Marvin Smith
Marvin "Smitty" Smith (born June 24, 1961) is an American jazz drummer and composer.
Marvin Smith was born in Waukegan, Illinois, where his father, Marvin Sr., was a drummer. "Smitty" was exposed to music at a young age, receiving formal musical training at the age of three.[1]
After graduating from Waukegan East High School, Smith attended Berklee,[2] graduating in 1981. Smith has recorded 200 albums with various artists, as well as two solo albums.[3] He has toured with, among others, Sting, Dave Holland, Sonny Rollins, Willie Nelson and Steve Coleman.[3] He is a former member of The New York Jazz Quartet,[1] and was the drummer for the Tonight Show with Jay Leno band, led by Kevin Eubanks, from January 30, 1995[3] until the show's end on May 29, 2009. Smith was also the drummer for the Jay Leno Show band in 2009-10.[citation needed]
Discography
[edit]As leader
[edit]- Keeper of the Drums (Concord Jazz, 1987)
- The Road Less Traveled (Concord Jazz, 1989)
As sideman
[edit]With Terence Blanchard and Donald Harrison
- New York Second Line (The George Wein Collection)
With Hamiet Bluiett
- Ebu (Soul Note, 1984)
With Joanne Brackeen
- Turnaround (Evidence, 1992)
With Igor Butman
- Falling Out (Impromptu, 1993)
With Donald Byrd
- Harlem Blues (Landmark, 1987)
With Don Byron
- No-vibe Zone (Knitting Factory Works, 1996)
With Michel Camilo
- One More Once (Columbia, 1994)
With Steve Coleman and M-Base
- Steve Coleman Group: Motherland Pulse (JMT, 1985)
- Five Elements – On the Edge of Tomorrow (JMT, 1986)
- Five Elements – Sine Die (Pangaea, 1987)
- Strata Institute (Double Trio with Greg Osby): Cipher Syntax (JMT, 1989)
- Five Elements – Rhythm_People_(The_Resurrection_of_Creative_Black_Civilization) (Novus/BMG, 1990)
- Strata Institute: Transmigration (Rebel-X/Columbia, 1991)
- Five Elements – Black Science (Novus, 1991)
- Rhythm in Mind (Novus, 1991)
- M-Base Collective: Anatomy of a Groove (Rebel-X/DIW/Columbia, 1992)
- Five Elements – Drop Kick (Novus, 1992)
With Larry Coryell
- Shining Hour (Muse, 1989)
With Art Davis
- A Time Remembered (Jazz Planet, 1995)
With Ray Drummond
With Robin Eubanks
- Karma (JMT, 1991)
- Mental Images (JMT, 1994)
With Art Farmer
- Something to Live For: The Music of Billy Strayhorn (Contemporary, 1987)
- Ph.D. (Contemporary, 1989)
With Frank Foster and Frank Wess
- Two for the Blues (Pablo, 1984)
- Frankly Speaking (Concord, 1985)
With Benny Golson
- Stardust (Denon, 1987) with Freddie Hubbard
- That's Funky (Meldac Jazz, 1995) with Nat Adderley
With Gunter Hampel New York Orchestra
- Fresh Heat – Live at Sweet Basil (Birth, 1985) with Bill Frisell, Curtis Fowlkes, Bob Stewart, a.o.
With John Hicks
- Beyond Expectations (Reservoir, 1993)
With Dave Holland
- Seeds of Time (ECM, 1983)
- The Razor's Edge (ECM, 1987)
- Extensions (ECM, 1990)
With Andy Jaffe
- Manhattan Projections (Stash, 1985) with Wallace Roney and Branford Marsalis
With the Art Farmer/Benny Golson Jazztet
- Back to the City (Contemporary, 1986)
- Real Time (Contemporary, 1986)
With Carmen Lundy
- Jazz & the New Songbook: Live at the Madrid (CD and DVD, Afrasia, 2005)
With Buddy Montgomery
- Ties of Love (Landmark, 1987)
With Ralph Moore
- Rejuvenate! (Criss Cross, 1988)
With David Murray
- Children (Black Saint, 1984)
- Fire! Live at the Village Vanguard (Atlantic, 1989)
- Blue Head (Candid, 1990) with Clifford Jordan
With Joe Newman and Joe Wilder
- Hangin' Out (Concord Jazz, 1984)
With Emily Remler
- East To Wes (Concord, 1988)
With Sonny Rollins
- Sonny Rollins Plays G-Man and Other Music for the Soundtrack of the Robert Mugge Film "Saxophone Colossus" (Milestone, 1987)
With Michel Sardaby
- Going Places (Sound Hills, 1989)
With Archie Shepp
- Soul Song (Enja, 1982)
- Down Home New York (Soul Note, 1984)
With Superblue
- Superblue 2 (Blue Note, 1989)
With Harvie Swartz, Mick Goodrick, and John Abercrombie
- Arrival (Novus, 1992)
With McCoy Tyner
- Prelude and Sonata (Milestone, 1995)
With Gebhard Ullmann, Andreas Willers, and Bob Stewart
- Suite Noire (Nabel, 1990)
With Bobby Watson
- Love Remains (Red, 1986 [1988])
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Drummerworld: Marvin Smith". Retrieved 3 September 2006.
- ^ "Berklee Alumni Website". Archived from the original on April 1, 2008. Retrieved 3 September 2006.
- ^ a b c "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno – Biographies". Archived from the original on 6 September 2006. Retrieved 3 September 2006.
- African-American drummers
- American jazz drummers
- American people of Liberian descent
- African-American television personalities
- Berklee College of Music alumni
- Living people
- 1961 births
- 20th-century American drummers
- American male drummers
- 20th-century American male musicians
- American male jazz musicians
- The Tonight Show Band members
- The Jazztet members
- Superblue (band) members
- 20th-century African-American musicians
- 21st-century African-American musicians