Jazz Reviews : Smith Goes Overboard at Marla’s Memory Lane

The upside at Marla’s Memory Lane Saturday night was that organist Jimmy Smith proved he can still cook blues tunes with the best of them, achieving a warm, foot-tapping feeling with ease.

The downside was that this master of the Hammond B-3 organ brought with him his intermittent bad taste, which has undermined performances in the past, and his excesses spoiled some of the fun.

A typical Smith foray such as his famous “The Sermon” started with the leader--accompanied by saxman Rickey Woodard, guitarist Terry Evans and drummer Frank Wilson--playing smooth, snappy phrases that were occasionally interspersed with lickety-split runs and high, sharply attacked notes that stood out like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in a crowd. Pretty much good stuff here.

Then Woodard soloed, issuing a deep, raspy sound and playing nicely articulated, bluesy statements. But as he worked, Smith played louder and louder accompaniment until he basically obliterated the saxman.

The leader started “Polka Dots and Moonbeams” with a series of jarring chords that had nothing to do with the tune, and later engaged in another sonic battle with Woodard, who quickly took the tune to a spritely, well-stated cadenza.

The leader was in better form on “Organ Grinder Swing,” a subsequent slow blues, and a dandy version of “Mood Indigo,” where he began with a skating-rink organ sound that he enjoys.

Evans had several good moments, and Wilson added rousing percussive support all the way, playing with elan during his single drum solo.

When Smith works with restraint, he is one of the most entertaining and invigorating of mainstream jazz-tinged-with-blues stylists. But when he goes overboard and hams it up, his antics resemble a spoiled child begging for attention. The King of the Jazz Organ should not have to stoop so low.