Ah, December 8th—this date heralds the birth of the one and only James Oscar Smith, born in 1928, a man who took the Hammond B-3 organ and made it shout, cry, and testify to the heavens. Today, at Grateful Web, we bow our heads and raise our hands to the legacy of Jimmy Smith—a musician whose soul-laden grooves connected the dots between jazz and the electric charge of 1960s soul, forever altering the musical landscape.

Just Coolin’, a never-before-released studio album by Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers that was recorded on March 8, 1959 in Rudy Van Gelder's living room studio in Hackensack, New Jersey. The session featured a short-lived line-up of The Jazz Messengers with drummer Art Blakey, trumpeter Lee Morgan, tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley, pianist Bobby Timmons, and bassist Jymie Merritt.