The Cat (180g LP)

The Incredible Jimmy Smith, that's what it says so confidently on the cover of his 1964 Verve release The Cat, alongside a picture of a black cat, as superstitious a figure as you can get. The law demands that what is promised must be delivered and a record collector is no less demanding. The fact that Smith moved the Hammond organ from the dance floor to the jazz scene and upgraded it to become a fully-fledged improvisation instrument is to be found in every good dictionary of music.

But what resulted must be heard to be believed. If you know someone who says they don't get Jimmy Smith, just play them this album. It is consummate Hammond B3 playing with the added vibrancy of Lalo Schifrin's arrangements for big band. "Basin Street Blues" eschews 1960s' sophistication, while the appropriately super cool "Delon's Blues" is dedicated to the French actor Alain Delon, who Smith had befriended while on tour in Europe in 1963. This is a joyful, fabulous album that probably got more people listening to jazz than many of its contemporaries. Incredible indeed!