Interview with Walter Smith III


Q: You've started playing the saxophone at the age of seven. How soon did you know that this is your instrument?

Walter Smith III: I actually started at 7 because my father actually had been a professional saxophone player in New Orleans, and he kind of pointed me in that direction. After a few years it just kind of seemed that once I started to listen to instrumental music that all of my favorite players happened to be saxophonists. That made me really decide to stick with it.

Q: How important were your stays at the Berklee College of Music and the Manhattan School of Music for your musical development?

Walter Smith III: While I was at Berklee, I went through a huge amount of musical growth. Coming to a town like boston, you are surrounded with a lot of guys (and girls) on every level in all genres from all around the world. I felt like I was exposed to lots of different styles of music as well as many different approaches that really helped to encourage and motivate me to practice and learn all that I could from them. I was also able to work with a great trumpet player Darren Barrett weekly, and he was really a mentor to me in terms of exposing me to lots of different possible approaches to improvising. Also Bill Pierce and George Garzone were huge influences on me during my time at berklee. My Manhattan School days were really benificial to me due to the location in New York. I got a chance to be in the scene and work a lot as well as get some wisdom from the great faculty that teaches there. I got a lot of help with my writing from Gary Dial, Phil Markowitz and Dave Liebman.

Q: Who has influenced (and keep influencing) you musically?

Walter Smith III: I would have to say that right now I am really checking out Joe Lovano and Myron Walden. I really think that those guys embody a lot of the things that I would hope to achieve in my own playing in their sense of rhythm, harmony and vibe. My influences outside of them which have always been my favorites are Trane, Wayne Shorter, Sam Rivers and Ornette Coleman. I am really trimming down the list here, but for the purpose of answering your question in a more concise manner, I'll stop there.

Q: Why did you decide to include four cover versions on your debut album? And why of all tunes these four more obscure songs?

Walter Smith III: I actually recorded enough of my own material to fill the whole album, but I only wanted to do a certain number of them for business reasons. The four tunes that I did that I did not write myself are four of my favorite tunes from four of my favorite musicians. Mingus, Ornette, Sam Rivers and Lionel Loueke (Tail Of Benin).

Q: I am especially thrilled by your version of Duke Ellington's Sound Of Love. Please tell me more about the recording session for this song and what does this Mingus song mean to you.

Walter Smith III: If you notice on the recording there is a different rhythm section on three of the tunes, (Duke's Sound Of Love being one of them). During my original session which was about 5 hours long I wasn't happy with the takes of some of the tunes, so during the drummer Kendrick Scott's session for his own record that will be released soon, I was able to borrow the band to do about a half hour of recording. From that abbreviated session came Duke's Sound Of Love, Tail Of Benin, and P.O.S. These songs are all first takes, and I had actually just learned Duke's Sound of Love shortly before the session. It is a tune that I first heard the Mingus Big Band play in New York, and I instantly was drawn to the melody. I then discovered the original Mingus recording as well as a version by Joe Lovano, and I new that it was a song that I wanted to record. It was a good choice because it's one of those tunes where the melody is so beautiful that even if my solo was to suck (which it does) that the melody and changes are so beautiful that it doesn't even matter.

Q: Please tell me how you've teamed up with Fresh Sound Records, a Spanish label.

Walter Smith III: I happened to have played a lot in Barcelona, Spain in the past few years, and one night after a concert the owner of the label, Jordi Pujol, was in the audience and we talked for a while. That was a few years ago, and he put the offer out to work together. After keeping in touch, last year I felt that I was ready to record so I contacted him and he was very receptive to the project and we went from there.

Q: The album's front cover is a remake of Sam Rivers Fuchsia Swing Song album. And the typographical design of the back looks a lot like a Blue Note release. There's certainly a story behind this tribute. Who came up with the idea and why?

Walter Smith III: Actually I have always loved the old Blue Note covers. I actually even have a big book that has all of them in it. When I was thinking about what I would name the record and what would be on the cover I looked in that book for inspiration and was reminded of the Fuschia Swing Song cover. That's been one of my favorite records for years...the music, but also the cover, and I figured that the first track was a song from that record anyway, so it all just kind of fell in to place.
[note: and the readers of jazz-not-jazz that don't have such a book can find most of the old Blue Note front and back covers plus other old record covers on this Japanese site: http://www.gokudo.co.jp/Record/WVocal1/index.htm]

Q: Please tell me how you've met the musicians involved on Casually Introducing. Did you play with them before and are some of them a regular part of your band?

Walter Smith III: I met Eric Harland when I was about 10 years old in a jazz summer camp...he was older than me and already playing at an amazingly high level and on his way to new york. I played with him a few times while I was growing up and learing how to play. He has always been one of my favorite drummers, and upon mocing to Boston, he recommended me to do some gigs with Terence Blanchard. On that gig I met the pianist Aaron Parks and was immediatley amazed by his musicality and musical genius. I was high shool classmates with drummer Kendrick Scott and pianist Robert Glasper and have always enjoyed playing with both of them. I had the opportunity to play with Reuben on several gigs, both with my own bands as well as with his band while in boston, and the same with Vicente Archer and Lage Lund. Gretchen Parlato is a good friend and New York aqquaintance, and I was immediately blown away with her vibe and musical accomplishment.

Q: Where do you see your musical progress compared to the time you've received a Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship back in Houston. And in which ways would you like your music to develop?

Walter Smith III: Since I've started, I have come a long way in what I am hearing as well as what I am seeking to accomplish with my music. I think that as everyone says it truly takes more than a lifetime to learn and accomplish everything that you want to in music, and I definitely believe that to be true. My current goals are to continue to write better and more melodic music as well as to become a more accomplished saxophone player...especially on soprano. My ultimate goal is to continute to make records that touch people and that they will enjoy listening to over and over again.

For more infos visit waltersmith3.com, freshsoundrecords.com, cdbaby.com and read my review of Casually Introducing.