One of the most prominent jazz violinists of the swing era was Stuff Smith who was born on this date in 1909. During his life, Smith, whose given name was Hezekiah Leroy Gordon Smith, performed with his own groups as well as with other jazz luminaries. He is credited as being the first violinist to use electronic amplification for his instrument.

Stuff Smith was born in Portsmouth, Ohio and learned to play the violin from his father and cited Louis Armstrong as his primary influence. Like Armstrong, Stuff Smith sang as well as played his violin at performances. In the 1920s he could be found playing with the Alphonse Trent ensemble, a territory band in Texas.

After moving to New York City in the 1930s, Smith led his own six-piece group at the Onyx Club on 52nd Street. The group, known as Stuff Smith and his Onyx Club Boys, made their first records in 1936, including a hit called I’se a Muggin’. Smith could also be heard playing with Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster and Ella Fitzgerald and at the 1938 Randall’s Island “Carnival of Swing.”

Although a critic of the bebop movement, Stuff Smith played with both Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. He appeared on an album with Nat “King” Cole and performed with Sun Ra’s orchestra, as well. Smith is one of the musicians appearing in the famous “Great Day in Harlem” photograph taken in 1958. In later life Smith moved to Denmark and passed away in Munich, West Germany in 1967 at the age of 58.

Here is a link to a 1965 Stuff Smith performance of Bugle Call Rag made for Danish television:

"BUGLE CALL RAG"