Before Jimmy Smith, the electric organ was almost exclusively a church instrument. That's not a bad thing, but in Smith's hands, the Hammond B-3 became an entire jazz band in itself. He brought the organ into clubs up and down the East Coast and helped turn it into a staple sound in American music. His trademark virtuoso technique has influenced every jazz organ player since. His walking bass lines on foot pedals, deep left-hand grooves and never-ending right-handed lines came to define an entire genre of jazz -- hard bop.

After bursting onto the Philadelphia scene in the mid-1950s, Smith released one juicy, soulful album after the next. His mix of gospel, R&B, blues and be-bop was the party music of choice in hip households during the '60s. Sideman after sideman played with Smith before embarking on their own careers -- a whole lot funkier than they would have been otherwise.

Except for a few brief hiatuses and the odd commercially minded release, Smith has continued since his debut to play and record his own brand of high-energy, fast-tempo hard bop.

His recent releases have not slowed down a bit. "Dot Com Blues" and "Damn!" are as exciting as any of his early, groundbreaking work. One of the ways he keeps fresh is by bringing in great young players like guitarist Mark Whitfield, who joins him on his current tour. Whitfield's "Raw" CD, recorded live in 2000, captures his phenomenal guitar playing, with its tasty blend of R&B grooves and jazz fluency.

Also joining Smith on the tour are longtime friends Herman Riley on sax, Jonathan Wood on bass and Jimmy Jackson on drums.

In some ways, Smith has never received the acclaim he deserves. He's too funky for jazz purists and too multifaceted for strict soulsters. That's too bad, because categories aside, he plays some of the best damn music around.