Rex Smith, younger brother of Starz vocalist Michael Lee Smith, may be better known to his Stateside fans for his roles on stage and screen; playing motorcycle police officer Jesse Mach in the 1985 TV series Street Hawk, as well as guest appearances on The Love Boat, Baywatch, Daredevil and Caroline In The City. He also played Danny Zuko in the 1978 Broadway production of Grease, eventually becoming a household name via the popular daytime drama As The World Turns, whilst also replacing Andy Gibb as presenter on popular US TV music show Solid Gold in 1982.
Multi-award-winning guitarist Johan Smith has considerably extended his instrument’s repertoire with this selection of transcriptions celebrating childhood in a variety of ways. These popular piano works – Schubert’s Erlkönig, Granados’s atmospheric Tales of Youth, Mozart’s elegant Sonata facile, Schumann’s Scenes from Childhood and the exquisitely sensitive and insightful miniatures of Debussy’s Children’s Corner – are presented in a totally natural and idiomatic manner within the guitar’s distinctly expressive soundworld.
Italian-American singer, actor, songwriter, bandleader, and trumpeter, Louis Prima (1910-1978) was rooted in New Orleans jazz, swing, and jump blues, but he touched on various other genres throughout his career. From the 1940s through the 1960s, when these recordings were made, his music further encompassed early R&B, rock'n'roll, boogie-woogie, and even Italian folk music, such as the tarantella. In 1954 Prima was offered a long-term engagement at The Sahara in Las Vegas to open his new act with singer Keely Smith (born in 1928, she is 89 at this writing). He enlisted New Orleans saxophonist Sam Butera (1927-2009) and his backing musicians, ''The Witnesses''. The act was a hit, and ultimately led Prima to sign with Capitol Records in 1955. The present concert performance at The Sahara, immortalized on the LP Las Vegas Prima Style (Capitol Records - T-1010), was taped by Prima in 1958 with Keely and Butera, and is presented here in its entirety.
Sammi Smith sang soulful, melancholy country music. One of the highlights of Ace’s acclaimed “Choctaw Ridge” compilation earlier this year was her ‘Saunders’ Ferry Lane’, an eerie tale of doomed romance in a chilly backwater. Her low, distinctively husky voice was built for sad songs, and she has been described as country music’s Dusty Springfield. Compiled and annotated by Bob Stanley, “Looks Like Stormy Weather” is a collection built for winter nights.
Trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith with Orange Wave Electric, an all-star electric band including guitarists Nels Cline, Brandon Ross and Lamar Smith; bassists Bill Laswell and Melvin Gibbs; electronic musician Hardedge; percussionist Mauro Refosco; and drummer Pheeroan akLaff.
Ronald Smith is best remembered as the pianist who reintroduced the complex, but fantastic compositions of Charles-Valentin Alkan to the world in the 1960s, some 90-120 years after they were first written and 40 years after Alkan's previous great champion, Ferruccio Busoni, had died. Smith received his first piano lessons from his mother and when he entered school, others recognized his talent as well.
Coursing through the cosmic pulse of Jazz-Funk is the inimitable influence of Lonnie Liston Smith. For over five decades, the legendary keyboardist and bandleader has been a driving force in shaping the genre's sound. Smith made his recording debut as a sideman for heavyweights Miles Davis, Pharoah Sanders, Gato Barbieri and Leon Thomas. He later formed his own ensemble, Lonnie Liston Smith and the Cosmic Echoes which delivered an incredible run of classic albums through the 1970s. His music has served as the foundation for immortal hip-hop samples and ecstatic dancefloor revelry. In late February 2020, Smith headlined Jazz Is Dead’s Black History Month series, giving many jazz fans what would be their last taste of live music before the nightmare of COVID-19 that took over in the weeks that followed. Now, he reunites with Jazz Is Dead to deliver Lonnie Liston Smith JID017 - a full-bloom tribute to the multitude of sonic strains that all lead back to the fingertips of the maestro himself.