Smith, Howie

Smith, Howie , American saxophonist, composer, and teacher; b. Pottsville, Pa., Feb. 25, 1943. He studied saxophone with Donald Sinta and composition with Warren Benson at Ithaca Coll. (B.S.), and composition with Salvatore Martirano and Edwin London at the Univ. of 111. (M.S.). As a performer, he has worked with musicians and composers as diverse as Mike Nock, Elvis Presley, and John Cage, and with ensembles as different as the Australian quartet Jazz Co-op, Bernard Rands’s Sonor, and the Cleveland Orch. He has been a frequent performer with the Cleveland Chamber Sym., and has had a number of works commissioned for him as soloist with that ensemble, including scores by Martirano, London, and David Baker. In 1979 he joined the faculty of Cleveland State Univ. Since 1981 he has presented the annual Concert in Progress in Cleveland, an evening of new compositions and performances for soloists and ensembles as varied as his own interests. As a composer, he has created works for conventional big bands and combos, for string, wind, and percussion ensembles, for electronics, and for mixed media. Among his most important works are Thandi (1975) and The Golden Goose (1978) for Large Jazz Ensemble, Song for the Children for Saxophone, Strings, and Keyboards (1986), Time/Windows for Trumpet and Chamber Orch. (1992), Mobius Strip for Trumpet and Chamber Sym. (1994), The Speed of Time for Solo Saxophone, Saxophones, Synthesizers, Percussion, Voices, and Electronics (1994–95), and M. & M. for Jazz Ensemble (1999).

—Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire