Stuff Smith—Upstairs”

One of the small jazz groups that -- besides making records -- also had engagements as a group at clubs (unlike for instance the small groups from the Ellington band, which were only recording groups) was a sextet led by violinist/composer Stuff Smith: Stuff Smith and his Onyx Club Boys.

With his innovated style and amplified hot violin Smith took jazz in a new direction and formed a bridge between the swing era and the bebop years.

Smith's own composition "Upstairs" was recorded at the New York Decca studios located on 57th street, on May 4, 1937.

The musicians were: the leader Stuff Smith on violin; Jonah Jones-trumpet; Buster Bailey-clarinet; Clyde Hart-piano; Mark Walker-standing bass; and Cozy Cole-drums.

They were playing at The Onyx Club, a Manhattan nightclub just a few streets away on West 52nd street.

Hezekiah Leroy Gordon Smith (1909-1967) was born in Portsmouth, Ohio and became better known as Stuff Smith. He was raised in Cleveland, and at the age of seven, his father, who was an amateur musician, gave the boy a self-build violin, so he could practise. And when he reached the age of 12 he had to join his father's orchestra playing a real violin. The youngster's next move was to go to North Carolina, where he began studying music at the Johnson C. Smith University.

In 1924, Stuff Smith became a professional musician, playing in the Dallas, Texas, territory band of Alfonso Trent, from 1920 to about 1929. In this band Smith used a Stroh fiddle with a horn attached to it to amplify the sound.

Four years later, Stuff Smith moved North, and via New York landed a job in Boston, Massachusetts, where he led a quartet which included his longtime friend, the trumpet player Jonah Jones, who was four months younger than Smith.

After traveling the East Coast circuit, Smith moved with Jones, to the New York jazz scene.

When in July 1935, the Onyx Club, which had been destroyed in a fire, reopened, Stuff Smith and Jonah Jones were engaged to play there with a small jazz group of 6 or 7 black musicians. At the Onyx Club, Smith scored an overnight hit by playing his hot violin and by singing a nonsense song called "I'se A Muggin'."

Next year, when they made their first records, Decca named the group Stuff Smith and his Onyx Club Boys. The Decca record company called these dark musicians "boys," which in fact was quite degrading for African-Americans since it meant "nigger" in those days.

Stuff Smith broke with all the traditional rules for violin playing. He worked with an amplified instrument, a concept without precedent at that time. It was called the National Dobro VioLectric.

Jazz Critic Leonard Feather descibed Smith's style as "vigorous, his technique unorthodox and his capacity for swinging unique."

After two years at the Onyx, Smith moved to Hollywood where he appeared in the movie "Swing Street."

In 1938 Smith also took part at what is considered the first outdoor jazz festival, the 1938 Carnival of Swing on Randall's Island, New York.

In the 1940s Smith led a trio in nightclubs. One of his admirers was Dizzy Gillespie, who gave credit to Smith for many of the harmonic innovation which pointed him toward bebop, and they also recorded together. Smith also participated in jammin' sessions with Charlie Parker.

In the 1950s and early 60s Smith worked irregularly and took part in recording sessions with Ella Fitzgerald, Coleman Hawkins, Oscar Peterson and others.

In 1958, Stuff Smith was also one of the 57 jazz musicians who were pictured in the famous "A Great Day in Harlem" photograph.

When Stuff Smith moved from the West to the East Coast he lived for several years in Los Angeles.

His only job of any substantial duration in California was in 1963-1964 at the Royal Tahitan Room in Ontario, where he collaborated with cornetist Rex Stewart.

After never attaining a reputation commensurate with his talent, he moved to Europe.

Since 1965, Stuff Smith lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, and from there he traveled to other European countries to perform.

In 1966 Smith took part in the Violin Summit alongside swing violinists Stephane Grappelly, Svend Asmussen and Jean-Luc Ponty.

Smith was a real wild swinger, both on and off stage, which in 1957 caused him to abandon his part in the "Jazz at the Philharmonic" tour through Europe.

He was ill off-and-on for several years and underwent surgery a number of times.

Stuff Smith's final long engagement came in June 1967, when he did a month's stand at a nightclub in Paris, France.

In September of that year Smith traveled to Munich, West Germany, where he was under contract for concerts in a jazz restaurant and for a television appearance. While there, Smith was taken to a Munich hospital with severe gastric hemorrhages and he died three days later, on September 25, only 58 years old.