Jimmy Smith’s ‘Softly As A Summer Breeze’ Joins Blue Note’s Classic Vinyl Collection
Recorded in 1958 but not released until 1965, the Hammond B3 masterclass arrives in a new, all-analog format on August 21.
Blue Note Records has added Jimmy Smith‘s Softly As A Summer Breeze to its Classic Vinyl Reissue Series, with the title set for release on August 21, 2026, alongside Grant Green’s Street Of Dreams.
The album captures Smith, the Hammond B3 organist who helped popularize the instrument within the jazz space, during one of his most productive stretches. In the last week of February 1958, Smith spent two days at Manhattan Towers studio in New York recording enough material for three full albums: House Party, The Sermon, and Softly As A Summer Breeze. While the first two were released soon after, Softly As A Summer Breeze sat on the shelf until 1965.
The record features Smith leading two different trios. Four tracks pair him with guitarist Kenny Burrell and drummer Philly Joe Jones, while two others feature guitarist Eddie McFadden and drummer Donald Bailey. The set leans on standards including “These Foolish Things,” “It Could Happen To You,” “Sometimes I’m Happy” and “Someone To Watch Over Me,” alongside Thelonious Monk’s “Hackensack” and Smith’s own composition “One For Philly Joe.”
Smith, who died in 2005, recorded roughly 40 sessions for Blue Note in just eight years after signing with the label in the mid-1950s, becoming known as “The Incredible Jimmy Smith” and influencing generations of organists who followed. This Classic Vinyl Edition is another top-line pressing from Kevin Gray, pressed to 180g vinyl from original master analog tapes. from the original master tapes and manufactured on 180g vinyl at Optimal.
The reissue is part of a year-long 2026 schedule for the Classic Vinyl Series, curated by Cem Kurosman, which kicked off on January 23 with Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers’ Free For All and Joe Henderson’s Our Thing. The series will continue throughout the year, adding titles from Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Hank Mobley, Horace Silver and other Blue Note mainstays. The 2026 roster concludes with the December release of Sonny Clark’s Leapin’ And Lopin’.
