jerry

I come from a very musical family. Almost everyone on my father's side of the family plays an instrument, so it was only natural. I started playing bass in church at the age of 12. At 20, I started playing with Contemporary Christian artist David Hill where we opened for a few different contemporary jazz artists. In 1996, I started a contemporary jazz band of my own by the name of Daddy's Chair with my brother and cousin. We played local/regional clubs and eventually opened for international jazz artists such as Rick Braun, and Roy Aires. Daddy's Chair also regularly performed for local jazz radio events. The group released one CD (‘Delicate Balance') on an independent label.
Chant and I met in 1997 crossing paths in the Dallas music scene and always hoped for an opportunity to work together. Finally, in 2003, I invited Chant to sit-in with Daddy's Chair for a local show. Needless to say, we asked him to stay. When my brother and sax player, Kevin Smith, left to go to school at Stanford University in California in 2005, Chant and I formed a trio with drummer Rich Malloy. We worked around town playing different clubs and festivals. In 2006, Rich moved to Nashville and we started the search for a new drummer. While playing a show with a popular Dallas blues artist, I had the pleasure of meeting and playing with Cedric Goodman. I immediately knew we had found our missing member. Since then, the chemistry between us has been magic. I'm extremely excited to see where this road is going to take us.
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