Jimmy Smith: Root Down (Acoustic Sounds 180g) Vinyl LP

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 from 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 consists of covers and sounds more like a typical semi-funky 70s fusion album. Definitely worth it for "Root Down" alone. High-quality Acoustic Sounds edition cut from the original analog tapes, recommended.

• 180g black vinyl pressing
• Acoustic Sounds edition remastered from original analog tapes
• housed in tip-on gatefold sleeve w/ liner notes
• limited edition
• featuring Jimmy Smith (p), Arthur Adams (g), Wilton Felder (b), Paul Humphrey (d), Buck Clarke (perc)
• original release year: 1972
• music label: Verve 2024

reviewed by the mgmnt 06/2016