Personnel: Jimmy Smith (organ); Stanley Turrentine (tenor saxophone); Quentin Warren (guitar); Sam Jones (bass); Donald Bailey (drums).

Recorded at the Van Gelder studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on June 13, 1960 and February 8, 1963.

This is part of Blue Note's RVG series.

PRAYER MEETIN' is vintage Jimmy Smith. With unflappable beatkeeper Donald Bailey, the liquid guitar lines of Quentin Warren, the underrated sax stylings of Stanley Turrentine and the unusual inclusion of a bassist in the person of Sam Jones (Smith usually plays his own bass lines with the foot pedals), the sound on this album is thick, textured and interactive. However, there's no dilution of the intimacy and deep soul associated with Smith.

The jazz/blues amalgam laid out in the title track, "Red Top" and "Picknickin'" is impossible to resist--fat grooves given flight by the keyboardist's intense, syncopated flurries. The ballad "I Almost Lost My Mind," featuring a gorgeous solo by Turrentine, and the calypso boogie of "Stone Cold Dead In The Marketplace" add variety to the set. The one seeming throwaway, a swing version of "When The Saints Go Marching In," is more than compensated for by two additional tracks not included on the original LP, "Lonesome Road" and "Smith Walk." All in all, this disc is a fine example not only of Smith's prodigious abilities, but of how well he works with an ensemble to create beautiful, compelling music.