Willie "The Lion" Smith
Willie "The Lion" Smith in the 1920s was considered one of the big three of stride piano (along with James P. Johnson and Fats Waller) even though he made almost no recordings until the mid-'30s. His mother was an organist and pianist, and Smith started playing piano when he was six. He earned a living playing piano as a teenager, gained his nickname "the Lion" for his heroism in World War I, and after his discharge he became one of the star attractions at Harlem's nightly rent parties. Although he toured with Mamie Smith (and played piano on her pioneering 1920 blues record "Crazy Blues"), Smith mostly freelanced throughout his life. He was an influence on the young Duke Ellington (who would later write "Portrait of the Lion") and most younger New York-based pianists of the 1920s and '30s. Although he was a braggart and (with his cigar and trademark derby hat) appeared to be a rough character, Smith was actually more colorful than menacing and a very sophisticated pianist with a light touch. His recordings with his Cubs (starting in 1935) and particularly his 1939 piano solos for Commodore (highlighted by "Echoes of Spring") cemented his place in history. Because he remained very active into the early '70s (writing his memoirs Music on My Mind in 1965), for quite a few decades Willie "the Lion" Smith was considered a living link to the glory days of early jazz.
© Scott Yanow /TiVo
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Live Zurich, Switzerland (Live)
Ragtime - Erschienen bei Storyville am 20.08.2004
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Complete Jazz Series 1925 - 1937
Jazz - Erschienen bei Complete Jazz Series am 29.06.2009
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The Very Best Of
Jazz - Erschienen bei Master Classics Records am 01.04.2011
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Willie The Lion Smith
Jazz - Erschienen bei Universal Music Division Decca Records France am 01.01.2010
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Dr. Jazz, Vol. 9
Dixieland - Erschienen bei Storyville am 20.08.1995
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Jazz Piano Master: Joja Wendt & Willie "The Lion" Smith
Willie „The Lion“ Smith, Joja Wendt
Jazz - Erschienen bei History am 05.01.2000
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Willie "The Lion" Smith and His Jazz Cubs
Jazz - Erschienen bei Jazzology am 02.11.2015
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Rich And Rugged
Jazz - Erschienen bei Sandmann & Walther am 23.03.2016
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Stride Piano Duets
Willie "The Lion" Smith, Don Ewell
Jazz - Erschienen bei Delmark Records am 01.01.2008
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Complete Jazz Series 1938 - 1940 (Willie "The Lion" Smith)
Jazz - Erschienen bei Complete Jazz Series am 29.06.2009
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Willie “The Lion” Smith 1934-37
Jazz - Erschienen bei Documents am 01.09.2009
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The Legend Of Willie The Lion Smith
Jazz - Erschienen bei CoolNote am 01.01.2000
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Music On My Mind
Jazz - Erschienen bei Universal Music Division Decca Records France am 01.01.2010
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100 Classic Recordings 1925-53
Jazz - Erschienen bei ACROBAT am 01.07.2022
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Complete Jazz Series 1950
Jazz - Erschienen bei Complete Jazz Series am 29.06.2009
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