Jimmy Smith
Back At The Chicken Shack

Jimmy Smith’s ‘Back At The Chicken Shack’ was recorded on the same day as ‘Midnight Special’ on 25th April 1960, but not released until 1963.  It features Don Bailey on drums, Stanley Turrentine on tenor saxophone plus guitarist Kenny Burrell on two tracks.  ‘Back At The Chicken Shack’, the first of two Smith originals, is a slow Blues, that is typical of the gritty no nonsense Hammond style that Smith excelled at.  Plaintive solos from Burrell and then Turrentine maintain that down home style.  The Sigmund Romberg and Oscar Hammerstein II pop standard ‘When I Grow Too Old To Dream’ is taken at a relaxed pace with Turrentine’s sax singing and wailing, before Smith bears down with a full-on Hammond solo.  The album’s standout is the swinging ‘Minor Chant’, composed by Stanley Turrentine, and it has that swagger and irresistible finger popping groove.  The saxophonist would record it for his Blue Note debut ‘Look Out’ two months later.  Jimmy Smith smokes it on the Hammond, it is one of those Blue Note organ numbers that crackles and sizzles.  Smith’s own ‘Messy Bessie’ brings a fine album to a conclusion with a lazy, easy going strut.  Kenny Burrell’s fine solo highlights his clean and crystal-clear sound. ‘Back At The Chicken Shack’ and ‘Midnight Special’ showcase the talent of Jimmy Smith at the pinnacle of his career.