We are nudged out of the gentler groove of the first two tracks. This is a Dizzy Gillespie composition and so of course has a bee bop feel! The next track `Jimmy Wants To Groove’ features the tenor sax and vocals of the now eighty year old legendary jazzman Archie Shepp who sounds like he’s really enjoying the occasion! I think Lucky himself is the vocalist on the next track `Singin’ this Song 4 U’ which seems to be an adaptation of Leon Russell’s `A Song For You). `Jimmy’s Jumpin’ features some percussive rhythms from drummer Herlin Riley and is reminiscent of several Jimmy Smith tracks. A surprise inclusion was the next track `Misty’ which I’ve always associated more with Richard Groove Holmes but I did enjoy this stripped back version just using organ, guitar and drums which again changes rhythm and gradually slows to a beautiful ending. Another classic `Chicken Shack’ gets you grooving again with solos from sax, guitar and organ. The final track `Blues For Wes’ has a great Wes feel to it with some trademark octaves from Kelyn Crapp and again virtuosic organ work from Lucky. In conclusion I’d say this album is a must have for fans of Jimmy Smith or Lucky… ---Tess Coleman, allmusic.com

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