Jazzfest facts, hot off the press. - New Jersey Jazz Society

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JerseyArticlesJazzWILLIE “THE LION” SMITH continued from page 23Willie “The Lion” Smithcan’t play hot with a cold cigar.After Prohibition was repealed in 1933 (thethirteen-year ban barely dented the drinkinghabits of New Yorkers, though the booze didimprove afterward), The Lion startedworking downtown at the jazz clubs onFifty-second Street. Wider fame first camein 1935, when Decca began issuing a seriesof records with small combos, Willie theLion and His Cubs.Just the same, Willie preferred to workalone, and he cut solo discs from 1939until well into the 1960s. Those on theCommodore label really show him at hisbest. He recorded eight original numbers atthe 1939 Commodore session, and you canhear the influence of classical music inthem. These will always live as masterworksof stride piano, securing Willie’s place withJohnson and Waller — excuse me, theirplace with him!The Lion roared into the 1940s, whenTommy Dorsey and Artie Shaw addedarrangements of his original songs to theirbooks. Now Willie could pick and choosewhere he worked in and out of New York.At the Pied Piper in 1944, he played withMax Kaminsky’s band, and he and James P.joined in stride battles there and in Toronto.He toured Europe and North Africa at theturn of 1949–1950, and returned to appearregularly at New York’s Central Plaza, beforetouring Europe again. He played in themovie, Jazz Dance in 1954, and in theDupont Show of the Month, “Chicago andAll That Jazz” in 1961, while continuing towork the jazz festival circuit.During World War II, I had a little house inGreenwich Village. In the house was a piano,and at the piano as often as we could makeit was Willie The Lion Smith. An authenticVillage scene: the floor crowded with youngpoets, painters and musicians; the kitchenfilled with Danish hams and delicacies; thebar stacked with French brandy, and the airfilled with wonderful music.Willie would give us illustrated lectures,showing us the evolution of jazz from thefirst ragtime as Scott Joplin played it, to thelatest bebop as Bud Powell might play it.That is, he tried to show us the differences instyles, but somehow they all sounded likeWillie The Lion Smith — which was goodenough for me. When I mentioned this tohim, though, he merely shrugged and said,“Well, of course! You don’t expect me tosound like all those punks, do you?”Whereupon he relit his cigar and sent a bluecloud billowing out into the smoky room.A few years ago, I met Willie one evening onBroadway. His “office” was there, outsideThe Turf restaurant. He was standing by thesidewalk contemplating the stars. He hadalways been interested in astrology and isconvinced that the stars determine his life.If it’s a question of a new job, the stars haveto decide — which isn’t always satisfactorywhen things go wrong, until one stops torealize there are such things as unlucky stars.Willie is patient, however. “Everything takestime,” he likes to say, “and since everybody’slife is controlled by a star, and this world islousy with people, you must be patient.”Willie Smith seems to have plenty of time. 3He sits at home speculating and working onhis memoirs, which may be titled, The Worldof Willie The Lion Smith 4 — a great, big,beautiful world.JJ1. Berthol was Timme’s addition. In Marc Fields’ documentary film, “Willie the Lion: A Musical Biography about Willie the Lion Smith,” Smith says,“Name: William Henry Joseph Bonaparte Bertholoff Smith. Quite a name. Takes in French and Jewish.”2. Willie had two older brothers, George and Jerome Bertholoff. Four of John Smith’s sons, including Ralph, were apparently alive in the mid-1960s.“The rest of the Smiths, eleven boys and one girl in all, died between the ages of three and seven,” Willie says in his memoirs (footnote 4).3. The Lion died April 18, 1973 in New York City.4. Willie Smith’s book, written with George Hoefer, with a foreword by Duke Ellington, is titled Music on My Mind: The Memoirs of an American Pianist(New York: Doubleday, 1964), republished as a 318-page paperback (New York: DaCapo, April 1978). The Editor’s Note (p. xiv in the paperback) includesthe quote from Timme Rosenkrantz: “It was a tough war,” said Willie, “and I’m proud and happy that I won it.”24April 2007 JerseyJazz
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