Willie "the Lion" Smith

I was inspired to include Smith in my series of jazz musicians largely because my mother was a pianist. If not for my grandfather's refusing to allow her to accept a position as a pianist on a cruise ship, her life may have turned out entirely different. When Smith was six years old he discovered his mother's organ. Sadly his mother too was never able to pursue a career on the organ, but she taught him to play. Later he entered a piano contest and won an upright piano. By the 1910's he was playing in clubs in NYC and Atlantic City. He was considered by Duke Ellington to be "the greatest influence of all the great jazz piano players."

Medium