Lavay Smith (born 1967) is an American singer specializing in swing and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

. She tours with her eight-piece "little big band", Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers.

Biography

The fourth of five children, Lavay Smith was born in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

. Her father was a jazz fan, and she grew up hearing

Fats Waller Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, violinist, singer, and comedic entertainer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz pi ...

Bessie Smith Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) was an American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the " Empress of the Blues", she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1930s. Inducted into the Rock and ...

Helen Humes Helen Humes (June 23, 1913 – September 9, 1981) was an American singer. Humes was a teenage blues singer, a vocalist with Count Basie's band, a saucy R&B diva, and a mature interpreter of the classic popular song. Early life She was born on ...

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday had an innovative influence on jazz music and pop si ...

, and

Dinah Washington Dinah Washington (born Ruth Lee Jones; August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963) was an American singer and pianist, who has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the 1950s songs". Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performe ...

, though she listened to genres outside of jazz. When she was twelve, she moved with her family to the Philippines. In her teens she sang in a rock band in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

, performing for members of the American military. The family moved back to California, where she attended high school. After moving to San Francisco, she sang in coffee houses, accompanying herself on guitar. She formed the Red Hot Skillet Lickers in 1989 with Chris Siebert, who was a member of the washboard-jazz band Bo Grumpus with guitarist Craig Ventresco. Smith combined "red hot" with

Gid Tanner James Gideon "Gid" Tanner (June 6, 1885 – May 13, 1960) was an American old-time fiddler and one of the earliest stars of what would come to be known as country music. His band, the Skillet Lickers, was one of the most innovative and influe ...

's 1920s country band, the Skillet Lickers. The band played rock and roll clubs, then became popular with the

swing revival The swing revival, also called retro swing and neo-swing, was a renewed interest in swing music, beginning around 1989 and reaching a peak from the early/mid to late 1990s. The music was generally rooted in the big bands of the swing era of the ...

that started several years later. Their first album was released in 1996. The song "Everybody's Talkin' 'bout Miss Thang" peaked at No. 24 on the ''Billboard'' magazine Jazz chart in 2000.

Band

Since 1996 she has performed and toured with an eight-piece lineup (four horns and four rhythm) of trumpet, trombone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, piano, guitar, bass, and drums. Occasionally, Lavay expands the band to ten pieces (six horns and four rhythm) by adding a second trumpet and a baritone. Lavay also performs with a sixteen-piece big band.

Members

The band consists of Bill Ortiz (trumpet); Mike Olmos (trumpet); Danny Armstrong (trombone); Jules Broussard (alto and tenor saxophones); Charles McNeal (alto and tenor saxophones); Howard Wiley (tenor saxophone); Robert Stewart (tenor saxophone); Pete Cornell (alto, tenor and baritone saxophones); Chris Siebert (piano, arranger, bandleader), Charlie Siebert (guitar); David Ewell (double bass); Marcus Shelby (double bass); and Darrell Green (drums). Arrangements are written by Chris Siebert and David Berger.Lavay Smith - Meet the Band
Retrieved April 30, 2013

Discography

* ''

One Hour Mama ''One Hour Mama'' is the first album by Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers. The album was recorded at Bay Records, Berkeley, California. Track listing Personnel Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers *Lavay Smith Lavay Smith ...

'' (Fat Note, 1996) * ''

Everybody's Talkin' 'bout Miss Thing! ''Everybody's Talkin' 'Bout Miss Thing!'' is the second album by Lavay Smith#Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers. Development The band worked with David Berger (former director of the Jazz at Lin ...

'' (Fat Note, 2000) * ''

Miss Smith to You! ''Miss Smith To You!'' is the third album by Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers. The album has nine covers of music from the 1930s to the 1950s, plus three original tunes written by bandleader Lavay Smith and pianist and arranger Chris Sei ...

'' (2009) (Fat Note, 2009)

References

External links