Johnny Hammond

Johnny Hammond – Gambler’s Life (1974/2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 51:35 minutes | 1,96 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © CTI Records

John Robert Smith, also known as Johnny “Hammond” Smith, was an American soul jazz and hard bop organist. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, he was a renowned player of the Hammond B-3 organ so earning “Hammond” as a nickname, which also avoided his being confused with jazz guitarist Johnny Smith.

(more…)

Johnny Hammond – Talk That Talk (1960/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 35:01 minutes | 641 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © RevOla

Talk That Talk is an album by jazz organist Johnny “Hammond” Smith recorded for the New Jazz label in 1960.

AllMusic awarded the album 4 stars stating “Smith’s playing on this album is low-key almost to the point of being conservative, deeply soulful without resorting to what would soon become tired funk clich’es”.
(more…)

Johnny Hammond – Higher Ground (1974/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 37:04 minutes | 1,56 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Kudu/CTI Records

Massive work from Johnny Hammond – stretching out here in some totally jamming grooves that really transform his style for the 70s! The sound here is a lot hipper and tighter than some of Hammond’s more rough-edged soul jazz of the 60s – a groove that’s a great precursor to his more famous meetings with Larry Mizell a few years later – and equally great! Johnny’s got plenty of space here – and is really taking his time with the grooves, thanks to some open ended arrangements by Bob James, who also plays electric piano on the record! The record is a seminal piece of work in the transformation of the chunky 60s organ sound to a sweeter 70s keyboard groove – and was proof that Johnny, more than most of his 60s soul jazz contemporaries, was ready to embrace the new sounds of the decade with open arms. Includes the great sample cut “Big Sur Suite” – plus “Higher Ground”, “Summertime/The Ghetto”, and “Catch My Soul”.
(more…)

Johnny Hammond – Gears (Remastered) (1975/2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 33:06 minutes | 1,26 GB | Genre: Funk, Jazz, Soul
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Craft Recordings

Digitally remastered. Recognized as one of the finest jazz funk albums of all time, Gears was produced by the Mizell brothers and stands alongside their work with Donald Byrd at the pinnacle of their careers. Tracks such as ‘Shifting Gears’ and ‘Los Conquistadores Chocolates’ have been club classics almost since the album was released. Hip hop and house producers have regularly used it as a source for samples. The bonus cuts shine a light on the Mizell’s production process and show the strength of the material from which the released masters were culled.
(more…)

Johnny Hammond – Breakout (1971/2016)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 34:49 minutes | 1,48 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Kudu/CTI Records

So this is what CTI was all about. Recorded in 1971, organist Johnny Hammond’s debut for CTI is a blessed-out basket of blues and groove that covers some of the hot tunes of the day and some organ classics with enough soul power to melt the ice around the heart of even the staunchest jazz purist, who turned up his stuffed-up nose. First there’s the lineup: Hammond with Hank Crawford and Grover Washington, Jr., Eric Gale, Airto, Billy Cobham, Danny Moore, and bassist Johnny Williams. It drips soul and popping riffs. Next there’s the material: the 11-minute wade-in-the-swamp version of Carole King’s “It’s Too Late” with a stunning arrangement by Grover and a killer guitar break by Gale. (There is, on the reissue, a stunning live rendition of the track with George Benson subbing for Gale, Freddie Hubbard, and Stanley Turrentine in for Washington. It’s longer, seemingly leaner, and quicker. It’s a soul-deep river of good feel and slippery vamps.) Next is a bright, sunny, and shimmering version of Neil Sedaka’s “Workin’ on a Groovy Thing,” with Hammond’s organ doubling the interval up yet keeping the melody at an even flow. The horn section and Airto’s accents literally pop in the middle of the tune, breaking the bridge down into a series of screaming grooves in counterpoint to the organ. The wildest organ workout is Leo Johnson’s “Blue Selah.” Rich in arpeggios and counterpoint by Gale, the legato is turned up to ten and Hammond never passes over a note — he rings them all inside, outside, and punches them all up with frighteningly large right-handed chords. The final track on the original is Jimmy Smith’s “Breakout,” a driving, funky blues that feels more like Tony Joe White jamming with Jack McDuff than a Creed Taylor percussion. Cobham pushes his kit into overdrive and Hammond rises to the challenge as Gale plays one ostinato funk riff after another and the bass holds the groove static. By the time we reach the dueling saxophone solos, we’ve been through James Brown territory as well, on the good foot and in the deep well of greasy-assed funk and roll. This is a smoking album that runs the gamut of soul-jazz to hard funk and R&B seamlessly, but sweatily.
(more…)

Johnny Hammond – All Soul (1959/2021)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 39:13 minutes | 741 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © RevOla

All Soul is an album by jazz organist Johnny “Hammond” Smith recorded for the New Jazz label in 1959.
(more…)

Johnny Hammond – The Prophet (1973/2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 33:59 minutes | 1,09 GB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Epic – Legacy

Some tracks include The Prophet, Witchy Woman. Stand Behind Me plus more! Organist. He is also known as Johnny “Hammond” Smith to distinguish him from the more famous record producer, executive, and critic and/or his son. An organist in the soul-jazz mode, he had a brief moment in the spotlight with the ’70s album Breakout, where his version of “It’s Too Late” with Grover Washington, Jr. and Hank Crawford was a huge East Coast radio hit. Hammond is a competent, sometimes funky player.
(more…)