Born Lonnie Smith on 3 July 1942 in Lackawanna, New York, a suburb of Buffalo, Dr. Lonnie Smith was a Hammond B3 jazz organist and composer whose career spanned over five decades, featured on more than 70 albums. His mother introduced him to gospel, blues, and jazz at an early age, and he sang in several vocal groups in the 1950s. In the late 1950s, Art Kubera, owner of a local music store, gave young Lonnie his first organ. He learned by immersing himself in records by Wild Bill Davis, Bill Doggett, and Jimmy Smith, as well as paying attention to the church organ. His first gigs were at Buffalo's Pine Grill jazz club, where he garnered attention from Jack McDuff, Lou Donaldson, and George Benson. Benson enlisted Smith for his quartet and they relocated to New York, quickly establishing a reputation in Harlem clubs. After appearing on several Benson albums for Columbia, Smith made his leader debut Finger Lickin' Good (Columbia, 1966-67). He was then recruited by Lou Donaldson to record for Blue Note, appearing on the million-selling Alligator Boogaloo and other albums.
Blue Note signed Smith as a solo act, producing soul jazz classics Think! (1968), Turning Point, Move Your Hand (1970), Drives (1970), and Live at Club Mozambique (released later). He left Blue Note in 1971, recording for Creed Taylor's Kudu/CTI label and Sonny Lester's Groove Merchant/LRC labels throughout the 1970s. During this period, he began wearing turbans as symbols of universal spirituality and adopted the "Dr." moniker. He launched his own label Pilgrimage Inc. in 2012 and returned to Blue Note in 2015, releasing Evolution (2016, featuring Robert Glasper and Joe Lovano) and All in My Mind (2018, recorded live at Jazz Standard for his 75th birthday). He was named NEA Jazz Master in 2017. His music has been sampled by A Tribe Called Quest, Notorious B.I.G., and others. He has performed with Grover Washington Jr., Ron Carter, Dizzy Gillespie, Santana, Dionne Warwick, Gladys Knight, and Etta James. Smith died on 28 September 2021 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, aged 79.
