James Oscar Smith (December 8, 1928 – February 8, 2005) was an American jazz musician who helped popularize the Hammond B-3 organ, creating a link between jazz and 1960s soul music. In 2005, Smith was awarded the NEA Jazz Masters Award from the National Endowment for the Arts, the highest honor that America bestows upon jazz musicians. == Early years == James Oscar Smith was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, northwest of Philadelphia. He joined his father doing a song-and-dance routine... [more on Wikipedia]