Interview with Hartford-based jazz pianist Emery Smith on his career in jazz from the 1940s through 2000s. (00:01:00) Elmo Hope; (00:03:23) "Some other spring" by Edith Wilson; (00:04:00) women pianists and women in jazz -- Cleo Brown, Rose Murphy; (00:08:52) Nina Simone and memories of her studying music, "could have been a strict jazz piano player," Simone and civil rights movement; (00:12:08) Shirley Scott; (00:15:07) Margaret Johnson; (00:16:31) "You better go now"; (00:17:36) Betty Carter; (00:18:23) "I'm old fashioned"; (00:27:30) Mary Osborne, Marjorie Hyams, George Shearing; (00:29:35) "November seascape"; (00:32:10) "I hear a rhapsody"; (00:33:39) Ray Eberle's "Tangerine"; (00:37:40) Jutta Hipp, great player who left music; (00:39:45) Bud Powell, tragic death; (00:41:11) Sarah Vaughan (a great piano player but didn't want to play), Jimmy Jones, a crystal clear player; (00:42:17) John Levy, good bass player; sad story of singer Dakota Staton; (00:46:15) Doc Cheatham; (00:53:46) Mary Lou Williams; (00:57:55) Marian McPartland and her husband Jimmy, Hank Jones; (01:09:02) "I'll be tired of you"; (01:12:55) "Sand in my shoes"; (01:17:25) "I can't give you anything but love."
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This interview was a project of the Valley Jazz Network and was made possible through the generosity of donors with particular thanks to Dr. Willie Hill, Director of the Fine Arts Center, Allen Davis, and Arlene Avakian.
