# Dr. Lonnie Smith, master of the Hammond organ, dies at 79: Video, Photos

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2021/09/30/dr-lonnie-smith-master-of-the-hammond-organ-dies-at-79-video-photos/
- Published: 2021-09-30T22:44:53+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**Dr. Lonnie Smith, an NEA Jazz Master known for his dynamism and wizardry on the
Hammond B3 organ, died Tuesday. He was 79 years old.**

His death was confirmed on Twitter by Blue Note Records. A spokesperson for the 
label said the cause of death was pulmonary fibrosis, a form of lung disease.

Smith was one of the most unique Hammond stylists to emerge from the golden era 
of 1960s organ ensembles, a scene that had its roots in Black American neighborhood
venues. Early in his career, he was lauded for his work in guitarist George Benson’s
first quartet and subsequently for his involvement with saxophonist Lou Donaldson’s
groups.

Musically, Smith wove an other-worldly and soulful tapestry that joined relentlessly
grooving bass lines with stirring melodies and harmonies. As a band leader and performer,
Smith had a spirited and visceral performance style that allowed him to garner fans
around the world.

Offstage, Smith was affable and engaging with a healthy sense of humor. At concerts,
the turban and tunic clad organist would unassumingly stroll onto the stage with
one of his signature canes and waste no time. Almost immediately, all four of Smith’s
limbs would begin dancing, almost magically, at the Hammond organ’s console.

Smith was born in Lackawanna, N.Y., a suburb of Buffalo, on July 3, 1942. His mother
introduced him to gospel, blues, jazz and early rhythm and blues. As a teenager 
in the 1950s, Smith began learning music by ear and played trumpet and other brass
instruments in school. He also began singing at local venues throughout Buffalo 
in a doo wop group known as The Supremes, an ensemble that predated the award-winning
Motown all-female group that followed.

After a brief stint in the Air Force, Smith returned home to Buffalo in the early
1960s, at which point he began listening closely to Blue Note star organist Jimmy
Smith. The pull to become a musician became stronger, but he had not decided on 
an instrument. Around that same time, he began frequenting a music store owned by
local accordion player Art Kubera, who would have a catalyzing effect on Smith’s
career.

“One day the owner [Kubera] said ‘Son, why do you sit here every day until closing
time?'” Smith recalled in conversation with the National Endowment for The Arts.“
I told him, ‘Sir, if I had an instrument I could work, and if I could work, I could
make a living.’ One day I went there, and he closed the place. We went to his house
in the back, and there was a brand-new Hammond organ. He told me, ‘If you can get
this out of here, then it’s yours.’ It was snowing in Buffalo, but I did. Art was
my angel.”

After a neighbor taught him how to power up the organ and navigate its stops and
drawbars, Smith began playing and his growth on the instrument was uncannily rapid.
Barely a year into his development, he began playing in house bands in the Midwest,
New York City and in Buffalo. Many of the groups Smith performed in were backing
bands for soul singers and instrumentalists on the touring circuit. In 1964, Smith
broke onto the international jazz scene when organist Jack McDuff’s young guitarist,
George Benson, resigned his position and formed a group of his own. Benson secured
Smith for the organ chair in his new quartet. After their residencies at Harlem’s
Palm Cafe and Minton’s Playhouse that same year, both Benson and Smith were signed
by Columbia Records and made albums as leaders. They established a new style that
joined blistering bebop with new rhythm and blues. The music was danceable, yet 
it contained the language of the jazz tradition. When saxophonist Lou Donaldson 
hired Smith and Benson for 1967’s Blue Note smash _Alligator Boogaloo, _the result
was a surprise jukebox hit whose title track landed on the _Billboard_ Hot 100 chart.

![Dr. Lonnie Smith, Hammond Organ Great, Dies at 79 | Billboard](https://i0.wp.com/
static.billboard.com/files/2021/09/dr-lonnie-smith-1548-1632906550-compressed.jpg?
w=640&ssl=1)

This success set the stage for Smith to be signed by Blue Note as a band leader 
in 1968. Within two years, the organist cut five albums for the label. He earned
honors as _Downbeat_‘s “Top Jazz Organist” and his albums _Think (_1968) and _Drives_(
1970) both earned spots on _Billboard_‘s R&B albums chart.

Smith left Blue Note records in 1971 and recorded albums for producers Creed Taylor
and Sonny Lester off and on during the 1970s. He began to fade from the spotlight
as the sound of popular music changed and Hammond organ-based music waned in popularity.
During this time, he began to don his signature turbans. Though not explicitly religious,
he wore them as a symbol of universal spirituality, love and respect. Smith also
adopted the moniker “Dr.” not as an indication of formal training, but to highlight
his ability to serve as a unique practitioner of the music. (It also helped to create
a distinction between him and fellow keyboardist Lonnie Liston Smith.) He worked
briefly with Marvin Gaye, reconnected with George Benson and, by the mid 1980s, 
he rekindled his unique brand of swing on the Hammond organ with guitarists Richie
Hart, Jimmy Ponder and Melvin Sparks, vocalist Etta James and drummer Alvin Queen.

By the 1990s, the groove-based acid jazz movement broke out in London, England, 
and in the United States, hip-hop rejuvenated the beat-driven jazz of the late 1960s
and early 1970s through sampling. As a result, Smith was again in demand as a featured
guest artist and as a leader. He released a string of four critically acclaimed 
albums for Palmetto Records in the early 2000s that paired him with guitarists Peter
Bernstein and Jonathan Kriesberg and drummers Gregory Hutchinson, Allison Miller,
Herlin Riley and Jamire Williams.

Smith self-released two fiery albums in 2013 and 2014 before returning to the Blue
Note fold in 2016. Over the next year, Smith was named as an NEA Jazz Master and
made notable, cross-genre collaborations with Norah Jones and The Roots. Smith’s
final albums, _All In My Mind _and _Breathe, _were released in 2018 and 2021, respectively,
and featured studio collaborations with Iggy Pop, along with magical in-concert 
explorations with his working band of Kriesberg, drummers Johnathan Blake or Joe
Dyson, and horns.

![Dr. Lonnie Smith.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/73b1f5c/2147483647/
strip/true/crop/3111x2333+0+0/resize/880x660!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.
npr.org%2Fassets%2Fimg%2F2021%2F09%2F28%2Fdrlonniesmith_1_byfrankdeblase-fd0d41ccd179b6285891025df8c5d712ee19200d.
jpg)

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