New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Dr. Lonnie Smith, the Hammond B-3 organ virtuoso who was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2017, died today at his home in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Blue Note Records confirmed the news, saying the cause of death was pulmonary fibrosis. He was 79.
Biography:
Lonnie Smith (July 3, 1942 -
September 28, 2021), styled Dr. Lonnie Smith, was an American jazz Hammond B3 organist who was a member of the
George Benson quartet in the 1960s. He recorded albums with saxophonist Lou Donaldson for Blue Note before being signed as a solo act. He owned the label Pilgrimage.
He was born on July 3, 1942 in Lackawanna, New York, into a family with a vocal group and radio program. Smith said that his mother was a major influence on him musically, as she introduced him to gospel, classical, and jazz music.
He was part of several vocal ensembles in the 1950s, including the Teen
Kings which included Grover Washington Jr., on sax and his brother Daryl on drums. Art Kubera, the owner of a local music store, gave Smith his first organ, a Hammond B3.
Smith's affinity for R&B melded with his own personal style as he became active in the local music scene. 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 Soul Organ) in 1967, with
George Benson and Melvin Sparks on guitar, Ronnie Cuber on baritone sax, 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 has since recorded over 30 albums under his own name. Numerous prominent jazz artists have joined Smith on his albums and in his live performances, including Lee Morgan,
David "Fathead" Newman, King Curtis, Terry Bradds, Blue Mitchell, Joey DeFrancesco and Joe Lovano.
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 Bogaloo. Blue Note signed Smith for the next four albums, all in the soul jazz style, including Think! (with Lee Morgan,
David Newman, Melvin Sparks and Marion Booker) and Turning Point (with Lee Morgan, Bennie Maupin, Melvin Sparks and Idris Muhammad).
Smith's next album Move Your Hand was recorded at the Club Harlem in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in August 1969. The album's reception allowed his reputation to grow beyond the Northeast. He recorded another studio album, Drives, and another live album (unreleased at the time), Live at Club Mozambique (recorded in
Detroit on May 21, 1970), before leaving Blue Note.
He recorded one album in 1971 for
Creed Taylor's CTI label, which had already signed
George Benson. After a break from recording, he then spent most of the mid-1970s with producer
Sonny Lester and his Groove Merchant and then LRC labels. It resulted in four albums, with the music output veering between jazz, soul, funk, fusion and even the odd disco-styled track.
Smith became a part of the Blue Note family once again in March 2015. He released his first Blue Note album in 45 years titled Evolution which was released January 29, 2016 featuring special guests: Robert Glasper and Joe Lovano. His second Blue Note album All in My Mind was recorded live at "The Jazz Standard" in NYC (celebrating his 75th birthday with his longtime musical associates: guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg and drummer Johnathan Blake), and released January 12, 2018.
Smith toured the northeastern United States heavily during the 1970s. He concentrated largely on smaller neighborhood venues during this period. His sidemen included Donald Hahn on trumpet, Ronnie Cuber, Dave Hubbard, Bill Easley and
George Adams on saxes,
George Benson, Perry Hughes, Marc Silver, Billy Rogers, 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.
Smith performed at several prominent jazz festivals with artists including Grover Washington Jr., Ron Carter,
Dizzy Gillespie, Lou Donaldson, Ron Holloway, and Santana. He also played with musicians outside of jazz, such as Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight, Etta James, and
Esther Phillips.
Smith died on 28
September 2021 at the age of 79.
Awards and honors
• Organ Keyboardist of the Year, Jazz Journalist Association, 2003-2005, 2008-2011, 2013, 2014
• NEA Jazz Master, 2017
Discography
As leader
• Finger Lickin' Good Soul Organ (Columbia, 1967)
• Think! (Blue Note, 1969)
• Turning Point (Blue Note, 1969)
• Move Your Hand (Blue Note, 1970)
• Drives (Blue Note, 1970)
• Live at Club Mozambique (Blue Note, 1970 [rel. 1995])
• Mama Wailer (Kudu, 1971)
• Afro-desia (Groove Merchant, 1975)
• Keep on Lovin' (Groove Merchant, 1976)
• Funk Reaction (LRC [Lester
Radio Corporation], 1977)
• Gotcha (LRC [Lester
Radio Corporation], 1978)
• Lonnie Smith (America, 1979)
• When the Night Is Right! (Chiaroscuro, 1980)
• Lenox and Seventh (Black & Blue, 1985) -with Alvin Queen
• The Turbanator (32 Jazz, 1991 [rel. 2000) -with Jimmy Ponder
• Afro Blue: Tribute To
John Coltrane (Venus; MusicMasters, 1993)
• The Art of Organizing (Criss Cross, 1993 [rel. 2009])
• Foxy Lady: Tribute to
Jimi Hendrix (Venus; MusicMasters, 1994)
• Purple Haze: Tribute to
Jimi Hendrix (Venus; MusicMasters, 1994)
• Boogaloo to Beck: A Tribute (Scufflin', 2003)
• Too Damn Hot! (Palmetto, 2004)
• Jungle Soul (Palmetto, 2006)
• Rise Up! (Palmetto, 2008)
• Spiral (Palmetto, 2010)
• The Healer [live] (Pilgrimage, 2012)
• In the Beginning (Pilgrimage, 2013) [2-CD set]
• Evolution (Blue Note, 2016)
• All in My Mind (Blue Note, 2018)
• Breathe (Blue Note, 2021)
As sideman
With Eric Allison
• Mean
Streets Beat (Contemporary, 1996)
• After Hours (Contemporary, 1997)
With
George Benson
• It's Uptown (Columbia, 1966)
• The
George Benson Cookbook (Columbia, 1967)
With
Bobby Broom
• Modern Man (Delmark, 2001)
With Karl Denson's Tiny Universe
• The Bridge (Relaxed, 2002)
With Lou Donaldson
• Alligator Bogaloo (Blue Note, 1967)
• Mr. Shing-A-Ling (Blue Note, 1967)
• Midnight Creeper (Blue Note, 1968)
• Everything I Play Is Funky (Blue Note, 1970)
• Play the Right Thing (Milestone, 1990)
• Caracas (Milestone, 1993)
• Sentimental
Journey (Columbia, 1995)
• Relaxing at Sea: Live on the QE2 (Chiaroscuro, 1999)
With Richie Hart
• Remembering Wes (Compose, 1989)
• Greasy Street (Zoho, 2005)
With Red Holloway
• Red Soul (Prestige, 1966)
• Coast to Coast (Milestone, 2003)
With Javon Jackson
• A Look Within (Blue Note, 1996)
• Easy Does It (Palmetto, 2002)
• Have You Heard (Palmetto, 2004)
• Now (Palmetto, 2006)
With Rodney Jones
• Soul Manifesto (Blue Note, 2001)
With Jimmy McGriff
• State of the Art (Milestone, 1985)
• McGriff's House Party (Milestone, 1999)
With Jimmy Ponder
• So Many Stars (Milestone, 1985)
• Come On Down (Muse, 1991)
• To Reach a
Dream (Muse, 1991)
With Akira Tana
• Secret Agent Men (Sons of Sound, 1992)
With Chester 'CT' Thompson
• Mixology (Doodlin', 2012).
