Buster Smith
| Buster Smith | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Henry Franklin Smith |
| Also known as | Buster, Professor |
| Born |
August 24, 1904 Alsdorf, Ellis County, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | August 10, 1991 (aged 86) Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz, big band, swing |
| Instruments | Alto saxophone, organ, guitar, clarinet, bass guitar |
| Years active | 1923–1980 |
| Labels | Atlantic |
| Associated acts | Oklahoma City Blue Devils, Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Hodges, Oscar Peterson, Bobby Short, Earl Hines, Eric Dolphy, John Lewis |
Henry Franklin "Buster" Smith (August 24, 1904 – August 10, 1991), also known as Professor Smith, was an American jazz alto saxophonist and mentor to Charlie Parker. Smith was instrumental in instituting the Texas Sax Sound with Count Basie and Lester Young in the 1930s. Smith played saxophone for a range of musicians including Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Earl Hines, though in his career only recorded one solo album in 1959. Despite intending to release a follow-up in the 1960s, Smith was injured in an accident leading to a follow-up never eventuating.
Smith was born and raised in Alsdorf, Texas, a small township near Telico in the outskirts of Dallas, where he attended school as a child. Smith earned the name "Buster" from his parents as a baby, as he was born as an overweight child. Buster was the third of five boys and had no sisters, though both of his older brothers died in childhood of measles.
Smith's early musical influences were his mother, and his father, who played guitar. At the age of four years, Buster was playing the organ with his brother, pianist Boston Smith; Buster played the keys and Boston stepped on the pedals. Soon thereafter, his grandfather gave away the family organ because he believed it would only direct Buster to a life of sin.
In 1919, Smith picked cotton for a week to earn himself the money to buy a $3.50 clarinet. Smith learned to play several instruments by the time he was eighteen years old. In 1922, Smith and his family moved to Dallas. He joined the Voodie White Trio, playing Alto saxophone and clarinet. In 1923, he began his professional music career playing alto saxophone with the medicine shows, though he had to play very loudly to draw in more customers. This experience led to Smith defining his own musical style, known for being loud. The time with the medicine shows also led to Oran "Hot Lips" Page inviting Smith to join his group, the Oklahoma City Blue Devils, in 1925. Over the next few years, Smith wrote much of the group's music, learning from banjo player Johnny Clark, writing lyrics with co-workers from the bank that he worked in.
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