Paul Smith dies at 91; jazz pianist, arranger, composer

By Don Heckman, July 1, 2013, 11:04 p.m.

Paul Smith, a jazz pianist, arranger-composer and music director for stars such as Sammy Davis Jr., Anita O'Day, Mel Torme, Ella Fitzgerald, Doris Day, the Andrews Sisters, Sarah Vaughan and Rosemary Clooney, has died. He was 91.

Smith died of heart failure Saturday at the Torrance Memorial Medical Center, publicist Alan Eichler said.

At 6 feet 5, with hands that easily spanned the piano keyboard well beyond octaves, Smith was an impressive sight on stage. Playing with a versatility comparable to that of Oscar Peterson and a harmonic richness similar to the work of Bill Evans, he was both a brilliant soloist and an accompanist who was highly praised by the many singers with whom he performed.

His initial solo album, "Liquid Sounds," is the first of numerous convincing examples of his impressive musical skills. Fluent with jazz, classical music and beyond, he moved from genre to genre with ease.

"Paul was a perfectionist and worked every day to improve his art," said jazz singer Lyn Stanley, for whom Smith was a mentor, an accompanist and a close friend. "When you worked with him, he expected the same of you."

For more than 25 years Smith was the pianist and music director for the "The Steve Allen Comedy Hour." "What Paul Smith does with two hands would ordinarily take three. He does the impossible," Allen — himself a pianist and jazz fan — once said.

Smith recorded more than five dozen albums — many of which are still available — as a leader of his own groups. As a much-favored accompanist, he recorded with singers and musicians of extraordinarily diverse styles, including Tony Martin, Bing Crosby, Red Skelton, Pat Boone, Nat "King" Cole, Pearl Bailey and Dizzy Gillespie, among many others. He worked for more than 11 years as a pianist and conductor with Ella Fitzgerald, and four with Sammy Davis Jr.

"You know," Smith told the San Diego Union-Tribune in 1991, "an accompanist has to be selfless — he has to put his ego on the shelf and make the vocalist sound better than she would without him. But with Ella that was no problem." Their musical relationship was a fulfilling creative experience for both, with Smith playing on many of Fitzgerald's critically praised, classic "songbook" albums.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-paul-smith-20130702,0,1791379.story?track=rss