Louis Smith
Wikimp3 information about the music of Louis Smith. On our website we have 21 albums and 23 collections of artist Louis Smith. You can find useful information and download songs of this artist. We also know that Louis Smith represents Jazz genres.
Biography
[Edit]Louis Smith was a talented, but underrecorded, straight-ahead bop trumpeter who led two dates in the '50s before retiring to teach at the University of Michigan and the nearby Ann Arbor Public School system. For most of his career, he remained a teacher, making a brief comeback in the late '70s before returning to education. It wasn't until the mid-'90s that he began a recording career in earnest, turning out a series of albums for the Steeplechase label. A native of Memphis, TN, Louis Smith began playing trumpet as a teenager. He graduated high school with a scholarship to Tennessee State University, where he studied music and became a member of the Tennessee State Collegians. Following his college graduation, Smith did a little graduate work at Tennessee before transferring to the University of Michigan, where he studied with professor Clifford Lillya. At Michigan, he had opportunities to play with traveling musicians, including Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie. In January 1954, Smith was drafted into the Army, spending a little over a year-and-a-half in his tour of duty. Once he left the Army in late 1955, he began teaching at the Booker T. Washington High School in Atlanta, GA. While teaching at Booker T. Washington, Smith continued playing bop and hard bop in clubs, and was able to jam with Cannonball Adderley, Kenny Dorham, Donald Byrd, Lou Donaldson, Zoot Sims, and Philly Joe Jones, among many others. In 1956, he made his recording debut as a sideman on Kenny Burrell's Swingin'. A year later, he had the opportunity to lead his own recording session for Tom Wilson's Boston-based label, Transition. He assembled a quintet featuring Cannonball Adderley (who performed under the pseudonym Buckshot La Funke), bassist Doug Watkins, drummer Art Taylor, and pianists Duke Jordan and Tommy Flanagan, who alternated on the date. Transition went out of business before the label had the chance to release the record. Blue Note chief Alfred Lion purchased all the Transition masters and signed Smith to an exclusive contract, releasing the session as Here Comes Louis Smith. During 1958, the trumpeter played on two Blue Note sessions — Kenny Burrell's Blue Lights and Booker Little's Booker Little 4 and Max Roach — in addition to leading the date that became Smithville. That brief burst of activity turned out to be his only recording dates for 20 years. Smith moved back to the Ann Arbor, MI area, where he taught at the University of Michigan and public schools. Between 1978 and 1979, he cut a pair of albums — Just Friends and Prancin' — before returning to teaching. A decade later, Smith began his recording career in earnest. After playing on Mickey Tucker's Sweet Lotus Lips in 1989, he signed with Steeplechase and recorded Ballads for Lulu in 1990. He didn't return to the studio for another four years, but he did record two albums — Silvering and Strike Up the Band — in 1994. The Very Thought of You appeared in 1995. A year later, Smith recorded I Waited for You, which was followed by There Goes My Heart in 1997. Retired from teaching, Smith suffered a stroke in 2006, and is in convalescence at home, but is recovering.
Collections
Title: Hard Bop Happenings
Genre: Jazz
Title: A Tribute To Charlie Parker
Title: The Most Relaxing Jazz: Trumpet
Genre: Jazz
Title: American Jazz Essentials - Trumpet
Genre: Jazz
Title: Bird Brains - Charlie Parker Imitators
Genre: Jazz
Title: A Beginners Guide to Jazz Trumpet
Genre: Jazz
Title: The Mix Tape 2013
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Rap, Rock
Title: Top Jazz Trumpet
Genre: Jazz
Title: The Most Essential Bebop
Genre: Jazz
Title: Kenny Burrell
Genre: Jazz
Title: Parker’s Pals / Parker's Pals
Genre: Alternative
Title: An Introduction to Chicago Soul
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Soul
Title: 2014 (BA1 Records Presents)
Genre: Electronica, Pop
Title: A Tribute to George Gershwin
Title: The Most Romantic Jazz: Trumpet
Genre: Jazz
Title: Top 20 Bebop
Genre: Jazz
Title: The Darkest Jazz: Trumpet
Genre: Jazz
Title: Jazz Hits The 50's
Genre: Jazz, Smooth Jazz
Title: Druum Buster Dictature (CD2)
Genre: Drum & Bass
Title: Chill Out With Jazz
Genre: Jazz, Vocal Jazz, Smooth Jazz
Title: Round Midnight: Jazz Classics
Genre: Jazz
Title: More Blue Notes - Milestones Of Jazz Legends (CD7)
Genre: Jazz
Title: Jazz Trumpet Talents (CD2)
Genre: Jazz