Hal Smith

Hal took up the drums in 1963. He was inspired by hearing Ben Pollack, Nick Fatool, Wayne Jones and Fred Higuera live and studied with the legendary Jake Hanna. Hal’s washboard playing was inspired by the South Frisco Jazz Band’s virtuoso washboardist Bob Raggio.

Hal has played with the Butch Thompson Trio, New Black Eagle Jazz Band, Climax Jazz Band, Grand Dominion Jazz Band Jim Cullum Jazz Band, St. Louis Ragtimers, Lawson-Haggart Jazz Band, Soprano Summit, Dukes of Dixieland and others as well as Western Swing, Blues and Swing bands. Hal was also the founder of the popular Rockabilly group, the Memphis Speed Kings.

Currently, Hal leads the El Dorado Jazz Band, Mortonia Seven, New Orleans Night Owls and the San Francisco Jazz All-Stars and plays in bands led by Banu Gibson, Tim Laughlin and Grammy winner Floyd Domino.

Hal is on the faculty of the New Orleans Trad Jazz Camp and is the Band Advisor for the Bix Jazz Festival. He writes for The Syncopated Times, Just Jazz (U.K.), the Bulletin of the Hot Club of France and was an associate editor of “Dust Bowl To Disney” — the autobiography of Firehouse Five Plus Two/Bob Wills cornetist Danny Alguire.

Besides playing on over 200 recording sessions, Hal has appeared on broadcasts of “A Prairie Home Companion,” “Riverwalk – Live From The Landing,” Loren Schoenberg’s “Get Happy,” “The Natural State Of Jazz” (Arkansas State University) and the U.K. – based “Now You Has Jazz, Jazz, Jazz.”

Website: www.halsmithjazz.com