Michael S. Smith

Michael Scott Smith is an American jazz drummer and percussionist.Based in the Washington D.C. - Baltimore area for most of his 40-year career, Smith played with many jazz greats including Dave Liebman, Herbie Hancock, John Abercrombie, Randy Brecker, Tommy Flanagan, Billy Eckstein, Astrud Gilberto, Freddie Hubbard, Herb Ellis, and Milt Jackson.

He grew up in Meadville, Pennsylvania where his father exposed him to jazz at an early age. At age 8, Smith began taking drum lessons from local jazz drummer, Cootie Harris. His father and Harris took young Smith to local jam sessions throughout Northwestern PA.

Smith's early influences included drummers Art Blakey and Philly Joe Jones. Inspired by the playing of young prodigy Tony Williams, Smith developed his own style using polyrhythms, metric modulation, and intricate cymbal work that would define his playing for the rest of his career.

As a student at Youngstown State University from 1964 to 1966, Smith played gigs in and around Youngstown and Pittsburgh, most notably with pianists Gene Rush and Harold Danko, and cellist Abdul Wadud. He recorded a demo tape with Danko and Wadud that was submitted to Down Beat magazine as a contest entry.

In 1967, Smith transferred to Howard University in Washington D.C. where he began his playing career in ernest. He was tapped to play with jazz pianist Bobby Timmons at the famed Bohemian Caverns jazz club.

He soon got the attention of other well-known jazz musicians, including vibraphonist Gary Burton. Burton asked him to join his ensemble on tour, but Smith declined due to fear of being drafted and sent to Vietnam. Smith dropped out of Howard in 1968, was immediately drafted, then classified as 4-F due to a history of migraine headaches.

He joined his friend, bassist Terry Plumeri in the group, Love, Cry, Want, a free-improvisation group with jazz, blues, and rock influences. Smith eventually recorded with Plumeri on two albums, He Who Lives In Many Places (1971) featuring Herbie Hancock and John Abercrombie, and Water Garden (1978) (formerly titled Ongoing) with Abercrombie, Ralph .Towner, and the National Symphony String Quartet. In 2007, these two albums were re-issued on CD by GMMC records.

Smith helped form