Keith Smith

Trumpeter Keith Smith far outlasted the British trad jazz renaissance that first vaulted him to prominence, later going on to lead all-star lineups spotlighting some of the same New Orleans jazz greats that stoked his initial passion for the idiom. Born March 19, 1940, in Middlesex, England, Smith studied for a career in engineering, but upon discovering his older brother's jazz record collection at age 15, he acquired a secondhand trumpet for seven pounds, joining clarinetist Norrie Cox's New Orleans jazz revival combo soon thereafter. Smith served with a series of London ama...