Dr. Lonnie Smith (born July 3, 1942 in Lackawanna, New York[1]) is a jazz Hammond B3 organist and pianist, who converted to Sikhism in the mid-1970s.
After recording several albums with Benson, Smith became a solo recording artist and has since recorded over 30 albums under his own name. Numerous prominent jazz artists have joined Smith on his albums and in his live performances, including Lee Morgan, David "Fathead" Newman, King Curtis, Terry Bradds, Blue Mitchell, Joey DeFrancesco and Joe Lovano.
After two albums under Benson's leadership, It's Uptown and Cookbook, Smith recorded his first solo album (Finger Lickin' Good) in 1967, with George Benson and Melvin Sparks on guitar, Ronnie Cuber on baritone sax, and Marion Booker on drums. This combination remained stable for the next five years.
Lonnie Smith was named the "Organ Keyboardist of the Year" in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, and 2009 by the Jazz Journalist Association.
The third link below is quite interesting.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB2loR5DsqY&feature=related[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO8Ln1WXsWU[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0ieCmTEvy0&feature=related[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bDS284XZ5o&feature=topics[/ame]
http://video.hmongclip.com/?w=IdJeCjIwGFk&title=Four-Hammond-B3s-playing-The-Cat
David
Before him were Jimmy Smith, Jack Mcduff, Jimmy McGriff , Charles Earland and others that were considered the funk/jazz B3 organ players of the day (60s-70s)
As a drummer from the 60s and early 70s I had a great love of the B-3.
Dr Lonnie Smith will be performing at the Montreal Jazz Festival.
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