Russell Smith (trumpeter)

Russell T. "Pop" Smith (* 1890 in Ripley , Ohio ; † 27. March 1966 in Los Angeles , California ) was an American jazz - trumpet player and singer.

Russell Smith came from a musical family; one of his brothers was the trumpeter Joe Smith , who also worked as a jazz trumpeter . He began his musical career in various music theaters in Cincinnati and then went on tour with an ensemble called Six Musical Spoilers . When he came to New York this way, he switched to Joe Jordan's band. During World War I he was employed as a musician in the 350th Field Artillery Band in France; after the war he became a member of James Reese Europe's band in 1919 . In the mid-1920s he worked with Fletcher Henderson , then in Noble Sissle's Orchestra, in which at the same time the pianist of the same name Russell Smith was active, with whom he is often confused. After four years with Sissle, he played again with Henderson, whose orchestra he then belonged to for two decades. He also worked with Ben Webster , Coleman Hawkins , Horace Henderson and Benny Carter . From 1942 he was part of the Cab Calloway orchestra ; a decade later, after returning to work at Sissle, he retired in California, but still played and taught occasionally.

Web links

• Russell Smith at Allmusic (English)