Nick Smith
Fontana, California, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2004 | SELF | AFM
Music
Press
Keyboardist Nick Smith is another dynamic performer who comes to the festival with extraordinary credentials. He has toured with some heavy hitters in the contemporary smooth jazz genre as well as soul and R&B artists.He stepped out front and center to lead a stellar group of musicians during his crowd pleasing set on “Tender Thoughts,” “Monkish,” “Mack’s Blues,” a Latin tinge “Caribbean” and concluded his set with the title track from his latest CD “It’s Like That.” His bandmates consisted of Nick Smith-keyboards, Kamasi Washington-sax,Vashon Johnson-bass,and Marvin “Smitty”Smith on drums.
- EurPublisher
Although many hard-rock acts dominated the main stage throughout the convention, Nick Smith And Friends performed a set of pure jazz at 4:00pm on Saturday. Tonight Show keyboardist Smith was joined by an all-star band consisting of Marvin “Smitty” Smith: drums, Cory Jacobs: keyboard, Trevor Ware: Upright bass, James Manning: Electric bass, Antonio Julius: trumpet, Ray Fuller: guitar, and Kamasi Washington on tenor sax.
Performing a set of hard-bop originals such as “Alternative Way,” “Slow But Surely” (a masterful tribute to Thelonious Monk), and “Tony Williams” (a salute to jazz drum legend Tony Williams), Nick Smith And Friends proved to be one of the most consistently brilliant jazz bands around today. Amazingly (believe it or not), Nick Smith played with the syncopation and humor of Monk and virtuosic energy and fluidity of McCoy Tyner in what I can already predict will be among my top ten performances of 2013. Marvin “Smitty” Smith’s bombastic drumming pushed the entire band to play beyond their comfort zone, which is what true improvised jazz is all about. And Kamasi Washington’s playing brought to mind the adventurous spirit of a young Wayne Shorter or mid-60s Joe Henderson.
Even the band’s final tune, “Yeah” (which was a slight venture into funk/fusion) felt fresh and fun without the typical clichés of those genres. Nick Smith And Friends’ too short set was filled with an understanding and love of the history of hard-bop, modal jazz, with just a hint of fusion. - The International Review of Music
Discography
INFLUENCED (Nick Smith) available at cdBaby, Amazon & iTunes
It's Like That (Nick Smith) available @ iTunes & cdBaby
Features Stanley Clarke, Dennis Chambers, & David
Sanchez
Nick Appears as a Sideman on:
On Fire (Michael 'Patches' Stewart)
The Morning After (Najee)
Milira, (Milira)
Karen, (Karen Briggs)
Save the Children, (Mike Paulo)
The New Groove: The Blue Note Re-Mix Project, Vol. 1, (Various Artists)
Midnight Fantasy, (Brandino)
Until, (Byron Miller)
Dannys Island, (Danny Lerman
From the Nile, (Derf Reklew)
Morning Tenderness, (Najee)
Foreign Affairs, (Vibe Tribe)
Essence of Kwanza, (Bill Summers)
Iroko, (Bill Summers)
Rebirth of the Cool, (Rayford Griffin)
Ill Come By, (Byron Miller)
Compositions, (Michael James Turre)
1, 2 To The Bass, (Stanley Clarke)
My Music, My Friends, My Time, (Oskar Cartaya)
This Side of Me, (Phil Gates)
The Better Place, (Evans Mixed Bag, A Jazz Orchestra)
Flow, (Lynn Fiddmont)
Christmas Eve, (J Grace)
Photos
Bio
Nick Smith, an alumnus of the prestigious Berklee College of Music, has scored for film and TV and recorded with over 20 artists. His catalog of originals features Straight Ahead, Fusion, and Contemporary Jazz, Rock, R&B and Funk. INFLUENCED, Nick's latest CD is available at CD Baby, iTunes and Amazon. Nick's first independent Jazz CD project, It's Like That, features Stanley Clarke, Dennis Chambers, and David Sanchez.
A long time advocate for the preservation of Jazz idiom, Nick is a former keyboardist with the Tonight Show Band. Nick's playing has been well received by several legendary Jazz pianists such as Herbie Hancock, Jack DeJohnette, and Gonzalo Rubalcaba. Nick has toured with various artists including Stevie Wonder, Queen Latifah, Kenny Garrett, Michel Polnareff, Kirk Whalum, and Marcus Miller. Look for Nicks phenomenal harmonic and improvisational skills featured on Najee's release, The Morning After, Michael Patches Stewart's latest release, On Fire, and Bunny Brunel's release, Invent Your Future.
Band Members
Links
