by S. Rotan Hale
Rule #1 in the Jefferson Center Jazz Club manual for prospective patrons: Never judge a featured artist based on what you don’t know about them… go to the show anyway because there is an 89% chance that you’ll probably get your mind blown.
Case in point, Walter Smith, III, is not exactly a household name even among modern-day jazz enthusiasts. Googling him (or Apple Music) turns up a sizable number of credits to his name including 10 albums that feature a number of jazz greats of later-day notoriety.
It takes a pretty well-versed and gutsy front man, in Smith’s case a saxophonist, to perform on stage without piano accompaniment and that’s just what happened for two sets at the Jefferson Center recently.
There’s no questioning Smith’s ability as a certified front man–standing flat-footed blowing the hell out of his tenor saxophone through two sets worth of world-class riffing as he boldly did through several unnamed tunes.
Smith hails from Houston Texas and making up the trio that night was bassist William Ledbetter and percussionist Kobie Watkins whose fierce flailings on the drums added to the intensity of the night’s selections.
Ledbetter is a Hamton, VA native known in the business as a seasoned multi-instrumentalist. He started at the young age of 3 experimenting with various instruments including guitar but eventually centered his focus on playing bass around 2014 while a student at NCA&T in Greensboro NC.
Watkins, on the other hand is an old school percussionist whose facial expressions alone added to the force that pushes him through the layers of hard-driving rudiments he creates. This was the first time Smith had played with Watkins.
Smith told the story of how he had the privilege of once seeing the iconic saxophonist Sonny Rollins perform. It was at that concert that he met Watkins who was Rollins’ drummer at the time.
Ledbetter’s non-flashy style paired with Watkins force served well as a solid driving rhythm team for Smith’s multi-layered expansive flutterings to ride on.
The great saxophonist John Coltrane is regarded as one of the most profoundly influential artists in jazz. His unique sound and technique brought a certain prominence to the tenor saxophone – the instrument he played most throughout his iconic career.
The group’s performance that night was very Coltrane(ish) particularly during one tune whereby Ledbetter opened with a sort of intricate mellow-tone solo he performed. Smith and Watkins crept in gracefully and together the trio trickled through another selection.
The night of choppy spontaneity calmed as Smith paid tribute to the late great jazz pianist/composer Carla Bley performing her haunting ballad Lawns. It was one of the few moments the group tip-toed delicately during the night giving the audience time to catch their breath.
Nonetheless Smith’s complex rapid-fire scaling through the various compositions during the night’s performance reflected more on his artistry rather than entertainment – yet the trio proved themselves by far as a well-oiled unit who brought avant-garde jazz to the Jeff Cnter.
