Walter Smith III is an American jazz tenor saxophonist. Walter Smith III has garnered notoriety by playing with some of the biggest names in Jazz, such as trumpeter/composer Terence Blanchard, Roy Haynes, Christian McBride, Mulgrew Miller, and Joe Lovano.[1] Also, he has toured with R&B artists such as Bilal, Destiny's Child, and Lauryn Hill. He regularly plays and records with modern jazz notables such as trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, Logan Richardson, Aaron Parks, Justin Brown, and other musicians.[2] He has released three albums, one for the Fresh Sound New Talent label (Spain), one for Space Time (France), and his most recent on the Criss Cross label (Netherlands).
Walter Smith III began playing the saxophone at the age of 7 in his hometown of Houston, TX. At Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, in 1998, Smith received a Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship from IAJE and NFAA; the NFAA Young Talent Award; a full tuition scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music; and a United States Presidential Scholar in the Arts medal. Walter Graduated from Berklee in 2003 with a degree in Music Education.
Walter has performed all over the world participating in numerous national and international festivals as well as famed stages in the U.S. such as Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. Smith has shared the stage and/or appeared on recordings with many jazz notables including Terence Blanchard, Roy Haynes, Christian McBride, Eric Reed, Mulgrew Miller, Joe Sample, Bob Hurst, Myron Walden, Walter Beasley, Lewis Nash, Terri Lyne Carrington, and a host of others. To date, Walter has appeared on over 75 recordings that are released worldwide.
Walter's debut recording as a leader was released in March 2006 on the Fresh Sound New Talent label and features many of the brightest young jazz talents. His sophomore release, titled "Live in France", was released in October 2009 to critical acclaim. His most recent album, “III”, was released in September 2010 and was the #3 best seller on iTunes in the U.S. for it’s first week. It features Ambrose Akinmusire, Jason Moran, Joe Sanders, and Eric Harland. (for reviews and info visit www.waltersmith3.com)
Over the past few years, besides leading a quintet, Walter is/has been a member of several amazing groups (recording and touring) including the Terence Blanchard group, Eric Harland's quintet, Ambrose Akinmusire's band, Christian Scott's group, the Sean Jones sextet, Jason Moran’s Big Bandwagon (In My Mind:Monk at Town Hall), and the Christian McBride situation band.
Walter also teaches at the acclaimed LA County High School for the Arts