return to casual Walter Smith III

• 1 Contra 05:02
• 2 River Styx 05:31
• 3 Pup - Pow 02:34
• 4 Shine 06:06
• 5 Mother Stands for Comfort 04:07
• 6 quiet song 05:36
• 7 lamplight 03:37
• 8 Amelia Earhart Ghosted Me 05:26
• 9 K8 + BYU$ 06:45
• 10 REVIVE 03:55
• Total Runtime 48:39

Info for return to casual

Smith erlernte im Alter von sieben Jahren das Saxophonspiel und besuchte in Houston die High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Mit einem Stipendium des Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship studierte er am Berklee College of Music, wo er 2003 seinen Bachelor erwarb. In New York setzte er seine Studien an der Manhattan School of Music fort und arbeitete u. a. mit Roy Haynes, Bilal, Destiny’s Child, Herbie Hancock und Wayne Shorter. 2006 erschien sein erstes Soloalbum „Casually Introducing“, 2007 spielte er auf Christian Scotts Album „Rewind That“, das für einen Grammy nominiert wurde.

Mit “return to casual” greift Walter Smith III jetzt sein 2014 veröffentlichtes Album “still casual” auf und stellte dafür ein Spitzenensemble zusammen, in dem auch Blue-Note-Kollegen wie Ambrose Akinmusire und Kendrick Scott glänzen.

Walter Smith III, Tenorsaxophon
Kendrick Scott, Schlagzeug
Harish Raghavan, Bass
Matt Stevens, Gitarre
Taylor Eigsti, Klavier, Fender Rhodes
Ambrose Akinmusire, Trompete (Tracks 2, 8)
James Francies, Fender Rhodes (Track 9)

Walter Smith III
From an early age, Walter began taking music very seriously. “My first gig was playing at a McDonalds in Houston with another saxophone player. I took a solo on “Blue Bossa.” It was terrible. People clapped, and I figured if I could get away with that and get applause, how could I fail?”

Although it may appear Smith is a new voice on the scene, he is widely recognized as an adept performer, accomplished composer, and inspired educator. Smith’s latest release, In Common III, has been described as “boundary pushing”, and features some of the most important and talked about musicians in the world - Matt Stevens, Kris Davis, Dave Holland and Terri Lyne Carrington. Newly signed to Blue Note Records, Smith will release his debut, “return to casual” for the label on April 7, 2023.

Smith has developed under the wings of many of the music’s greats. Walter is/has been a member of several legendary groups (recording and/or touring) including the Roy Haynes Fountain of Youth Band, Terence Blanchard Quintet, Eric Harland's “Voyager”, Bill Stewart Trio, Jason Moran’s In My Mind:Monk at Town Hall, Ambrose Akinmusire Quintet, the Christian McBride “Situation”, Marquis Hill “New Gospel Revisited”, Gerald Clayton Quintet, Christian Scott group and the Sean Jones Quintet to name a few.

Smith has performed all over the world participating in virtually every international festival as well as famed venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Village Vanguard, and the Kennedy Center. In addition, he has shared the stage and/or appeared on recordings with many important artists including Mulgrew Miller, Billy Childs, Joe Lovano, Herbie Hancock, Maria Schneider, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ralph Peterson, and a host of others. To date, Walter has appeared on over 100 recordings that are released worldwide.

Originally from Houston, TX, Smith now resides in Boston, MA and is Chair of Woodwinds at Berklee College of Music helping to prepare the next generation of young artists.

Walter proudly endorses Boston Sax Shop Reeds/Accessories/Cases, Silverstein Works Ligatures, and Fred LeBayle Mouthpieces.

This album contains no booklet.