Midnight Special is a perennial favorite in the
Jimmy Smith catalog for Blue Note – and a smoking little set that has
Jimmy's Hammond grooving nicely alongside tenor from Stanley Turrentine and guitar from
Kenny Burrell! Only Donald Bailey's drums remain from
Jimmy's regular trio, but that shift is fine, given the strength of the other players here – especially Turrentine, whose sharp-edged tenor is always a welcome sound on any date at this point in his career! The tunes are a fair bit more focused than some of
Jimmy's Blue Note work of a few years before, but that focus is what makes it a classic – and the tracks are still nice and long, with titles that include "A Subtle One", "Jumpin The Blues", "Midnight Special", "One O'Clock Jump", and "Why Was I Born". Back At The Chicken Shack is a partner album of sorts to
Jimmy Smith's classic Midnight Special album – recorded during the same sessions as that one, and also featuring Stanley Turrentine on tenor and
Kenny Burrell on guitar! The sound here is almost even more open and stretched out – with only 4 long tracks on the album, 2 on each side – all offering up plenty of room for
Jimmy to hit the Hammond with that keenly imaginative approach to a solo he was showing at this time – a style that proved that the instrument could do a lot more than just make weird noises or pump up the rhythm. Turrentine's tenor more than matches
Jimmy's solos for imagination – and titles include "When I Grow Too Old To Dream", "Messy Bessie", "Minor Chant", and "Back At The Chicken Shack".