James Harrell McGriff, who was known as Jimmy McGriff, was an accomplished American jazz organist who had a long career as band leader and accompanying many other jazz stars from the 1960s until his death aged 72 on May 24th 2008. He learned to play as a child and studied at the Juilliard School in New York. His 1962 single 'I've Got a Woman (Part 1)' went to number five on Billboard's R&B singles chart. 'All About My Girl' (1963) reached number 12, 'Kiko' (1964) hit number 19 and 'The Worm' (1968) peaked at number 28.
He released many albums on the Sue label including 'I've Got a Woman' (1962), 'Jimmy McGriff at the Apollo' (1963), 'Jimmy at the Organ' (1964 and 'Blues for Mister Jimmy' (1965). Many more followed on the Solid State label including 'A Bag Full of Soul' (1966), 'A Bag Full of Blues' (1967), 'The Worm' (1968) and 'The Way You Look Tonight' (1969). He recorded through the 1970s, '80s and '90s with several albums featuring saxophonist Hank Crawford such as 'Soul Survivors' (1986) and 'On the Blue Side' (1990).
There are many compilation releases including 'The Best of Hank Crawford & Jimmy McGriff' (2001) and 'The Best of the Sue Years 1962-1965' (2006). He joined with saxophonist David (Fathead) Newman and drummer Bernard Purdie in a group called the Dream Team, who released several albums from 'The Dream Team' (1997) to 'McGriff Avenue' (2002).
