Personnel includes: Jimmy Smith (organ); Oliver Nelson (saxophone); Kenny Burrell, George Benson, Wes Montgomery (guitar).

Jimmy Smith is to the organ what Charlie Christian is to the guitar: the man who redefined the instrument in a jazz context. Smith's visceral, blues-inflected style fully came into its own on his 1960s Verve recordings, and WALK ON THE WILD SIDE is a two-disc set that cherry-picks some of the finest moments from that era (while dipping into the '70s as well). Smith helped perfect the organ-trio format in jazz (organ, guitar, drums), and there are some stellar examples of that approach (many featuring the fluid fretwork of Kenny Burrell), but he's heard in other contexts here as well, such as the brassy, big-band arrangements of the title track, among others.

"Got My Mojo Workin'" and "St. James Infirmary" make Smith's debt to the blues clear, as he spins out terse, assertive phrases whose harmonic simplicity goes hand-in-hand with their deep soulfulness. At the same time, though, Smith is fully capable of fleet-fingered, daringly constructed excursions, and it's the combination of the two that makes Smith a legend and WALK ON THE WILD SIDE a striking document.