Saturday, August 22, 2015
Credit where it's due; A favorite album track
Outside of a concert recording, it's unusual for an artist to give spoken credit on an album to the other musicians who played on it. Noted jazz organist Jimmy Smith does this, however, at the end of his "Off The Top" album. The track, "Jimmy Smith Rap," is him talking about what a blast the album was to make, thanking George Benson, Ron Carter, Grady Tate, and Stanley Turrentine for their contributions, and talking about the staying power of jazz, pointing out that other forms of music are "here today and gone tomorrow." It's a considerate way to end an album and capture the joy of making great music, in the moment.