Putter Smith
Acoustic Bass
85 age
January 19, 1941 Birthday
Bell, California, U.S. Birthplace
puttersmithmusic.com Website
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About
Putter Smith is a Los Angeles-based jazz bassist whose career spans more than seven decades. A fixture of the LA jazz scene since his teens, he has performed with an extraordinary range of artists including Thelonious Monk, Art Blakey, Duke Ellington, Art Pepper, Gerry Mulligan, Lee Konitz, Carmen McRae, Ray Charles, and Patrice Rushen. During the 1960s, he was also an in-demand studio musician, playing on sessions with The Beach Boys, The Righteous Brothers, Sonny & Cher, and Beck. Smith has taught at both the Musicians Institute and the California Institute of the Arts, and authored Jazz Bass Improvisation, a comprehensive instructional guide published by Hal Leonard. He continues to perform and record in the Los Angeles area.
Trivia
Smith played the assassin Mr. Kidd in the 1971 James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever. Director Guy Hamilton cast him after seeing him perform with Thelonious Monk at Shelly's Manne-Hole in LA. He also played on The Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations." After five years of studio work, Smith deliberately walked away from session playing because he felt his bass lines were being reduced to single notes, saying, "That isn't why I played music." His wife, jazz singer VR Smith, passed away in 2020 after more than fifty years of marriage.
Early Life
Putter Smith was born Patrick Verne Smith on January 19, 1941, in Bell, California, just outside Los Angeles. He was inspired to take up the bass at age eight by his older brother Carson Smith, who was himself a respected West Coast jazz bassist. At thirteen, he gave his first performance at the Compton Community Center, playing without a cover for his bass and missing a string, earning three dollars for three-hour sets. He played entirely by ear for years, developing his harmonic understanding through practical experience rather than formal study. By sixteen, he had committed fully to a life as a jazz bass player. He began working steadily in the Los Angeles jazz scene, eventually performing with Thelonious Monk, who hired him after two separate recommendations led to a gig at Shelly's Manne-Hole with no prior rehearsal.
Putter Smith Solos
2014
Acoustic Bass solo - These Things - 2014
4/4 swing in A♭ major at 225 BPM