Johnny Hammond

Jazz-funk prophecy told in electric groove and urban mystique.

There’s a storm brewing behind Gambler’s Life, and Johnny Hammond—already a master of the soul-jazz organ—steps confidently into it. Released in 1974 on Salvation (a CTI offshoot), Gambler’s Life marks his first album for the legendary Mizell Brothers, and the shift is profound. This isn’t cocktail-lounge jazz or smoky-club soul—this is cosmic funk, streetwise and radiant, drenched in electric textures and syncopated strut.