World War II transformed Horace E. “Smitty” Smith. He went away a soldier and came back a jazzman.
“He got himself a horn in the Army,” said Merritt “Geechie” Hicks, a longtime friend and bandmate. “When he got out of the Army, we started to play.”
For more than 55 years, Mr. Smith, a tenor saxophonist, was a feature of the Chicago jazz scene. Whether as a composer, set musician, soloist or teacher, Mr. Smith was dedicated to musical craftsmanship.
Mr. Smith, 77, of Chicago died of heart failure Thursday, Jan. 22, at Rush University Medical Center.
As with many musicians, Mr. Smith’s love was not always his livelihood. For most of his life, days were spent as a letter carrier for the Postal Service. The nights, though, were for jazz.
“When we were young, he was always working gigs–weddings, nightclubs, ballrooms, dances. He did any kind of work,” said his daughter Barbara McBride. He gave his life to jazz, McBride said, and jazz, it seemed, was the source of all good fortune.
On his strolls to Yummy’s, a West Side haunt of the 1940s and 1950s, Mr. Smith caught the eye of Minerva Gillespie. Before long they arranged their first date: She accompanied him to a jam session. They got married on Dec. 25, 1952.
Mr. Smith’s life as a journeyman musician could be uncertain. “If he got a job, he’d hire me. If I got work, I’d hire him,” said Hicks of the hundreds of gigs they played around the city. “We were always looking for set work.”
That could mean playing with regulars on the Chicago circuit or more notable musicians visiting the city. Over the years, Mr. Smith played with Sonny Stitt, Gene Ammons and Duke Ellington, as well as the Jackson 5, his family said.
Some of Mr. Smith’s ventures were short-lived. Others were sustained and even flourished. His proudest and longest lasting project was the Note Benders, a 17-piece jazz ensemble he founded in the early 1960s to promote big-band music. Mr. Smith was the director, arranger and composer.
For the last three years, Mr. Smith had played with the Wallace Burton Quartet at its Tuesday night gig at Andy’s Jazz Club, 11 E. Hubbard St.
“He was always inspired by music,” Burton said. “It could pick him up even when he was sick. He’d say that he was not feeling so good, but when the music was playing he’d be bouncing around like a rubber ball. I used to look at him and wish that I had that kind of passion for the music.”
But determination could not see Mr. Smith past a worsening battle with asthma. He developed pneumonia twice in the last four months, his family said, and illness forced him to put down his saxophone.
“When he couldn’t blow anymore he didn’t want to live anymore,” McBride said.
Other survivors include his wife; another daughter, Beverly; sons Hollice and Ozay; and a sister, Rachel Holly. He was preceded in death by a son John.
Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Smith & Thomas Funeral Home, 5708 W. Madison St., Chicago. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday in Apostolic Faith Church, 3823 S. Indiana Ave.
