When I think back to musicians I have admired, many come to mind and one individual who I have great respect for, even though he has strong feelings for another political party than mine, is John C. Smith.
I first met him while he was a Master’s degree student at the University of Northern Iowa many years ago. We played jobs together and although we differed in many ways, I knew at that time he would be a tremendous asset in the field of music.
John is a “no compromising individual” and because of that I admire his strong will and outstanding musical taste. For that reason I have asked him to share with us his background, experience and thoughts of his future in continuing to promote good music.
John played in the US Air Force SAC Bands; first at Ellsworth AFB in Rapid City, SD from 1968-69, SAC Headquarters in Omaha, NB from 69-70, and played in 2nd Air Force Band in Shreveport, LA from 70-72. While there he directed the jazz band. Eventually he earned his MA degree at the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa where he studied Bass Trombone and performed in the Faculty Brass Quintet on Tuba.
In 1973 to 1977 he started the jazz program at the University of Minnesota Duluth which was the first jazz program in the state of Minnesota. While teaching there he taught low brass, and played part time with the Duluth Symphony on String Bass.
From there he moved to North Texas State University in Denton TX and from 1977-80 he worked on his PhD in Jazz Education.
In November, 2000 he formed the Pecos River Brass Big Band, which is in its 20th year of performing. This group also doubles as the Les Elgart Ghost Band since 2003, where he is the musical director and bass trombonist. This legacy band performs about 10 times a year.
His favorite Big Band jazz focuses on the 1940s dance band era and mainstream jazz for big bands, based from the big band revival of the 1960s to the present.
His favorite big bands were led by 1) Woody Herman, 2) Francy Boland, 3) Count Basie and his favorite Jazz musician is Johnny Hartman.
When asked who had the most influence in his musical development, the following were mentioned-
Don Allen, HS Band Director
Robert Getchell, brass teacher from Luther College
Karl M Holvik, SCI concert band director
David Kennedy, SCI applied teacher
Jim Coffin, SCI Jazz Band Director
Larry Smithee, friend and mentor on Jazz in USAF
Richmond Matteson, teacher and professional musician at NTSU
Tom Kubis, pro musician and writer for Big Band
Tony Baker, trombone instructor at U of North Texas (Formerly North Texas State University)
Claude Bolling, Writer, big band leader and friend in Paris, France
At a time when Big Bands are not as popular as they had been in the past, John has continued to push to keep the Big Band image and music at the forefront as you can see from the following video.
“Thank you John for your steadfast dedication to music education and your never ending drive to keep quality jazz alive”.
