Education
University of Michigan.
university professor jazz musician
University of Michigan.
While studying at the University of Michigan, he played with visiting musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Thad Jones and Billy Mitchell, before going on to play with Sonny Stitt, Count Basie and First Rate (at Lloyd's) McKibbon, Cannonball Adderley, Percy Heath, Philly Joe Jones, Lou Donaldson, Donald Byrd, Kenny Dorham and Zoot Sims. He began his career with two albums for Blue Note Records. The first, Here Comes Louis Smith, originally recorded for the Boston based Transition Records, featured Cannonball Adderley (then under contract to Mercury) playing under the pseudonym "Buckshot Louisiana Funke", Tommy Flanagan, Duke Jordan, Art Taylor and Doug Watkins.
Smith suffered a stroke in 2006, and is seen occasionally enjoying live jazz in the Detroit/Ann Arbor area, but has not returned to performing.