Playlist: Dr. Lonnie Smith, Firebreather

A short survey from one of the most imaginative improvising organists....

This playlist offers one path — among gazillions — for appreciating the organist Dr. Lonnie Smith, who died Wednesday at age 79.

You could build an interesting set of tunes just out of Smith’s work as a sideman — drop into some of the most beloved Lou Donaldson records, and you’ll hear Smith’s effortless mastery of the often-overlooked art of accompaniment: It’s his torrid rippling chords and pinpoint-precise rhythmic jabs that push alto saxophonist Donaldson away from blues cliche.

You could do a bunch of playlists surveying Smith’s deft and understatedly funky covers of pop songs; for this, I included his version of “Think,” the Aretha Franklin hit, rather than the over-praised “Sunshine Superman” cover, featuring Iggy Pop, from Smith’s last album Breathe. Also here is one of the more imaginative arrangements of Beck tunes Smith recorded for the 2003 Boogaloo To Beck. Over his career, Smith did compelling tributes to Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane and others.

And, of course, you could do an epic tour of those mainstays of the jazz-organ repertoire: blues riffs and one-chord modal jams. This list includes a track, “Afro-Desia,” from an eye-opening 1975 session with Ron Carter and then-unknown saxophonist Joe Lovano that’s been released under several different album titles and (like so many of Smith’s albums) is thoroughly engaging from start to finish.