Drives is an album by American organist Lonnie Smith

Lonnie Smith (jazz musician)

Dr. Lonnie Smith is a jazz Hammond B3 organist and pianist.-Biography:He was born in Lackawanna, New York, into a family with a vocal group and radio program. Smith says that his mother was a major influence on him musically, as she introduced him to gospel, classical, and jazz music...

 recorded in 1970 and released on the Blue Note

Blue Note Records

Blue Note Records is a jazz record label, established in 1939 by Alfred Lion and Max Margulis. Francis Wolff became involved shortly afterwards. It derives its name from the characteristic "blue notes" of jazz and the blues. At the end of the 1950s, and in the early 1960s, Blue Note headquarters...

 label.

Reception

The Allmusic review by Ron Wynn awarded the album 4 stars and stated "Lonnie Smith had the raw skills, imagination, and versatility to play burning originals, bluesy covers of R&B and pop, or skillful adaptations of conventional jazz pieces and show tunes. Why he never established himself as a consistent performer remains a mystery, but this 1970 reissue shows why he excited so many people during his rise".

Track listing

All compositions by Lonnie Smith except as indicated

1. "Twenty-Five Miles" - 5:36
2. "Spinning Wheel
   Spinning Wheel (song)
   "Spinning Wheel" is the title of a popular song from 1969 by the band Blood, Sweat & Tears. The song was written by band member and Canadian musician David Clayton-Thomas and appears on their self-titled album....
   
   " (David Clayton-Thomas
   David Clayton-Thomas
   David Clayton-Thomas is a Canadian musician and singer best known as the lead vocalist for the American band; Blood, Sweat & Tears...
   
   ) - 7:30
3. "Seven Steps to Heaven" (Miles Davis
   Miles Davis
   Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
   
   , Victor Feldman
   Victor Feldman
   Victor Stanley Feldman was a British jazz musician, best known as a pianist.-Early history:...
   
   ) - 5:43
4. "Psychedelic Pi" - 6:40
5. "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (Don Kirkpatrick
   Don Kirkpatrick
   Don Kirkpatrick was an American jazz pianist and arranger.Kirkpatrick worked intermittently with Chick Webb between 1927-1937 and with Don Redman from 1933-1937; it is for these associations that he is best known...
   
   , Keith Knox) - 10:17
   • Recorded at Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey on January 2, 1970

Personnel

• Lonnie Smith
  Lonnie Smith (jazz musician)
  Dr. Lonnie Smith is a jazz Hammond B3 organist and pianist.-Biography:He was born in Lackawanna, New York, into a family with a vocal group and radio program. Smith says that his mother was a major influence on him musically, as she introduced him to gospel, classical, and jazz music...
  
   - organ
  Electronic organ
  An electronic organ is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally, it was designed to imitate the sound of pipe organs, theatre organs, band sounds, or orchestral sounds....
  
  
• Dave Hubbard - tenor saxophone
  Tenor saxophone
  The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
  
  
• Ronnie Cuber
  Ronnie Cuber
  Ronnie Cuber is a jazz saxophonist. He has also played in Latin, pop, rock and blues sessions. In addition to his primary instrument, baritone sax, he has also played tenor sax, soprano sax and flute, the latter on an album by Eddie Palmieri. As a leader, Cuber is known for hard bop and Latin jazz...
  
   - baritone saxophone
  Baritone saxophone
  The baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
  
  
• Larry McGee - guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  
• Joe Dukes - drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....