When you utter the words Hammond B-3, one name and one name only comes to mind: Jimmy Smith! It is to this master of the organ who Lucky Peterson pays homage to on his aptly named album Tribute To Jimmy Smith. The disc will appear on the label Jazz Village on 13th October 2017 (with pre-orders available as of today on Qobuz in Hi-Res 24-Bit!), where Peterson is surrounded by virtuosic partners among which we find Kelyn Crapp, the young guitar prodigy from San Francisco. Throughout the album, Peterson proves to be an agent of a long musical history that is anchored in blues yet remains very open to other influences. We find here a clear jazz pulse, the groove of rhythm’n’blues as well as the energy of rock’n’roll. As for the repertoire, the classics from Smith (The Sermon, The Champ) mix beautifully with other jazz’n’blues gems. From the very first few bars of Night Train by Jimmy Forest (featuring the French trumpeter Nicolas Folmer) one finds that groove takes off instantly and that Lucky Peterson sets the B-3 on fire as fast as lightening! It’s impossible to not tap your feet along to the beat for the whole hour of this wonderful tribute. © CM/Qobuz