Dr. Lonnie Smith (03/07/42 – 28/09/2021)

Hammond hero became a buzzword in the 1990s when a new generation of listeners began to turn on to the organists whose heyday was the ‘60s. Dr. Lonnie Smith, who has died at the age of 79, was a key discovery. Along with the likes of Big John Patton, ‘Brother’ Jack McDuff and the formidable two Jimmys – Smith and McGriff – Dr. Lonnie was a revered exponent of the glorious, gospelised Hammond B-3.

Born in Lackawanna, New York state, Smith, like many African-Americans, was weaned on the music of the black church but also enjoyed the secular styles of blues and R&B, and he played a number of brass instruments at school. He was also part of a doo-wop vocal group but became increasingly drawn to the sound of the organ, above all the work of one of its great early champions, the explosive Wild Bill Davis.  

He also, as did many aspiring organists, fell under the spell of The ‘Incredible’ Jimmy Smith, and after being gifted a Hammond by a local music shop owner, Art Kubera, he learned the basics of the double keyboard and bass pedals. He reached a sufficiently high standard to play in many house bands throughout the Mid West.

Smith’s first major break came when he was hired by George Benson, rising star of the guitar in the mid 60s, and then by alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson, who, like the aforementioned, was adept at leavening the rapid-fire complexity of bebop with the less frantic, heavy, danceable backbeat of R&B and proto-funk. Smith made a vital contribution to Donaldson’s big 1967 hit, Alligator Boogaloo and showed that he was capable of laying down memorably killer riffs around an irresistibly catchy melody.

On the back of that success Smith’s reputation grew considerably, he signed to Blue Note and recorded a string of excellent albums, the best of which Move Your Hand revealed a skill for creating slow, trippy grooves that had more than a hint of the burgeoning schools of pyschedelic soul and rock. In the ‘70s he consolidated that tendency with the startling Afro-Desia, a techni-colour dream featuring a young Joe Lovano, before embracing the soul-disco movement with albums such as Keep On Lovin’, on which he also played keyboards as well as organ and occasionally sang.

Sadly, the organ fell out of favour in the ‘80s and Smith recorded less. The acid jazz scene, and the new vogue for classic 60s and 70s sounds brought him back into the spotlight in the 90s and millennium. Things came full circle when Smith resigned for Blue Note in 2016. With his tasteful improvising, that moved stealthily from cool subtlety to hot energy, as well as his humour and sartorial elegance – his turban, beard and waistcoat manifested his sikh faith – Smith cut a truly unique figure. His final albums, Evolution, All In My Mind and Breathe are fitting valedictory statements.