Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
This band has no press
Discography
RECORDINGS (Walter Smith III)
AS A LEADER:
Casually Introducing Walter Smith III, 2006, Fresh Sound New Talent
Bronze, Walter Smith III/Mark Small, 2007, independent
AS A SIDEMAN:
Anthem, Christian Scott, 2007, Concord Records
Prelude, Ambrose Akinmusire, Fresh Sound New Talent, 2007
Kaliedoscope, Sean Jones, 2007, Mack Avenue
The Source, Kendrick Scott, 2007, World Culture Music
Jazz Drums, Peter Magadini, 2006, Hal Leonard
Let’s Go To Prison Soundtrack, 2006, Bulletproof Records/Universal
Rewind That, Christian Scott, 2006, Concord Records
The Sea, Hironobu Saito, 2006, Fresh Sound New Talent
Caught In The Act, Michael Buble’, 2006, Warner Bros.
I Colori Del Mare, Daniela Schachter, 2006, Splasch Records
One After Another, Mamiko Wantanabe, 2006, (Japanese release only)
Legends and Lions:Blues, Various Artists, 2005, Mack Avenue
Gemini, Sean Jones, 2005, Mack Avenue
The Attack of Wren, Darren Barrett, 2005, Nagel Heyer
On My Way Back Home, Daisuke Abe, 2005, Nagel Heyer
Welcome To New Life, Kendrick Oliver New Life Orchestra, 2004, Sphere Entertainment
The Remaining 2%, Hironobu Saito, 2004, Fresh Sound New Talent
Moving, Tony Grey, 2004, Tony Grey Records
Mysterious Voyages, Various Artists, 2004, ESC Records
Christian Scott, Christian Scott, 2003, Special Entertainment
A Glimpse of Bliss, Edward Perez, 2003, Edward Perez Records
Happy Talk, Christine Fawson, 2002, Faws Inc.
The Definitive Standard, Jason Goldman, 2002, JMG Jazz
Quintet, Daniela Schachter, 2002, Splasch Records
Previous Misconceptions, Emmanuel Vaughn-Lee, 2001, Eman Jazz
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
Bio: Walter Smith III
Walter Smith III began playing the saxophone at the age of 7 in his hometown of Houston, TX. At Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, in 1998, Smith received a Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship from IAJE and NFAA; the NFAA Young Talent Award; a full tuition scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music; and a United States Presidential Scholar in the Arts medal. Walter Graduated from Berklee in 2003 with a degree in Music Education.
While in Boston, Walter was selected by the Boston Jazz Society to receive its annual award whose past winners have included Branford Marsalis and Donald Harrison. In July of 2002, Walter walked away from the Montreaux Jazz Festival in Switzerland with third place in the 1st annual International Saxophone Competition, as well as winning the Audience's Favorite Award. In 2003, Walter moved to New York and began studying at Manhattan School of Music on a full tuition scholarship to receive a master’s in jazz performance. While in New York, Smith kept himself busy touring and performing with such artists as Roy Haynes and Ralph Peterson, as well as Bilal and Destiny’s Child. Smith recently performed in a Tsunami benefit concert with R&B vocalist Lauryn Hill in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Walter has performed all over the world participating in numerous national and international festivals as well as famed stages in the U.S. such as Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. Smith has shared the stage and/or appeared on recording with many jazz notables including Roy Hargrove, Sean Jones, Terence Blanchard, Darren Barrett, Eric Reed, Makoto Ozone, Mulgrew Miller, Jason Moran, Joe Sample, Rueben Rogers, Bob Hurst, Donald Harrison, Antonio Hart, Joe Lovano, Bill Pierce, Myron Walden, Walter Beasley, Lewis Nash, Eric Harland, Ralph Peterson, Terri Lynne-Carrington, and a host of others.
Walter's debut recording as a leader was released in March of 2006 on the Fresh Sound New Talent label and features many of his original compositions. The band is comprised of some of the best young musicians on the scene today including Aaron Parks, Robert Glasper, Lionel Loueke, Lage Lund, Gretchen Parlato, Rueben Rogers, Vicente Archer, Kendrick Scott, Eric Harland, and Matt Kilmer. (for reviews, please visit www.waltersmith3. com)
Most recently Walter has finished a two-year program with the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz in Los Angeles and has already completed tours of both Vietnam and India with Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter. Starting in the fall of 2007, Walter will be teaching at the Los Angeles County High School of the Arts, and is currently touring with the Sean Jones Sextet, Christian Scott and Jason Moran’s Monk Town Hall project titled “In My Mind”.
In 2007 Walter is an integral part of two Grammy nominated recordings including Christian Scott’s “Rewind That” that was nominated for Best Contemporary Jazz Album and Michael Buble’s “Caught in the Act” which was nominated in the Traditional/Pop category. All to be released before the summer of 2007, Walter is featured on upcoming new releases by trumpeters Christian Scott (Concord Records) and Sean Jones (Mack Avenue Records), Drummer Kendrick Scott (World Culture Music), as well as a new live recording of Smith’s own band taped in France.
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