The Hammond Jazz Inventory
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Album menu
 John Abercrombie - Speak Of The Devil
 Jimmy McGriff - The Worm
 Joey DeFrancesco - One Take  Big John Patton - Oh Baby  Jimmy McGriff Organ & Blues Band - Step 1  Houston Person - Why Not! |
Details for album Plain Talk by Jimmy Smith Profile
Tracks
Personnel
Where to buy this album
Reviews from Amazon The following reviews are taken from the Amazon website and were written by Amazon customers. Three great horns, one great keyboard The appeal of this CD is its smooth blending of four jazz virtuosos--Jimmy Smith, of course, with saxophones Ike Quebec and Jackie McLean, plus Blue Mitchell on trumpet. I'm a big believer in Jackie McLean, and it's fun to hear him relaxing amid the smooth and mellow setting provided by his mates in the horn section. It's anything but a typical setting for him. excellent If you blamed Jimmy Smith for making the same type of albums from 1959 to 1971, you would also have to be pretty p-ssed off with Hershey for making that chocolate bar the same way for the last century. It's true that up until Root Down, his break to hard funk, Smith divided his time between southern fried small combo blues like Open House/Plain Talk, and big band epics like Cat: The Incredible Jimmy Smith (Dig) with the great Lalo Shfrin or Bashin (Dig) with the equally capable but far more traditional Oliver Nelson But the smaller projects, like Open House/Plain Talk leave little to be desired. The blueprint works in its simplicity: blues with fantastic players and tons of space for these guys to work. Here, he uses top hitters like trumpet player Blue Mitchel and great alto sax player Jackie Mclean, both of whom I'll hip you more to later, so stick around. Now blues is great in itself, but where you take it is where it counts. Muddy Waters used it for emotional expression, Howlin' Wolf used it as a tractor mower. Smith of course comes from jazz and on these albums is using a more polished form of the great blue bedrock to improvise amazingly: he twists and turns with lightening agility and amazing musical skill. His use of speed and variations on riffs is incredible, and you simply cannot get tired of hearing music so fundamental yet so sophisticated. I have been stretching ideas when listening to these two Smith albums, and it strikes me that when we think about the late 1950s and early 1960s in the American South, all we think of is Jim Clark and George Wallace and their fire hoses and bloodhounds. We tend to forget Muddy, the Wolf, Jimmy Smith, Elvis and his friends at sun records, and the chicken shack music that was being born in this creative hot bed. This music is so genuine, the fried grease tradition that oils this creativity could have only come out of this era in the south. It is an empowering notion, even if I am not sure why I thought of it--but either way you just gotta here this Jimmy Smith material. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I was surprised, although all music being connected I should not be, to hear Jackie McClean playing music this straight. He went on to make one of the best avant guard jazz albums of all time, Destination Out. Blue Mitchel later showed up on a great John Mayall album, Turning Point. Get both of these, and play them with Open House and Plain Talk--you'll see soon its all of a piece. what a line-up No matter what you say about the recording, this is a great CD, in part because it's actually two albums with Jimmy, Blue Mitchell, Ike Quebec, Jackie McLean, etc. in top notch form. If you can imagine all four together you should buy this CD. This is jazz, not one of Jimmy's commercial endeavors with strings or heavily arranged albums, although Ike really knows (knew)what he is doing in that department and probably gave Jimmy lots of pointers. With Ike around, nobody could give a halfhearted attempt and still keep face, as he was a mature pro who had paid his dues. If you do not know Ike or Jackie, this is a accessible place to begin. Delightful Surprise Open House/ Plain Talk is the kind of album that makes jazz collecting so rewarding. Although I like some of his stuff I am not a huge fan of Jimmy Smith. I only purchased this cd because I will buy anything on which Ike Quebec breathes through a saxophone. The real revelation on this album however is the playing of Blue Mitchell and Jackie McLean. I have never heard them in such a linear blues mode. Ike Quebec supervised a lot of Blue Note sessions, especially the rehearsals, and it's an open question how much influence he had on the arrangements. I suspect that on Plain Talk/ Open House he tweaked the arrangements so that there was a little less bop and little more swing and the results were fantastic. This album may be underrated because it probably took hits at both ends. Some jazz fans are adverse to the B3 and some diehard Jimmy Smith fans may have thought there wasn't enough of Jimmy what with a three horn front line. Whatever the reason Jimmy Smith is brilliant here. He swings like nowhere else and while the horns are playing he may speak with a soft voice but he is definitely part of the conversation. And when Jimmy takes over he is hot. He gets plenty of help from his trio mates Quentin Warren and Donald Bailey on guitar and drums. As for Ike you will not get an unbiased opinion from this reviewer but make no mistake about it, these tracks are team effort. Get them while you can. Additional Note: This album cries our for an RVG remaster! Open House Distorted Talk Great Jimmy Smith sessions with 2 outstanding sax men, Ike Quebec and Jackie McLean. Content is 4 or 5 stars but the sound quality is 1 star, terribly distorted (microphone stage overload) on most of the horn work. This must be the reason this one has never been given the RVG treatment. Too bad. Two Great Albums for the Price of One "Open House/Plain Talk" is a jam session in the best possible way. The eight songs all recorded on March 22, 1960 (but originally released over two albums) range from untempo bop grooves to smoldering ballads, and they're all played with fire and passion. Smith's band (a sextet!) for this set is stellar as well with Blue Mitchell, Ike Quebec and Jackie McLean on the frontline (though they sit out at times), Quentin Warren on guitar, and Smith regular Donald Bailey on drums. The title tracks from each album, both penned by Smith, are particularly strong, but there are some great standards too, most notably the ballad "My One and Only Love" which boasts a brilliant Blue Mitchell solo. In all, these two albums would be among Smith's strongest if they were separate, together they're a must buy. Back to top Comments 0 comments, write comment |
 Rhoda Scott - Encore, encore, encore  Red Holloway - Keep That Groove Going!  Jack McDuff - Color Me Blue  Danny Gatton  Tony Monaco - Fiery Blues  Jimmy Smith - Plain Talk  Sam Yahel Trio - Thruth And Beauty |
