Personnel: Jimmy Smith (organ); Abraham Burton (alto saxophone); Tim Warfield, Ron Blake, Mark Turner (tenor saxophone); Roy Hargrove, Nicholas Payton (trumpet); Mark Whitfield (guitar); Christian McBride (bass); Arthur Taylor, Bernard Purdie (drums).

Recorded at the Power Station, New York, New York on January 24-25, 1995. Includes liner notes by Richard Seidel.

After an absence of 23 years, Jimmy Smith returned to Verve (the label that saw many of the jazz legend's finest efforts in the '60s) with this 1995 recording. Backed by cast of superb musicians--including Roy Hargrove on trumpet and the late Arthur Taylor on drums--Smith sounds better than ever here. He displays not only his legendary technical prowess on the Hammond but also a looseness and vigor well in keeping with his Verve legacy.

The selection of tunes speaks volumes. This set is deeply entrenched in the purest traditions of innovative jazz and funk--from a crisply arranged reading of "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag" to Dizzy Gillespie's "Woody 'N You," Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man," and Bird's "Scrapple From The Apple." The players swing relentlessly, drawing inspiration from and giving new life to the classics they interpret. While Hargrove and saxophonists Ron Blake and Mark Turner give standout performances, it is ultimately Smith's show. He unfurls his rhythmic and harmonically complex, mind-bogglingly fluid keyboard lines with the flourish befitting a proper homecoming.

JazzTimes (10/95, p.88) - "...There's a palpable joy in these grooves..."