Sonelius Larel Smith (born December 17, 1942, Hillhouse, Mississippi) is an American

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 ...

pianist and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. His family moved to Memphis in 1948, where he learned to play piano. He got a degree in

music education Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do origina ...

at Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical, and Normal College in

Pine Bluff, Arkansas Pine Bluff is the eleventh-largest city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Jefferson County. It is the principal city of the Pine Bluff Metropolitan Statistical Area and part of the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Pine Bluff Combin ...

in 1969. While a student there, he played in a small ensemble for three years and worked with

John Stubblefield John Stubblefield (February 4, 1945 – July 4, 2005) was an American jazz saxophonist, flautist, and oboist. Early life Stubblefield was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas. He studied music at the Association for the Advancement of Crea ...

. Smith moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1969 and began playing with

Kenny Dorham McKinley Howard "Kenny" Dorham (August 30, 1924 – December 5, 1972) was an American jazz trumpeter, singer, and composer. Dorham's talent is frequently lauded by critics and other musicians, but he never received the kind of attention or public ...

Roy Brooks Roy Brooks (March 9, 1938 – November 15, 2005) was an American jazz drummer. Biography Early life Brooks was born in Detroit and drummed since childhood, his earliest experiences of music coming through his mother, who sang in church. He was a ...

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians and ...

Roland Kirk Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Franks, Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known ...

Robin Kenyatta Robin Kenyatta (March 6, 1942 – October 26, 2004) was an American jazz alto saxophonist. Early life Born Robert Prince Haynes in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, Kenyatta grew up in New York City and began playing the saxophone at age 14. He was ...

Rashied Ali Rashied Ali, born Robert Patterson (July 1, 1933 – August 12, 2009) was an American free jazz and avant-garde drummer best known for playing with John Coltrane in the last years of Coltrane's life. Biography Early life Patterson was born and ...

, Warren Smith, Frank Foster,

Harold Vick Harold Vick (April 3, 1936 – November 13, 1987) was an American jazz saxophonist and flutist. Biography Harold Vick was born on April 3, 1936 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. At the age of 13 he was given a clarinet by his uncle, Prince Robin ...

Donald Byrd Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd II (December 9, 1932 – February 4, 2013) was an American jazz and rhythm & blues trumpeter and vocalist. A sideman for many other jazz musicians of his generation, Byrd was one of the few hard bop m ...

Elvin Jones Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era. Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such widely celebrate ...

Archie Shepp Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz. Biography Early life Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...

Freddie Hubbard Frederick Dewayne Hubbard (April 7, 1938 – December 29, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He played bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives fo ...

Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the 1 ...

, and

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader. Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles M ...

, among others. He joined

Stanley Cowell Stanley Cowell (May 5, 1941 – December 17, 2020) was an American jazz pianist and co-founder of the Strata-East Records label. Early life Cowell was born in Toledo, Ohio. He began playing the piano around the age of four, and became interest ...

's ensemble around 1973 and also worked with Shamek Farrah and Flight to Sanity in the mid-1970s. In 1974, he was

musical director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the ...

for Nancy Fales' ''Ark'', directed by

Ralph Lee Ralph Lee is an American puppeteer and theatre artist. His work is centered on the design and use of masks in theatre and performance. The majority of his productions take place outside of traditional performance venues, include parades, pageants, ...

La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (La MaMa E.T.C.) is an Off-Off-Broadway theatre founded in 1961 by Ellen Stewart, African-American theatre director, producer, and fashion designer. Located in Manhattan's East Village, the theatre began in the ...

in the East Village of Manhattan.La MaMa Archives Digital Collections
"Production: ''Ark'' (1974)". Accessed August 15, 2018.
/ref> Toward the end of the 1970s, he played with J.R. Mitchell,

Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre (March 24, 1936 – November 9, 2013) ...

, Warren Smith, and

Wilber Morris Wilber Morris (November 27, 1937 - August 8, 2002) was an American jazz double bass player and bandleader. He was the brother of the cornetist, composer, and conductor Butch Morris.Allmusic/ref> Wilber Morris recorded widely, and performed with ...

. In the 1980s, he worked with

Andrew Cyrille Andrew Charles Cyrille (born November 10, 1939) is an American avant-garde jazz drummer. Throughout his career, he has performed both as a leader and a sideman in the bands of Walt Dickerson and Cecil Taylor, among others. AllMusic biographe ...

and David Murray. He also worked as an educator for th
New Muse Community Museum
(1973-1986) and

The Harlem School of the Arts Harlem School of the Arts (HSA) is an art school in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City. Harlem School of the Arts was founded in 1964, by soprano Dorothy Maynor. Maynor was succeeded by mezzo-soprano Betty Allen as President in 1979, when a new 3 ...

(1990s). He has also taught at the

Third Street Music School Settlement Third Street Music School Settlement is the longest-running community music school in the United States. Founded in 1894, it is at 235 East 11th Street, New York. Third Street has three main programs: a music & dance school, a music-infused Presc ...

References

External links

Smith's page on La MaMa Archives Digital Collections

Sonelius Smith at the Third Street Music School
American jazz pianists American male pianists 1942 births Living people 20th-century American pianists Jazz musicians from Mississippi 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians {{US-jazz-pianist-stub