Jimmy Smith’s Hammond Organ Revolution

BEFORE JIMMY SMITH revolutionized the archaic Hammond organ, the lethargic sound this bulky, brown instrument emitted was frequently described, like an ailing patient, as "wheezing." Then, in the mid-1950s, following Jimmy Smith’s dramatic reinvention of the Hammond, jazz journalists used more complimentary adjectives – screaming or smokin’ - to evoke the music that Hammond B-3 players recorded in the wake of Jimmy’s experiments.