C.T. Smith

Maryland native Carey Smith began playing guitar at age 13 and was shortly thereafter exposed to jazz music. His influences include Joe Pass, Charlie Parker and local legend Danny Gatton. After a year playing professionally in the Czech Republic he began studying with Justin Lees and Steve Abshire. Carey has performed with John Jensen, Dave Wundrow, Robert Redd, Percy Smith, Bertell Knox and other greats of jazz music. He has released two albums for Patuxent Music: Introducing C.T. Smith and His Sic 'em Boys and C.T. Smith and Friends Play Harold Arlen.

     Since before man has measured time he has employed it in the making of music. And since that universal pendulum began to swing, he has qualified this most essential creation, from the intolerable to the great. The former does not live long, if ever it does at all; the latter becomes a part of humanity at large. The ways in which we gauge those merits of our music are many and range from the most complicated technical arguments to the simple test of enjoyment. There is then the grueling course of history. By any standard, the music you hold before you will prove itself world-class.

     Carey Smith's unrivaled work ethic, his technically impressive playing, and his profound sense of aesthetics are all evident here. Most impressive on this debut album, though, is his ability to choose and blend the right men for the job, then focus their strengths to pull off innovative arrangements of great tunes. He almost perfectly balances the traditions of the music he loves with the vitality and freshness of his age. His strength is a grand paradox that seems almost impossible: he is ambitious to the point of obsession, a perfectionist bent on being the best, looking forward to an ever receding horizon, never satisfied. Yet he humbles himself, measuring his progress by the merits of the greats who came before him. He considers his accomplishments and progress with a technical flashlight pointed to the past. His will and his work to become a distinguished guitarist are part of a greater want: to contribute to the great tradition and collaboration of jazz.

Like Someone in Love * Blues (Fast) * In a Mellow Tone **
Stompin' at the Savoy * Scrapple from the Apple * Rockin' Chair *
Yardbird Suite * Honey B's /   Have You Met Miss Jones *
Whims of Chambers * There's a Small Hotel * Seven Come Eleven

Guitars: C.T. Smith, Justin Lees        Bass: Dave Wundrow
         Drums: Burtell Knox        Violin:Nate Leath
Guest Artists: Steve Abshire, Matt Duffy, Tom Mindte, Jay Montrose, Matt Piazza

     If one tune title sums up the prevailing mood on guitarist C.T. Smith's debut CD, it's Duke Ellington's "In a Mellow Tone." Relaxed yet swinging, the album smoothly evokes the days of low-wattage, small-combo jazz.

Playing an arch-top Gibson, Smith wins you over the old- fashioned way, favoring uncluttered single-note lines and a bluesy tone that often belies his youth. He may not have had much of a choice in the matter, though, because he's surrounded here by a cast of seasoned jazz players who've long championed the kind of jazz in which all the instrumental parts fit seamlessly -- and seemingly effortlessly -- together. Drummer Bertell Knox, bassist Dave Wundrow and guitarists Justin Lees and Steve Abshire, among others, deserve a lot of credit for sustaining the engaging intimacy and propulsion that make "Stompin' at the Savoy," "Seven Come Eleven" and other swing staples so hard to resist.

Smith doesn't limit his repertoire to familiar swing tunes -- Charlie Parker's bop influence looms large at times, and the self- penned charmer "Honey B's" is alluring in its own right.

-- Mike Joyce

Copyright The Washington Post Company Mar 14, 2003