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Top 20 Jazz Organists of the 60s – Hammond Organ PlaylistLou Bennett, 'Baby Face' Willette, Richard 'Groove' Holmes, Jack McDuff, Georges Arvanitas, Shirley ...
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- Jimmy Smith
- Joey Defrancesco
- Cory Henry
- Lonnie Smith
- Jimmy Mcgriff
- Ethel Smith
- Booker T. Jones
- Jon Lord
- Richard Groove Holmes
- John Medeski
One of the greatest of all time, JimmySmith is a revered jazz organist who grew up in Norristown, Pennsylvania. Originally taught how to play piano by his parents, he took to the piano quickly and even began performing with his father when he was still young. In 1948, Smith attended the Hamilton School of Music and then continued at Ornstein’s Scho...
Many people credit the resurgence of the jazz organ in the 80s to Joey DeFrancescoafter its popularity dipped in the mid-70s. Raised in Philadelphia, Joey began playing the organ very young as his father was also an organist. Through his father,DeFrancesco met many other influential organists who encouraged him to pursue a career in music. Over the...
Next on the list, we have well-known modern musician Cory Henry who grew up in Brooklyn, New York. His mother raised him and shared her love of music with him. She is an incredibly prolific musician who plays five instruments and serves as the choir director at their church. Thanks to her influence, he began playing music for his church’s various m...
Lonnie Smithwas born in Buffalo, New York, and he was steeped in music from day one by his mother. He sang in a few vocal groups when he was in his teens. Later on, he learned how to play the Hammond organ and soon caught the attention of some famous musicians in the Buffalo jazz scene, including famous guitarist George Benson who selected him to b...
Born in Philadelphia in 1936, Jimmy McGriff is another important Hammond organist who started early with piano lessons from his parents. He later became inspired by Richard “Groove” Holmes to try the organ. After returning from the military,McGriff bought a Hammond B-3 and contacted Holmes, asking for lessons. He then practiced diligently for six m...
Born in Pittsburgh, another famous organist with the surname Smith, EthelSmith studied music at Carnegie Tech and became the “First Lady of the Hammond Organ.” Finding herself in California at the end of a spontaneous 28-week Schubert show tour, she was asked at the last second to play the Hammond organ for the first time. She became a sensation im...
Booker T. Jones was born in Tennessee. By chance, his neighbor famous jazz pianistPhineas Newborn exposed him to music. Every time he passed by Newborn’s home on his paper route, he became inspired by the music he heard. Booker got his break when Rufus and Carla Thomas asked him to play the saxophone for their recording. When Rufus and Carla decide...
No list of famous organists would be complete without a spotlight on Jon Lord who was born in Leicester, England and began playing the piano at only six years old. Lord got his first organ in his 20s and played with Red Blood and his Bluesicians and the Atwoods. Progress was slow with the Atwoods, so he pivoted to working as a session musician, rub...
Born in New Jersey, Richard “Groove” Holmes was a self-taught organist known for his incredibly diverse range and quick transitions, switching between vastly different moods in his music with ease. This ability earned him quite a bit of notoriety in the New Jersey and Philadelphia jazz scenes. In the early 60s,Holmes signed with Pacific Jazz and be...
John Medeskiis a pianist, keyboardist, and organist known for his skill in improv music and delving into all manner of genres. Medeski was born in Kentucky, and his father was the first to expose him to the piano as a child. After years of lessons, he began his music career by playing for local theaters. After he moved to NYC in 1988 he helped form...
Jimmy Smith popularized the Hammond organ, and its technique of using drawbars and pedals. Having found success in jazz, the Hammond organ became popular in rhythm and blues, including Booker T. & the M.G.'s and other Stax Records artists.
Sep 1, 2023 · Cory Henry. Cory Henry is undoubtedly one of the finest keyboard players alive today. After tearing it up on the KingKORG with his former experimental jazz outfit Snarky Puppy, he’s now usually playing his heart out on the Hammond B3. A child prodigy, Henry was playing both the piano and organ by the age of two, making his debut at the Apollo ...
Jul 8, 2022 · This leaves one to wonder what Wolfgang Amadeus would have thought of the much more portable Hammond organ, which started popping up in jazz clubs in the 1950s. No synthesizer has ever been...
