Jimmy Smith: Root Down – Jimmy Smith Live! (180g) Vinyl LP Sale

I ve been waiting for this to be reissued for a while. Refusing to pay the $80-100 bones that dealers demand, I thought I d see this somewhere cause it s on the pretty common Verve label. I came across it once on Broadway at this guy who sells cheap records on the sidewalk. He wanted 8 bucks for a very beat up copy, so I passed. Never seen it again, except for record store walls. I used to intern at Verve too. They have a big room of old vinyl and weird import pressings. I managed to bag a bunch of good shit, but back then, I wasn t hip on this record. They probably had it too. Ahh frustration. Like a good massage, this reissue satisfies something, and rightfully so, cause this Funky organ joint is meant for everyone to hear. Back when Check Your Head came out, I thought the Beasties were on another tip for their production on Root Down. But hardly did I know it was a straight jack of this song, title and all! This goes down as one of my favorite intros, right up there with S.O.U.L. s Burning Spear. Slow Down Sagg is a hot track which cooks in a similar style and Jimmy lets his band get some with a nice break and hot bass solo. The rest of the album consist of covers and sounds more like a typical semi-funky 70s fusion album. Definitely worth it for Root Down alone. A faithful reproduction on 180 gram vinyl with excellent sound quality.