This is FRESH AIR. I'm TV critic David Bianculli. Reference books give the birth date of the great jazz organist Jimmy Smith as December 8, 1925, 100 years ago. More recent sources cite 1928 as ...

Once described as an "excitement merchant" for his soul-stirring sound, keyboard wizard Jimmy Smith brought the Hammond B-3 organ from novelty... Jimmy Smith: Organ Grinder Swing Once described as an ...

Jimmy Smith, the man almost universally regarded as the first and greatest electric organ player in jazz, died Tuesday of natural causes at his home in Scottsdale, Ariz. Before Smith, the organ had a ...

Musician Jimmy Smith, who made the organ into a standard instrument in jazz, has died. Smith began his career in the early 1950s and is credited with creating the distinctive sound of "soul jazz." ...