Willie Smith

During the 1930s Willie Smith placed third among alto saxophonists, trailing only Johnny Hodges and Benny Carter. His personal tone and buoyant phrasing supplied a vital spark to Jimmy Lunceford’s orchestra, where he also sang on selected numbers—the most celebrated being “Rhythm Is Our Business”—delivered crisp clarinet passages, and supplied several strong charts.

Smith began on clarinet, earned a chemistry degree from Fisk University, and joined Lunceford’s reed section as lead altoist in 1929. Within the tightly knit ensemble he stood out as its most commanding solo voice and remained a featured attraction until 1942, when low pay and constant touring prompted his exit. After twelve months with Charlie Spivak and a year of Navy service, he moved to Harry James’s orchestra, where fair compensation and prominent exposure kept him for seven years.

In 1951 he participated in the so-called “great James robbery” by switching to Duke Ellington, helping the band recover from Johnny Hodges’s departure. He next spent a season with Billy May just as the arranger’s new orchestra began attracting attention, then rejoined James in 1954 for another ten-year stretch. Periodic leaves allowed appearances with Norman Granz’s Jazz at the Philharmonic troupe and several Verve jam-session dates, among them the 1953 set Apple Jam. Following a period of semi-retirement, Smith cut his sole full-length album for GNP Crescendo in 1965 and recorded with Charlie Barnet before succumbing to cancer.