Today, August 24th, we celebrate the life and times of Henry Buster Smith (August 24, 1904 – August 10, 1991), also known as Professor Smith; an African-American jazz alto saxophonist and mentor to Charlie Parker. Smith was instrumental in instituting the Texas Sax Sound with Count Basie and Lester Young in the 1930s. Smith played saxophone for a range of musicians including Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Earl Hines, though in his career only recorded one solo album in 1959. Despite intending to release a follow-up in the 1960s, Smith was injured in an accident leading to a follow-up never eventuating. Smith was born and raised in Alsdorf, Texas, a small township near Telico in the outskirts of Dallas, where he attended school as a child. Smith earned the name Buster from his parents as a baby, as he was born as an overweight child. Buster was the third of five boys and had no sisters, though both of his older brothers died in childhood of measles. Smiths early musical influences were his mother, and his father, who played guitar. At four years old, Buster was playing the organ with his brother, pianist Boston Smith; Buster played the keys and Boston stepped on the pedals. Soon thereafter, his grandfather gave away the family organ because he believed it would only direct Buster to a life of sin. In 1919, Smith picked cotton for a week to earn himself the money to buy a $3.50 clarinet. Smith learned to play several instruments by the time he was eighteen years old. In 1922, Smith and his family moved to Dallas. He joined the Voodie White Trio, playing Alto saxophone and clarinet. In 1923, he began his professional music career playing alto saxophone with the medicine shows, though he had to play very loudly to draw in more customers. This experience led to Smith defining his own musical style, known for being loud. The time with the medicine shows also led to Oran Hot Lips Page inviting Smith to join his group, the Oklahoma City Blue Devils, in 1925. Over the next few years, Smith wrote much of the groups music, learning from banjo player Johnny Clark, writing lyrics with co-workers from the bank that he worked in. When Smith joined the Blue Devils, the line-up consisted of Walter Page, Oran Page, Lester Young, Count Basie, Jimmy Rushing, and Emir Bucket Coleman. They toured the Kansas City area and the Midwest, playing jazz for a year, bringing all of its members into prominence. Basie and Page both left the group; however Smith decided to stay on, though this was very short lived and soon after he left also. After leaving the group, he and Basie formed the Buster Smith-Count Basie Band of Rhythm, where the two innovated a louder style of Jazz. Busters contribution to the unique sound was by using a tenor saxophone reed in his alto saxophone to achieve a louder, fatter sound. Lester Young also joined the band and, to complement Smiths louder sound, he also opted for a heavier reed, using a baritone saxophone reed on his tenor saxophone. This sound was later labelled the Texas Sax Sound. Smith gained a great amount of influence in the Texan music community and industry. Smith mentored legendary saxophonist Charlie Parker during the 1930s, developing a father-son relationship through mentoring Parker. In 1941, Smith decided to return to Dallas and to cease touring, though he remained active in the local music scene. In the following years, he wrote for jazz and blues bands, played often, and taught many young Texan musicians, including Aaron T-Bone Walker and Red Garland among others. He also performed session work with artists such as Pete Johnsons Boogie-Woogie Boys, Eddie Durham, Leo Snub Mosley, Bon and His Buddies, and the Don Redman Orchestra. In 1959, Buster led his first solo recording session in Fort Worth, as prompted by Atlantic Records. From these sessions, released by Atlantic with the title The Legendary Buster Smith, Smiths notable songs included Kansas City Riffs, Busters Tune, E Flat Boogie, and Kurt Weills September Song. For the sessions, Buster enlisted his brother Boston Smith to play piano, along with musicians spanning his career to date. In the 1960s, Smith was involved in auto accident, in which he was injured and no longer able to play the saxophone. In order to continue playing music, he started to play the bass guitar throughout Dallas and continued to participate in the Dallas musical community. Buster led a dance music band until 1980, and played in the Legendary Revelations in the mid-1980s. Buster Smith on Charlie Parker: “I couldn’t get rid of him. He was always up under me. In my band we’d split solos. If I took two, he’d take two. If I’d take three, he’d take three, and so forth. He always wanted me to take the first solo. I guess he thought he’d learn something that way. He did play like me quite a bit, I guess. But, after a while, anything I could make on my horn, he could make, too, and make something better of it.” One of the most influential yet today least known names in KC jazz history is Henry “Buster” Smith, also called “Prof.” Smith died in Dallas on August 10, 1991 of a heart attack. Photo 2: Lester Young, center, Buster Smith, right, 1932
Posted on: Sun, 24 Aug 2014 15:51:57 +0000
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