Jimmy Smith, country-rock bassist from Austin, TX, is not the same dude who made all the funky jazz organ records. Some of his musical projects have begun receiving a good deal of attention, however: the alt-country world can be said to partially revolve around Smith's main band, the Gourds. Furthermore, the latter combo reached the ears of quite a few listeners outside of the Austin music scene through collaborations in 1998 and 2001 with the late great Doug Sahm. Smith's bass work holds firm, steady, and engagingly propulsive on fine tracks from such Sahm-meets-Gourds affairs as "Dylan Come Lately" and "Get a Life," both dripping with sarcasm, or the frightening "Sooner or Later." In addition to bass, this artist also sings and is capable of throwing down on guitar and percussion if need be. The Gourds were formed in the late '90s; the group's discography has passed the half-dozen mark. ~ Eugene Chadbourne