Edward Louis Smith, also known as Louis Smith, born on May 20, 1931, in Memphis,
Tennessee, was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhorn player, and composer. He
began playing trumpet as a teenager, influenced by Fats Navarro, and studied at
the University of Michigan, where he played with Dizzy Gillespie and Miles
Davis. In 1954, Smith was drafted into the United States Army but returned to
music in 1955, teaching and performing in Atlanta. His first album, Here Comes
Louis Smith, was released by Blue Note Records in 1958. After moving back to Ann
Arbor, Michigan, he focused on te...