Smiling Jack Smith
Spain
Jack Smith was born in Newark, New Jersey, and grew up in
Staten Island, New York. Starting out as a tap-dancer and a singer, he traded
in his tap shoes for a guitar at the age of twelve and began writing and composing
his own songs almost immediately. He spent the sixties as a folk singer, working
with a vocal group called The Smith Brothers (there was one woman singer in
the group, but what the heck), that reached its peak when they made a demo for
CBS with the legendary John Hammond, Sr.
The decade drew to a close with the formation of the now mythical
band Orville Dorp, which migrated to Vancouver in the early seventies. The band
had it's share of fame with a song called "Jesus Marijuana" which
they released as a 45 rpm single, and then passed into history around the time
that Jack was given the name Smiling Jack by some friends from a band called
Stallion Thumbrock. The name stuck, and Jack stayed in Vancouver for 20 years,
becoming a Canadian citizen and raising a son, MacKenzie.
During this 20 years Jack formed a number of interesting groups,
from Smiling Jack and the Sparklers through Delta Airtight and ending up with
a four piece vocal group called Party Fever, which released an album titled
"Ahh... Capella" in 1990. Then Jack moved back to the States for a
while, singing a bit of country music in Florida and then living in New Jersey
again where his focus finally settled on the blues.
His first solo album, "Direct To Dat Jack", was recorded
in Hoboken in 1994. A visit to Spain opened up a world of new possibilities
and later that year Jack moved his blues to Madrid, where he has been living
for the last 12 years with his wife Carmen and their daughter Maria. During
this period Jack released 3 CDs in Spain, "First Night With The Blues"
in 1996, "Second Chance" in 1997 and "Three Seconds to Love Me"
in 2003.
He has just finished recording his fourth CD, "This Blue
Before", in Canada, using an all-star line-up of Canadian musicians as
well as his Spanish drummer, Quique Villafane. The recording was produced by
the internationally famous jazz guitarist Pat Coleman and features a brillant
horn section led by Phil Dwyer.
Over the course of some 40 years as a working musician, Jack
has had the great fortune to work as an opening act for some of the biggest
names in show business, including B. B. King, John Mayall, Bonnie Raitt, Charlie
Musselwhite, Johnny Clyde Copeland, John Hammond, Jr, and the Reverend
Gary Davis.
Smiling Jack, Vocals and guitar / Dave Vidal, Lead guitar /
Miles Black, Piano, clavinet and B3 / Quique Villafane, Drums / Ken Lister,
Double bass / Mike Herriot, Trumpet and trombone / Monik Nordine, Baritone sax
/ Phil Dwyer, Tenor sax
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