Smith, Warren (Doyle; aka Smitty)
Smith, Warren (Doyle; aka Smitty)
Smith, Warren (Doyle; aka Smitty), jazz trombonist; b. Middlebourne, W.Va., May 17, 1908; d. Santa Barbara, Calif., Aug. 28, 1975. He began on piano at age seven. After the family moved to Dallas in 1920, he began lessons from his father on cornet and sax, then specialized on trombone. Smith continued doubling on sax for his first professional work with Harrison’s Texans (1924–28) and he had a long period with Abe Lyman (1929–35). He joined Bob Crosby (summer 1936) and remained with that band until May 1940 when he briefly rejoined Abe Lyman. He worked mostly in Chicago from 1941–15, with various leaders, including Wingy Manone, Bud Jacobson, and Paul Jordan. After moving to Calif. in 1945, Smith worked again with Bob Crosby, then for a long time with Peter Daily in the late 1940s. In 1950 he was with Jess Stacy, then he worked briefly with Lu Watters before joining Nappy Lamare’s Band (1951). Smith worked for a brief period in N.Y. with Duke Ellington (summer 1955), then with Joe Darensbourg (1957–60) and many others before joining Red Nichols in the early 1960s. He traveled with Nichols to Japan in the summer of 1964. Smith continued to work regularly in Calif, until the month of his death.
—John Chilton , Who’s Who of Jazz/Lewis Porter