Walter Smith III | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Born | Houston, Texas, U.S. | September 24, 1980
Genres | Jazz, post-bop |
Occupation | Musician |
Instrument | Tenor saxophone |
Website | www |
Walter Smith III (born September 24, 1980) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He is the Chair of the Woodwind Department at the Berklee College of Music.
In addition to performing with his own group, Smith is a member of the Ambrose Akinmusire Quintet and Eric Harland's Voyager. He regularly plays and records with Taylor Eigsti, Christian Scott, Logan Richardson, Kendrick Scott, Aaron Parks, Warren Wolf, and others.
Smith began playing the saxophone at the age of seven in his hometown of Houston, Texas. His father was an elementary music teacher. His first gig was at a McDonald's. [1] While at Houston's High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, he received a Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship from the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) and the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA); the NFAA Young Talent Award; a full-tuition scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music; and a United States Presidential Scholar in the Arts medal. He graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2003 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Music Education. He later earned a Graduate Diploma at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. Smith earned his Master of Music degree in Jazz Studies from Manhattan School of Music.
Smith has performed in numerous national and international festivals and on stages in the U.S. such as Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. He has shared the stage and recorded with many jazz notables, including Terence Blanchard, Roy Haynes, Christian McBride, Eric Reed, Mulgrew Miller, Joe Lovano, Bob Hurst, Myron Walden, Walter Beasley, Lewis Nash, Terri Lyne Carrington, and others. To date, he has made more than 37 recordings. [2]
Smith's debut recording as a leader was released in March 2006 on the Fresh Sound New Talent label and features Ambrose Akinmusire, Aaron Parks, Reuben Rogers, Eric Harland, and Kendrick Scott, and others. [3] His sophomore release, entitled Live in Paris, was released in October 2009 featuring Ambrose Akinmusire, Aaron Goldberg, Matt Brewer, and Marcus Gilmore.
Smith is currently signed to Blue Note Records.
With Ambrose Akinmusire
With Eric Harland
With Christian Scott
With Kendrick Scott Oracle
With others
The Monterey Jazz Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Monterey, California, United States. It debuted on October 3, 1958, championed by Dave Brubeck and co-founded by jazz and popular music critic Ralph J. Gleason and jazz disc jockey Jimmy Lyons.
Taylor Eigsti is an American jazz pianist and composer. Eigsti's trio features bassist Harish Raghavan and drummer Eric Harland. He is also a member of Eric Harland Voyager, Kendrick Scott Oracle, and Gretchen Parlato's group.
Ambrose Akinmusire is an American avant-garde jazz composer and trumpeter.
Sara Leib is an American composer, jazz vocalist, and educator.
Logan Richardson is an alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and producer.
Eric Harland is an American jazz drummer.
Matt Slocum is an American jazz drummer and composer. He has released four recordings as a bandleader: Portraits, After the Storm, Black Elk's Dream, and Trio Pacific Vol. 1. Slocum is the recipient of composition grants and commissions from New Music USA, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, the American Music Center, the Puffin Foundation, and Meet the Composer.
Dayna Stephens is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. In addition to leading his own group, Stephens has performed extensively with Kenny Barron, Ambrose Akinmusire, Taylor Eigsti, Julian Lage, Eric Harland, and Gerald Clayton. Stephens grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and attended Berkeley High School. He went on to study at the Berklee School of Music and later at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz.
Leron Thomas is an American jazz trumpeter, composer and vocalist noted for his musical style as a "masterful genre-bender". Born in Houston, Texas Thomas attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. He moved to New York City to study Jazz and Contemporary Music at The New School university. There he studied alongside many notable contemporaries and began working professionally prior to his graduation in 2003. He went the 2019 Grammys awards ceremony and watched his fellow classmate win. Thomas is also a rapper under the alias Pan Amsterdam.
Michael Janisch is an American bassist, producer, composer and the owner of the record label Whirlwind Recordings. He was nominated for a MOBO Award in 2016 in the category Best Jazz Act.
The Imagined Savior Is Far Easier to Paint is the third studio album by American jazz trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire. The album was released on March 10, 2014 by Blue Note, Capitol, and Universal labels.
When the Heart Emerges Glistening is the second studio album by American jazz trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire. The album was released on 5 April 2011. The album booklet includes a letter from Blue Note CEO Bruce Lundvall expressing his praises.
Prelude... to Cora is the debut studio album by American jazz trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire. It was released by Fresh Sound New Talent. Akinmusire composed all but three tracks, including jazz standard "Stablemates" by saxophonist Benny Golson. The album is dedicated to Akinmusire's mother, Cora.
Marcus Gilmore is an American jazz drummer. In 2009, New York Times critic Ben Ratliff included Gilmore in his list of drummers who are "finding new ways to look at the drum set, and at jazz itself", saying, "he created that pleasant citywide buzz when someone new and special blows through New York clubs and jam sessions".
Linda May Han Oh is an Australian jazz bassist and composer. She is currently Associate Professor at the Berklee College of Music and is also part of the Institute for Jazz and Gender Justice.
Origami Harvest is a studio album by American jazz trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire. The album was released on October 12, 2018 by Blue Note.
Harish Raghavan is an Indian American jazz bassist. His music combines aspects of Indian classical music and jazz.
On the Tender Spot of Every Calloused Moment is the fifth studio album, and sixth album overall, by American jazz trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire. The album was released on June 5, 2020 by Blue Note Records. It was Akinmusire's fifth release on the Blue Note label.
Joe Sanders is an American jazz double bassist from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 2023, saxophonist Joshua Redman described Sanders to the New York Times as among "the greats of [his] generation and [one] of the most active and emulated musicians on the scene today."
Joel Ross is an American jazz vibraphonist currently living in Brooklyn. Born and raised in Chicago, he was introduced to music by playing drums at his father's church, and got a musical education in high school and college. He later moved to New York City, where he developed into a professional jazz musician, signing with Blue Note Records.