Blues Citizens

Album review

In early 2009, many of the great Jimmy Smith-influenced soul-jazz organists who emerged in the 1950s or 1960s were no longer living. Richard "Groove" Holmes, Johnny "Hammond" Smith, and Charles Earland died in the 1990s; Jimmy McGriff, Shirley Scott, Jack McDuff, Big John Patton, and the seminal Jimmy Smith passed away in the 2000s. So the arrival of a solid, Jimmy Smith-based soul-jazz organ date like Blues Citizens in March 2009 was good news (this 49-minute CD was recorded in May 2006 but came out almost three years later). Radam Schwartz remains a staunch proponent of the Jimmy Smith school of soul-jazz organ, and his prominent influences include not only Smith, but also McDuff, Earland, and Holmes. All of those influences are evident on Blues Citizens, which finds Schwartz leading a cohesive quintet that also includes tenor saxophonist Bill Saxton, alto saxophonist Bruce Williams, guitarist Eric Johnson, and drummer Cecil Brooks III (the album's producer). Nothing groundbreaking occurs, but Schwartz and his allies provide enjoyable, no-nonsense soul-jazz/hard bop on Schwartz originals as well as on Herbie Hancock's "Driftin'" and the standard "I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You." Equally engaging is a performance of Erroll Garner's "Misty," which was influenced by the classic version that Holmes recorded for his Soul Message album on Prestige in 1965. That isn't to say that Schwartz's version of "Misty" is a carbon copy of Holmes'; the tempo is comparable, but unlike Holmes' trio version with guitarist Gene Edwards and drummer Jimmie Smith (not to be confused with the organist), Schwartz's version includes horns. Like Joey DeFrancesco, Schwartz doesn't pretend to be pointing the Hammond B-3 organ in any new directions, but there is no doubt that he is pleasingly good at what he does -- and the enjoyable, if derivative, Blues Citizens makes it clear that his B-3 playing is well worth getting to know.

© Alex Henderson /TiVo