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 - Released by Storyville on 20 Aug 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Complete Jazz Series 1925 - 1937
Jazz - Released by Complete Jazz Series on 29 Jun 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Complete Jazz Series 1938 - 1940 (Willie "The Lion" Smith)
Jazz - Released by Complete Jazz Series on 29 Jun 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Very Best Of
Jazz - Released by Master Classics Records on 1 Apr 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Dr. Jazz, Vol. 9
Dixieland - Released by Storyville on 20 Aug 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jazz Piano Master: Joja Wendt & Willie "The Lion" Smith
Willie „The Lion“ Smith, Joja Wendt
Jazz - Released by History on 5 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Willie "The Lion" Smith and His Jazz Cubs
Jazz - Released by Jazzology on 2 Nov 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rich And Rugged
Jazz - Released by Sandmann & Walther on 23 Mar 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Stride Piano Duets
Willie "The Lion" Smith, Don Ewell
Jazz - Released by Delmark Records on 1 Jan 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Willie “The Lion” Smith 1934-37
Jazz - Released by Documents on 1 Sep 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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The Legend Of Willie The Lion Smith
Jazz - Released by CoolNote on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Music On My Mind
Jazz - Released by Universal Music Division Decca Records France on 1 Jan 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
100 Classic Recordings 1925-53
Jazz - Released by ACROBAT on 1 Jul 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Complete Jazz Series 1950
Jazz - Released by Complete Jazz Series on 29 Jun 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grand Piano Duets
Willie "The Lion" Smith, Don Ewell
Jazz - Released by Sackville on 1 Jan 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo