Charles Edward Smith (June 8, 1904 in Thomaston, Connecticut – December 16, 1970 in New York City) was an American jazz author and critic.
[2] With essays in journals such as the Symposium, Daily Worker and Esquire, Smith was among the early jazz critics in the 1930s.
[4] Smith and Ramsey argued that then-popular swing was rooted stylistically in blues and traditional jazz.
[5] In the course of the research on the book, the interviewed musicians mentioned the name Bunk Johnson again and again; This led to the then-forgotten trumpeter of New Orleans Jazz being rediscovered by Bill Russell in 1942.
1 (1959) and Music Down Home: An Introduction to Negro Folk Music, U.S.A. (1965), for Folkways Records, folk blues (Big Bill Broonzy Sings Country Blues, 1957), early jazz (Pee Wee Russell, Jelly Roll Morton) as well as modern jazz, including productions by Al Cohn, Miles Davis (Milestones, 1958), Chico Hamilton (South Pacific in Hi-Fi, 1957) and JJ Johnson (Dial J.J. 5, 1955).