Willie “Face” Smith
alto saxophone, arranger
A Cleveland alto saxophonist and arranger, not the famous Willie Smith, whose Dameron-like writing Barry admired; Barry went to Cleveland to record Flower Drum Song tunes for him, a session that was never released.
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What Barry says
Talking about Tadd Dameron and what was special about Ohio arrangers, Barry names Willie Smith, an alto player and not the famous one, who arranged for a group called Little John and his Merrie Men: about four horns, with a really nice sound.
Barry says Smith, Bugs Bauer and other Ohio arrangers few people have heard of all arranged alike, with something particular to Ohio in their writing, and that Dameron was its highest example.
Asked whether he knew Dameron, Barry says he never met him, but he did know a Willie Smith (not the pianist Willie “The Lion” Smith) who wrote tunes just like Dameron, and says they had a special way with their arrangements.
Victor L. Schermer (interviewer); Barry Harris, Barry Harris: Iconic Jazz Pianist and Keeper of the Flame ¶22Victor L. Schermer (interviewer); Barry Harris, Barry Harris: Iconic Jazz Pianist and Keeper of the Flame ¶23
Barry went to Cleveland to record songs from Flower Drum Song, then a Broadway musical, for Smith. The recording never came out, and Barry calls it a lost album.
In his own words
There was an alto player named Willie Smith, not the famous one; he used to arrange for Little John, Little John and his Merrie Men
I knew a cat named Willie Smith, not the pianist Willie “The Lion” Smith, but another guy who wrote tunes just like Tadd Dameron
I went to Cleveland to record some things for Willie Smith: songs from “Flower Drum Song,” which was a musical on Broadway at the time. The recording was never released.
Every mention
0 moments in the recordings, 0 of them Barry speaking. Each says who is talking.
In the interviews and notes
Barry counts the alto saxophonist Willie Smith among Ohio arrangers whose writing shared a family likeness with Tadd Dameron’s, and recalls that Smith arranged for Little John and his Merrie Men, a group of about four horns.
Barry says he never knew Dameron but did know Willie Smith, who composed in Dameron’s manner, and that he once recorded Flower Drum Song material for Smith in Cleveland, a session that was never issued.
The All About Jazz editors identify him as Willie “Face” Smith, who worked with Dameron early on as one of a circle of Cleveland composers and arrangers.