Smith, Jimmy: Softly As A Summer Breeze (Blue Note Classics) LP

The last week of February in 1958 was a productive one for Jimmy Smith. Over two days the incredible Hammond B3 organist set up shop in Manhattan Towers studio and recorded three albums worth of material: House Party, The Sermon, and Softly as a Summer Breeze, the last of which wouldn’t be released until 1965. The album featured Smith in two different trios: four tracks with Kenny Burrell on guitar and Philly Joe Jones drums, as well as two tracks with Eddie McFadden on guitar and Donald Bailey on drums. The swinging set includes standards (“These Foolish Things,” “It Could Happen to You,” “Sometimes I’m Happy,” “Someone to Watch Over Me”) as well as the Thelonious Monk tune “Hackensack.”