Willie “The Lion” Smith (November 23, 1893 – April 18, 1973) was one of the fathers of the stride piano style. During the 1920s he was a sort of underground figure, who gained a reputation as a hot piano player by providing the music for rent parties in the private homes and small clubs of Harlem. He recorded rarely during the 1920s, but was the first musical director of Mamie Smith’s Jazz Hounds and is the pianist on “Crazy Blues“, the first Blues record released in 1920.Smith was a major influence on Duke Ellington who later went on to write the songs “Portrait of the Lion” and “Second Portrait of the Lion” in honor of him. Smith didn’t make any recordings under his own name until the mid-1930s, but played on several of Perry Bradford’s sessions like Georgia Strutters, The Gulf Coast Seven and The Blue Rhythm Orchestra. Throughout his career he led few bands, preferring the life of a solo performer, but he remained very active in music until his death in 1973.
See: Willie “The Lion” Smith: Profiles in Jazz
| Willie “The Lion” Smith and his Orchestra | Willie “The Lion” Smith and his Cubs |
| Title | Recording Date | Recording Location | Company |
| Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea (Ted Koehler / Harold Arlen) | 1-10-1939 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea (Ted Koehler / Harold Arlen) | 12-1950 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| Concentrating (Willie “The Lion” Smith) | 1-10-1939 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| Concentrating (Willie “The Lion” Smith) | 12-1950 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| Echoes Of Spring (Willie “The Lion” Smith) | 1-10-1939 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| Echoes Of Spring (Willie “The Lion” Smith) | 12-1950 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| Fading Star (Willie “The Lion” Smith) | 1-10-1939 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| Fading Star (Willie “The Lion” Smith) | 12-1950 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| Finger Buster (Willie “The Lion” Smith) | 1-10-1939 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| Finger Buster (Willie “The Lion” Smith) | 12-1950 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| Hallelujah | 12-1950 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| I Can’t Give You Anything But Love (Dorothy Fields / Jimmy McHugh) | 12-1950 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| I’ll Follow You (Fred Ahlert / Roy Turk) | 1-10-1939 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| I’ll Follow You (Fred Ahlert / Roy Turk) | 12-1950 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| Just One Of Those Things (Cole Porter) | 12-1950 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| Madelon | 12-1950 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| Morining Air (Willie “The Lion” Smith) | 1-10-1939 | New York, New York | Decca 2269 B |
| Morining Air (Willie “The Lion” Smith) | 12-1950 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| Passionette (Willie “The Lion” Smith) | 1-10-1939 | New York, New York | Decca 2269 A |
| Passionette (Willie “The Lion” Smith) | 12-1950 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| Poor Butterfly | 12-1950 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| Rippling Waters (Willie “The Lion” Smith) | 1-10-1939 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| Rippling Waters (Willie “The Lion” Smith) | 12-1950 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| Smoke Gets In Your Eyes (Otto Harbach / Jerome Kern) | 12-1950 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| Sneakaway (Willie “The Lion” Smith) | 1-10-1939 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| Sneakaway (Willie “The Lion” Smith) | 12-1950 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| Stormy Weather (Harold Arlen / Ted Koehler) | 1-10-1939 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| Stormy Weather (Harold Arlen / Ted Koehler) | 12-1950 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| Tea For Two (Vincent Youmans / Irving Caesar) | 1-10-1939 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| Tea For Two (Vincent Youmans / Irving Caesar) | 12-1950 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| The Boy In The Boat (Fats Waller / Clarence Williams) | 1-10-1939 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| The Boy In The Boat (Fats Waller / Clarence Williams) | 12-1950 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| What It There To Say? (Vernon Duke / E.Y. Harburg) | 1-10-1939 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| What It There To Say? (Vernon Duke / E.Y. Harburg) | 12-1950 | New York, New York | Commodore |
| Music on my mind; the memoirs of an American pianist, by Willie the Lion Smith with George Hoefer, Doubleday 1964 |
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