Louis Smith | Smithville | LP

Louis Smith was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader and teacher, born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1931 and died in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2016. He taught music at Booker T. Washington High School in Atlanta from 1955 while building his career, and was signed by Blue Note after sending in a demonstration disc. He later became a tutor and band director at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Smithville is a vinyl LP album reissued by Rat Pack Records in 2024, released in France as a limited edition of 1,000 copies pressed on 180g vinyl and remastered. The recording was made on 30 March 1958 and credits include Louis Smith on trumpet, Charlie Rouse on tenor saxophone, Sonny Clark on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Art Taylor on drums. Alfred Lion is credited as producer.

Track List

Side A

1. Smithville
2. Wetu

Side B

1. Embraceable You
2. There Will Never Be Another You
3. Later