Happy 81st Birthday, Bill Smith (William O. Smith)

Whether you know him as Bill Smith, jazz clarinetist with the likes of Dave Brubeck and Orchestra USA, or as William O. Smith, classical and crossover composer and longtime faculty member at the University of Washington, it's time to wish them a happy birthday. I feel quite fortunate to have been able to study with Bill when I was at the UW in the 1990s -- I took a few years of composition private instruction with him, and we also explored twelve-tone jazz improvisation in a small combo. With a recording career that goes back to the 1946 and the Dave Brubeck Octet, Bill is one of those few guys that truly managed to develop two different careers as a musician. Bill Smith was, is, and continues to be an inspiration for me as a musician, and certainly a model for the kind of musician I have always wished to be: one equally at home as a composer and improvisor, within classical and jazz. Happy Birthday, Bill!