![]() His best known musical composition is the track " Walk Don't Run", written for a 1954 recording session as a contrafact to "Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise". Mosaic Records issued the majority of them in an 8-CD set in 2002. From 1952 and into the 1960s he recorded for the Roost label, on whose releases his reputation mainly rests. : 43 Initially released as a track on the 10-inch LP "Jazz at NBC" (Roost 410), "Moonlight in Vermont" was later made the title track of a 1956 12 inch LP. The single was the second most popular jazz record in DownBeat 's readers' poll for 1952. Smith's most critically acclaimed recording was of the song " Moonlight in Vermont", and featured tenor saxophonist Stan Getz. : 26 His playing is characterized by closed-position chord voicings and rapidly ascending lines (reminiscent of Django Reinhardt, but more diatonic than chromatically-based). From Schoenberg to Gershwin to originals, Smith was one of the most versatile guitarists of the 1950s.Īs a staff studio guitarist and arranger for NBC from 1946 to 1951, and on a freelance basis thereafter until 1958, Smith played in a variety of settings from solo to full orchestra and had his own trio, The Playboys, with Mort Lindsey and Arlo Hults. Career Īn extremely diverse musician, Johnny Smith was equally at home playing in the Birdland jazz club or sight-reading scores in the orchestral pit of the New York Philharmonic. Determined not to go to mechanic's school, Smith spent the two weeks practicing the cornet in the latrine, as recommended by the bandleader, and passed the examination. Smith claimed that they gave him a cornet, an Arban's instructional book, and two weeks to meet the standard, which included being able to read music. ![]() Given a choice between joining the military band and being sent to mechanic's school, Smith opted to join the military band. He was invalidated from the flight programme because of imperfect vision in his left eye. ![]() Having learned to fly from pilots he befriended, Smith enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces in the hopes of becoming a military pilot. He left The Mountain Boys when he was eighteen years old to join a variety trio called the Airport Boys. Having become increasingly interested in the jazz bands that he heard on the radio, Smith gradually moved away from country music towards playing jazz. He dropped out of high school to accommodate this enterprise. Smith joined Uncle Lem and the Mountain Boys, a local hillbilly band that travelled around Maine, performing at dances, fairs, and similar venues. One of Smith's students bought a new guitar and gave him his old guitar, which became the first guitar Smith owned. At thirteen years of age he was teaching others to play the guitar. Smith taught himself to play guitar in pawnshops, which let him play in exchange for keeping the guitars in tune. In 1984, Smith was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame.ĭuring the Great Depression, Smith's family moved from Birmingham, Alabama, where Smith was born, through several cities, ending up in Portland, Maine. Johnny Henry Smith II (J– June 11, 2013) was an American cool jazz and mainstream jazz guitarist.
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