Apr 29, 2025 11:53 AM
Vocalist Andy Bey Dies at 85
Singer Andy Bey, who illuminated the jazz scene for five decades with a four-octave range that encompassed a bellowing…
Walter Smith III will join the faculty of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University later this summer.
(Photo: Courtesy of the artist)Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, the longtime home of jazz education pioneer David Baker (1931–2016), will add another famous face to its faculty this summer.
The program, based in Bloomington, Indiana, has announced the appointment of saxophonist Walter Smith III as associate professor of music in the jazz studies deparment. The appointment will become effective Aug. 1, pending approval of the Trustees of Indiana University.
Smith, 34, is an accomplished performer who is well regarded in jazz circles. His latest album, the self-released Still Casual, reached the jazz top 10 on iTunes. In addition to being a bandleader, Smith is a member of trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire’s quintet and drummer Eric Harland’s band Voyager.
“Those who have had the pleasure of meeting Walter Smith have been moved by his musicianship, inspired by his teaching and impressed by his connection to the profession and his vision for its future,” said Gwyn Richards, dean of the Jacobs School of Music. “It will be exciting for all of us to see his interaction with our faculty, students and staff.”
“We are very excited to have Walter join the jazz faculty at the Jacobs School,” said Tom Walsh, chair of the Jacobs Jazz Studies Department. “Walter is a deep musician who has the heart of a teacher. He is very active on the international scene, performing and recording with some of the most gifted young players in jazz, and we look forward to the new perspective he will bring to jazz studies at IU.”
In a profile in the December 2014 issue of DownBeat, Smith shared his desire for a career in education with journalist Michael J. West. “His ambition was (and to some extent still is) to be a teacher,” West wrote. “He graduated from Berklee with a bachelor’s degree in music education and then went on to graduate studies at the Thelonious Monk Institute and Manhattan School of Music.”
Since graduating from those prestigious programs, Smith has performed all over the world at numerous international festivals as well as venues such as Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. He has shared the stage and appeared on recordings with many jazz and pop notables, including Eric Reed, Mulgrew Miller, Joe Lovano, Herbie Hancock, Lauryn Hill, Destiny’s Child, Snarky Puppy, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Terri Lynne Carrington.
“The opportunity to join this world-class faculty is the chance of a lifetime,” Smith said. “I’m looking forward to continuing and building on David Baker’s legacy with the Jazz Studies program at Indiana University and am eager to see what the future holds.”
For more information, visit the Jacobs School of Music website. To visit an IU blog devoted to the memory of Dr. David Baker, click here.
“It kind of slows down, but it’s still kind of productive in a way, because you have something that you can be inspired by,” Andy Bey said on a 2019 episode of NPR Jazz Night in America, when he was 80. “The music is always inspiring.”
Apr 29, 2025 11:53 AM
Singer Andy Bey, who illuminated the jazz scene for five decades with a four-octave range that encompassed a bellowing…
Foster was truly a drummer to the stars, including Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and Joe Henderson.
Jun 3, 2025 11:25 AM
Al Foster, a drummer regarded for his fluency across the bebop, post-bop and funk/fusion lineages of jazz, died May 28…
Davis was a two-time Grammy winner for liner notes.
Apr 22, 2025 11:50 AM
Francis Davis, an august jazz and cultural critic who won both awards and esteem in print, film and radio, died April…
“Branford’s playing has steadily improved,” says younger brother Wynton Marsalis. “He’s just gotten more and more serious.”
May 20, 2025 11:58 AM
Branford Marsalis was on the road again. Coffee cup in hand, the saxophonist — sporting a gray hoodie and a look of…
“What did I want more of when I was this age?” Sasha Berliner asks when she’s in her teaching mode.
May 13, 2025 12:39 PM
Part of the jazz vibraphone conversation since her late teens, Sasha Berliner has long come across as a fully formed…
