While it is perhaps a touch premature to bestow upon Marvin “Smitty” Smith the historical mantle of greatness, it’s readily accepted by the musicians and fans who’ve seen him in action that a talent like his flashes across the sky only a few times in a generation. When Roy Haynes lovingly dubbed him “Mah-velous Marvin” during singer Jon Hendricks’ gig at Manhattan’s Blue Note jazz club, and urged Smith to sit in with his ex-employer, there were no arguments to be heard. Clearly, the torch was being passed to a new champion. Stories about Smitty’s remarkable stature preceded our first experiences—particularly drum connoisseur Stanley Crouch’s laudatory storm warnings in his Village Voice column—but nothing prepared us for his epic voyages with bassist Dave Holland’s daring quintet at Sweet Basil. Affable, gregarious, and inquisitive, Smitty projected the kind of radiant enthusiasm and love (of people and music) off the bandstand that […]