My Influences:
Willie "The Lion" Smith (Nov 23, 1893 - Apr 18, 1973)
piano, voice, character
There's been plenty written about this guy. Actually, there's been plenty written about this guy BY this guy. (It seems this guy really liked to talk about himself!)
There is lots of audio and video of him, as well.
So, please, look into "The Lion" if you haven't before; this guy is totally worth it!
Willie "The Lion" Smith is one of the first three names most folks associate with stride piano, and rightfully so! (James P. Johnson and Fats Waller for you curious types.) His style is very distinctive; in fact, unmistakable.
One of my favorite habits of The Lion's is stuttering and pausing his phrases on unexpected beats. (You'll hear this in Pops Foster's bass playing, as well.) As a direct result of listening to this man's amazing music, it turns up in my bass playing. There is a great enthusiasm with which The Lion plays. He conveys his beautiful spirit so well through the piano with great control.
This Friday, we celebrate Willie "The Lion" Smith's birth.
Take a moment sometime this week to check out this man's work. There is plenty of it around!
Some links:
"Music on My Mind: The Memoirs of an American Pianist"
The Willie The Lion Smith autobiography:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/used/ListingResults.asp?z=y&WID=35560&TTL=music%20on%20my%20mind&Itm=1
Red Hot Jazz:
http://www.redhotjazz.com/thelion.html
Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_%22The_Lion%22_Smith
A film biography (this is a well-done hour-long documentary that does a noteworthy job of covering "The Lion's" accomplishments - well worth checking out!)
http://www.njn.net/artsculture/williethelion/
Some Clips on Youtube.com:
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=willie+the+lion
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"Everybody's worried about stopping terrorism. Well, there's a really easy way: Stop participating in it."
~Noam Chomsky
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