Paul Alva Smoker (May 8, 1941 – May 14, 2016) was an American composer and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

trumpeter.

Music career

Smoker was born in

Muncie, Indiana Muncie ( ) is an incorporated city and the county seat, seat of Delaware County, Indiana, Delaware County, Indiana. Previously known as Buckongahelas Town, named after the legendary Delaware Chief.http://www.delawarecountyhistory.org/history/docs ...

, grew up in

Davenport, Iowa Davenport is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Iowa, United States. Located along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state, it is the largest of the Quad Cities, a metropolitan area with a population of 384,324 and a ...

, and moved to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

to play professionally. He worked there in the 1960s, playing with Bobby Christian among others. He took his doctorate at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

in 1974, and taught at

Coe College Coe College is a private liberal arts college in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It was founded in 1851 and is historically affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). The college is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Midwest and the Associat ...

from 1976 to 1990, as well as for shorter periods at the University of Iowa, the

University of Northern Iowa The University of Northern Iowa (UNI) is a public university in Cedar Falls, Iowa. UNI offers more than 90 majors across the colleges of Business Administration, Education, Humanities, Arts, and Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences and grad ...

, and the

University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh (UW Oshkosh or UW Osh) is a public university in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System and offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs to nearly 14,000 students ea ...

. In the 1980s and 1990s, Smoker worked with musicians such as

Anthony Braxton Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of Chica ...

Gregg Bendian Gregg Bendian (born July 13, 1963) is an American jazz drummer, percussionist, pianist, and composer. Early life Born in Englewood, New Jersey, Bendian was raised in Fairview and Teaneck. Bendian began playing drums at the age of nine and stu ...

, Damon Short,

Randy McKean Randy is a given name, popular in the United States and Canada. It is primarily a masculine name. It was originally derived from the names Randall, Randolf, Randolph, as well as Bertrand and Andrew, and may be a short form (hypocorism) of the ...

, and

Phil Haynes Phil may refer to: * Phil (given name), a shortened version of masculine and feminine names * Phill, a given name also spelled "Phil" * Phil, Kentucky, United States * ''Phil'' (film), a 2019 film * -phil-, a lexical fragment, used as a root ter ...

. He was a member of

Joint Venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

, who recorded for

Enja Records Enja Records is a German jazz record company and label based in Munich which was founded by jazz enthusiasts Matthias Winckelmann and Horst Weber in 1971. The label's first release was by Mal Waldron, and early releases included European and Jap ...

in the late 1980s and early 1990s. His records issued on

CIMP Creative Improvised Music Projects, usually abbreviated CIMP or C.I.M.P., is an American jazz record company and label. It is associated with ''Cadence Magazine'' and Cadence Jazz Records. The label is noted for its minimal use of electronic proc ...

in the 1990s feature sidemen such as

Vinny Golia Vinny Golia (born March 1, 1946) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist specializing in woodwind instruments. He performs in the genres of contemporary music, jazz, free jazz, and free improvisation. Career As a composer, Golia fuse ...

Ken Filiano Ken Filiano (born 1952) is an American jazz and orchestral bassist based in Brooklyn, New York. Since the 1970s, Filiano has played or recorded with Anthony Braxton, Fred Ho, Nels Cline, Bill Dixon, Fay Victor, and others. Filiano is on the tea ...

, and Steve Salerno. Outside of jazz, Smoker was also involved in the performance of

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included seria ...

, in his university capacities and with the SOMA ensemble. He worked out of upstate New York from 1990. He died on May 14, 2016 in

Pittsford, New York Pittsford is a town in Monroe County, New York. A suburb of Rochester, its population was 30,617 at the time of the 2020 census. The Town of Pittsford (formerly part of the town of Northfield) was settled in 1789 and incorporated in 1796. The ...

at the age of 75.

Discography

As leader

* ''Mississippi River Rat'' (Sound Aspects, 1984) * ''Alone'' (Sound Aspects, 1986) * ''Come Rain or Come Shine'' (Sound Aspects, 1986) * ''Genuine Fables'' (

Hathut Hathut Records is a Swiss record company and label founded by Werner Xavier Uehlinger in 1974 that specializes in jazz and classical music. The name of the label comes from the artwork of Klaus Baumgartner. Hathut encompasses the labels hat ART, h ...

, 1988) * ''Halloween '96'' (

, 1996) * ''Standard Deviation'' (CIMP, 1998) * ''Large Music, Vol. 1'' (CIMP, 2000) * ''Large Music, Vol. 2'' (CIMP, 2001) * ''Mirabile Dictu'' (CIMP, 2001) * ''Brass Reality'' (

Nine Winds Nine Winds is an American jazz record label that was founded in 1977 by Vinny Golia. Golia is a self-taught musician who plays over fifty woodwind instruments, in addition to brass. In the early 1970s, he believed it was impossible for musicians ...

, 2002) * ''Duocity in Brass & Wood'' (

Cadence In Western musical theory, a cadence (Latin ''cadentia'', "a falling") is the end of a phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards.Don Michael Randel (1999) ...

, 2003) * ''Halloween, the Sequel'' (Nine Winds)

As sideman

With

Marshall Allen Marshall Belford Allen (born May 25, 1924) is an American free jazz and avant-garde jazz alto saxophone player. He also performs on flute, oboe, piccolo, and EWI (an electronic valve instrument made by Steiner, Crumar company). Allen is best ...

* '' PoZest'' (CIMP, 2000) With

* '' Ensemble (Victoriaville) 1988'' (Victo, 1988

992 Year 992 ( CMXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Worldwide * Winter – A superflare from the sun causes an Aurora Borealis, with visibility as fa ...

* ''Nine Compositions (Hill) 2000'' (CIMP, 2001)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smoker, Paul 1941 births 2016 deaths American jazz trumpeters American male trumpeters Musicians from Indiana American male jazz musicians