Willie "The Lion" Smith
William Henry Joseph Bonaparte Bertholoff Smith (23 November 1893 – 18 April 1973), a.k.a. "The Lion", was an American jazz pianist and one of the masters of the stride style, usually grouped with James P. Johnson and Thomas "Fats" Waller as the three greatest practitioners of the genre from its Golden Age, c. 1920–1943.
Read more about Willie "The Lion" Smith: Early Life, Music Career, Personal Life, Legacy, Recordings
Famous quotes containing the words lion and/or smith:
“Here in the centre stands the glass. Light
Is the lion that comes down to drink. There
And in that state, the glass is a pool.
Ruddy are his eyes and ruddy are his claws
When light comes down to wet his frothy jaws”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading.”
—Logan Pearsall Smith (1865–1946)