Jazz
United States
Bill Smith
Top Songs By Bill Smith
About Bill Smith
Hometown
Sacramento, CA, United States
Born
September 22, 1926
Genre
Jazz
Not to be confused with another prominent Bill Smith (co-editor of Coda and a notable avant-garde soprano saxophonist), this particular Bill Smith was associated with Dave Brubeck on and off for decades. Smith studied at Juilliard School and with Darius Milhaud at Mills College. He was part of the Dave Brubeck Octet between 1947 and 1951 (a recording resulted) and was always open to the idea of utilizing ideas from the modern classical music world in jazz. Unlike Brubeck, Smith became a college professor, teaching at USC. He recorded with Red Norvo (1957), Shelly Manne (his "Concerto for Clarinet and Combo" in 1957) and three advanced records for Fantasy in Paul Desmond's place with the Dave Brubeck Quartet (1959-1961). After winning a Guggenheim Fellowship for composition, Smith spent six years in Italy, part of the time leading the American Jazz Ensemble. Smith taught at the University of Washington and from 1982 through the '90s was a regular member of Brubeck's Quartet, alternating with Bobby Militello. In addition to his many recordings with Brubeck and a couple with his American Jazz Ensemble, Smith recorded as a leader for Contemporary (1959), a couple titles from a live "Americans In Europe" concert for Impulse (1963), and for the Italian Edi-Pan (1977) and Jazz Music (1978) labels. ~ Scott Yanow
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