Willie the lion smith

Willie “The Lion” Smith

Willie Smith was born Henry Joseph Bonaparte Bertholoff on November 25, 1897 in Goshen New York. Son of Frank Bertholoff and Ida Oliver.

Raised in Newark New Jersey.

Goshen Newark

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Willie was a pianist who stood at the center of the New

York City jazz world during the 1920s.


Willie’s Finger Buster


He performed at the most fashionable

nightclubs in New York City’s African-

American Harlem neighborhood. He also

accompanied other musicians on

recordings, while inspiring and

mentoring younger musicians.



He is known as a pioneer of stride piano, which was the first important solo piano style in the

jazz tradition.

Stride piano is a style of jazz piano playing in which the right hand plays the melody while the left hand plays a single bass note or octave on the strong beat

and a chord on the weak beat.

IMORTANT!

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/stride+piano?s=t

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/stride+piano?s=t

He is less well known than the other pianists of the 1920s such as James P. Johnson and Thomas P. “Fats” Waller. This was only

because he made few recordings under his own name until later in his career.



Charleston

James P. Johnson

Thomas P. “Fats” Waller

Smith’s musical life began when he found an organ missing half its keys in the basement of the family home, and began trying to imitate the music he heard his mother play in church.

At this time he was about 6.







His Uncle Rob gave him some pointers, and he began hearing ragtime hits from Scott Joplin’s

“Maple Leaf Rag” and George Botsford’s “Black and White Rag.”

Maple Leaf Rag



Ragtime

Ragtime piano is rhythm in which the accompaniment is strict two-four time and the melody, with improvised embellishments, is in steady syncopation.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ragtime

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ragtime

In search of bigger things Smith moved to Atlantic City, New Jersey. He heard ragtime

pianist Eubie Blake, and it wasn’t long before he was making trips into New York City to hear

other piano players.

Eubie Blake



His career was interrupted when he was enlisted in the U.S. army in 1916 and became an

artillery gunner. His unit was sent to France where he dodged poison-gas canisters and

inspired an officer to say, “Smith, you’re a lion with that gun.” And from there on he was

known as Willie “The Lion” Smith.



After his war duties were over he

landed a job at a Harlem’s sharpest club, Leroy’s. He

would play solo or be accompanied, and on any given night some of the top performers, Bill “Bojangles”

Robinson or Bert Williams would

show up. http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608004818/Willie-the-Lion-Smith.html

Bojangles

Bert Williams


Smith’s 78 rpm record that Mamie Smith and himself made,

“Crazy Blues,” is generally regarded

as the first blues recording. It became

a bestseller and started a decade-

long trend in blues vocal recordings by

women.


Crazy Blues


Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington was a pianist

who looked up to Willie. He later wrote

the introduction to Willie’s memoirs.



Ellington declared that:“the Lion has been the greatest

influence on most of the great piano players who have been exposed to his fire, harmonic lavishness, his stride–what a luxury. Fats Waller, James P. Johnson, Count Basie, Donald Lambert, Joe Turner, Sam Ervis and of course I swam in it. Even the great Art Tatum showed strong patterns of Willie Smithisms after being exposed to the Lion”



Count Basie

Donald Lambert

JoeTurner

Art Tatum

New jazz trends had overshadowed Smith’s status as a top jazz attraction. He had an

interest in classical music and took classical piano and theory lessons from a German immigrant, Hans Steinke, in the 1930s.



He began to write short, classical-influenced original compositions, to which he turned when he finally got the chance to record.

After making some small-band records with a group he called Willie the Lion Smith and His Cubs in 1935, he was signed to the Commodore label and in 1939 released the

group of sides for which he was best known.



Several were Smith originals, with names like "Passionette" and "Echoes of Spring"--little tone poems on the piano that mixed jazz elements with classical harmonies.



His solo recordings from 1939 are often

reckoned to be his finest work, but he

went on making discs well into the 1960s and beyond, some of them

including his own spoken comments and

repartee, as he demonstrated his

playing at the keyboard.

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http://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/musician.php?id=4460

His fame spread when Artie Shaw and Tommy Dorsey

performed arrangements of his compositions. Smith

toured Europe in 1949 and again in the mid '60s; appeared in the

film Jazz Dance in 1954 and wrote his memoirs, Music On

My Mind in '65.



Willie “The Lion” Smith lived through six decades of music and, despite the changes in

musical styles over those years; he remained true to himself and his own style.




He recorded a final album in Paris in June 1972 and played right up until his death in April

1973. Today, his spirit and his legacy still live on through his music.



Sources Cited"All About Jazz." musicians.allaboutjazz. All About Jazz, 25 Nov 2010. Web. 2 Aug

2013. <http://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/musician.php?id=4460

"Dictionary.com." Dictionary.reference. Dictionary.com. Web. 2 Aug 2013. http://dictionary.reference.com/

Hoefer, George. "Willie the Lion Smith Biography." musicianguide.com. Net Industries, n.d. Web. 24 Jul 2013. http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608004818/Willie-the-Lion-Smith.html

http://dictionary.reference.com/





Willie the lion smith

Entertainment & Humor

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lion smith

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style of jazz piano

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