From Los Angeles Times
Paul Smith dies at 91; jazz pianist,
arranger, composer
A brilliant soloist and accompanist, Paul Smith worked
with diverse talents
such as Ella Fitzgerald, Steve Allen and Sammy Davis
Jr.
By Don Heckman
July 1, 2013, 11:04 p.m.
Paul
Smith, a jazz pianist, arranger-composer and music director for stars such
as
Sammy Davis Jr., Anita O'Day, Mel Torme, Ella Fitzgerald, Doris Day,
the
Andrews Sisters, Sarah Vaughan and Rosemary Clooney, has died. He was
91.
Smith died of heart failure Saturday at the Torrance Memorial
Medical
Center, publicist Alan Eichler said.
At 6 feet 5, with hands
that easily spanned the piano keyboard well beyond
octaves, Smith was an
impressive sight on stage. Playing with a versatility
comparable to that of
Oscar Peterson and a harmonic richness similar to the
work of Bill Evans, he
was both a brilliant soloist and an accompanist who
was highly praised by the
many singers with whom he performed.
His initial solo album, "Liquid
Sounds," is the first of numerous convincing
examples of his impressive
musical skills. Fluent with jazz, classical music
and beyond, he moved from
genre to genre with ease.
"Paul was a perfectionist and worked every day
to improve his art," said
jazz singer Lyn Stanley, for whom Smith was a
mentor, an accompanist and a
close friend. "When you worked with him, he
expected the same of you."
For more than 25 years Smith was the pianist
and music director for the "The
Steve Allen Comedy Hour." "What Paul Smith
does with two hands would
ordinarily take three. He does the impossible,"
Allen - himself a pianist
and jazz fan - once said.
Smith recorded
more than five dozen albums - many of which are still
available - as a leader
of his own groups. As a much-favored accompanist, he
recorded with singers
and musicians of extraordinarily diverse styles,
including Tony Martin, Bing
Crosby, Red Skelton, Pat Boone, Nat "King" Cole, Pearl
Bailey and Dizzy
Gillespie, among many others. He worked for more than 11
years as a pianist
and conductor with Ella Fitzgerald, and four with Sammy
Davis Jr.
"You
know," Smith told the San Diego Union-Tribune in 1991, "an accompanist
has to
be selfless - he has to put his ego on the shelf and make the
vocalist sound
better than she would without him. But with Ella that was no
problem." Their
musical relationship was a fulfilling creative experience
for both, with
Smith playing on many of Fitzgerald's critically praised,
classic "songbook"
albums.
In addition to his far-reaching activities as an accompanist and
solo
artist, Smith spent many years as a studio musician, performing
and
arranging for film and television scores and a wide range of
recordings.
Among many other assignments, he was a staff pianist at
Warner
Bros. and NBC, appearing on Dinah Shore's TV variety show for eight years.
But, unlike many musicians, he enjoyed the challenges and the opportunities
of studio work.
"I liked the studio work because I could stay at home,"
he told the Idaho
Statesman in 2006. "I enjoyed the variety of music, not
just playing the
same 34 songs every night. Accompanying every kind of singer
- jazz,
country, bossa nova - was a lot more fun than sitting in a club
every
night."
Smith was also active as a teacher and educator,
training established
professionals as well as eager novices. He wrote piano
method books,
covering styles reaching from boogie-woogie and bebop to
ballads and
accompaniment techniques.
Smith was born in San Diego on
April 17, 1922. He began studying classical
piano music at 8, had his own
band in high school and was still in his teens
when he became a working
professional with the Johnny Richards band in 1941.
After playing with a
military band led by Ziggy Elman during World War II,
he joined the Les Paul
Trio in 1946. Shortly thereafter, he worked with the
Tommy Dorsey Band as a
pianist-arranger in 1947-48 before moving to
Hollywood in 1949 and becoming
an active studio musician.
"My father told me when I was young," he told
The Times in 1994, "that since
I was going to have to work a very long time,
choose something I enjoyed and
I'd never have to work a day in my life. I'm
72 and I still enjoy playing."
Smith was an active player until his
death. He was scheduled to perform with
his wife, singer and pianist Annette
Warren, at Catalina Bar & Grill jazz
club in mid-July.
For the
past four years, Smith and Warren toured with a show titled "A
Marriage of
Music and Mirth." They also recorded several albums together,
including the
appropriately titled "His and Hers."
Besides his wife of 54 years, Smith
is survived by their daughter, actress
Lauri Johnson, sons Gary and Paul,
eight grandchildren and two
great-grandchildren.
