Sonelius Smith
Sonelius Smith (* 1942 in Hillhouse , Mississippi ) is an American jazz pianist , composer , arranger and music teacher .
Live and act
Smith had a classical piano training after moving to Memphis, Tennessee, with his family at the age of nine . After graduating from high school, he received a scholarship to study at Arkansas AM&N College, (now the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff ), where he studied piano and music theory with Josephus Robinson. After graduation, he toured Europe with John Stubblefield in The New Directions ; then he moved to New York City. There he worked in Rashied Ali's quartet for the music educational project Jazzmobile , and as a composer and arranger for Bob Crewes music publisher Saturday Music .
In the early 1970s he went on tour with Rahsaan Roland Kirk and took part in his albums Blacknuss, Rahsaan Rahsaan and Black Inventions Strata 1 . In 1976 he played a. a. with Olu Dara , Byard Lancaster and Don Moye in the formation Flight to Sanity , with whom recordings were made at the New York Jazz Loft Sessions in 1976 . In 1977 Strata-East Records released his album The World of the Children for which Shamek Farrah was responsible . He also worked a. a. with Frank Foster , Archie Shepp , Lionel Hampton , Robin Kenyatta , David Murray , Noah Howard and Andrew Cyrille as well as in the Piano Choir conducted by Stanley Cowell . Smith worked on 18 recordings between 1970 and 1997. His compositions were u. a. Recorded by Ahmad Jamal ( The Need to Smile ) and Robin Kenyatta ( Mellow in the Park ). Smith taught at the Community Museum of Brooklyn for several years and was the founder / director of the New York Jazz Philharmonic . He currently teaches at the Harlem School of the Arts and the Third Street Music School Settlement .
Discographic notes
- Robin Kenyatta - Stomping at the Savoy (Atlantic, 1974)
- Shamek Farrah & Sonelius Smith - The World of the Children (1977)
- Andrew Cyrille feat. Ted Daniel - Sonelius Smith - Nick Di Geronimo - The Navigator ( Soul Note , 1983)
- David Murray Big Band ( DIW Records , 1991)
- David Murray Big Band Conducted by Lawrence "Butch" Morris (DIW, 1991)
- David Murray - Body and Soul ( Black Saint , 1993)
- Noah Howard - Comraderie (1997), with Kali Z. Fasteau, Bobby Few , Joe McPhee , Warren Smith
Web links
- Web presence
- Sonelius Smith at Discogs (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b biography on the website
- ↑ Furthermore played in the formation Nat Jones , Hugh Lawson , Webster Lewis and Harold Mabern . See New York Magazine 6 May 1974, p. 59
- ↑ See Tom Lord Jazzdiscography
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Smith, Sonelius |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American jazz pianist, composer, arranger and music educator |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1942 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Hillhouse , Mississippi |