What's so good about Dr. Lonnie Smith?

When discussions about musicians take place, there is a tendency to talk about how many notes a musician can play, the speed with which those notes are played, and the force with which they are emitted from the musician's instrument. And there is certainly validity to that type of discussion - being at the top of the heap musically requires an advanced technical proficiency.

Dr. Lonnie Smith is no exception when it comes to technical firepower; Jimmy Smith, one of the greatest technicians of the Hammond B3, is among Lonnie Smith's strongest influences. But to my ears, there is something more subtle at play with Lonnie Smith - a concentration on groove, on creating interesting musical stories which go beyond quantity of notes. Here's what I mean - I couldn't sit still while listening to his version of "Come Together":

Dr. Lonnie Smith's signature playing style is only one part of what has earned him world-wide acclaim since the late 1960's - he's also a great writer. His compositions reflect trends in contemporary jazz but also the contemporary musics happening around jazz. He's always experimenting with new sounds and musical techniques; his writing has certainly been noticed within the jazz community, but also in other genres - he's been sampled by rap, dance and house musicians, and is credited as a creator of the acid jazz genre. Here's a sample featuring various aspects of Dr. Lonnie Smith: his interpretation of other music (in this case, "Beehive" by Harold Mabern); his arranging (in this case, for his octet); the groove he establishes with his playing; the two outstanding musicians who will be joining him in Toronto (Jonathan Kreisberg on guitar, Jamire Williams on drums):

When I saw his trio in New York back in January of 2013, I was enthralled - the three musicians each understood completely what the other was doing, and what the goal of the performance seemed to be: great music, served groovily. I was interested too in his bandmates - two musicians both half his age. To me, that demonstrates Smith's desire to be constantly moving forward, exploring some of the new sounds created by younger musicians. Here's a clip featuring snippets of the trio, along with commentary by each of the musicians. What impresses me, beyond the playing, is the respect each musician has for the other:

Inside, outside, uptempo, bluesy or ballad, Dr. Lonnie Smith brings his unique performing approach to every tune. Smith, Jonathan Kreisberg and Jamire Williams perform on Monday, June 24, 10 pm at the Horseshoe Tavern. Buy tickets now or, for more information, go to the concert page.

Josh