Smith Dobson
Bruce LeClaire
Smith Dobson
Date:
Thu, 31 May 2001 19:26:57 -0400
From:
Bruce LeClaire <bw...@mindspring.com>
Organization:
ReBeHard.Bop
Newsgroups:
rec.music.bluenote
From: http://home.nestor.minsk.by/jazz/news/arc0104.html
<<25th April 2001 Letter From Kapland Records... death of Smith Dobson
"Greetings one and all:
I'm writing today to share about the loss of my dear friend and mentor,
pianist Smith Dobson who died unexpectedly on Friday evening April 20th
while driving home from a gig in a single car accident like so many of
our greatest Jazz musicians have. All of us who knew and loved him are
devastated. It's so hard to accept that he is gone. The music community
is grieving and still reeling from the shock. As a friend, teacher,
mentor, musician and part of our family, he is irreplaceable. This is a
void that can never be filled. He embodied the true ecstasy of playing
music. He was on the highest playing level of the musician's I have
heard and was the finest accompanist I have ever worked with. I had
hoped to have a long musical marriage with Smith. He made every one he
played with sound better and perform at a higher level. Anyone who has
heard him or played with him would agree. I always enjoyed watching as
he would smile and seem to be in rapture while playing with his eyes
closed somewhere deep inside the music and the eternal moment. I think
he was here to be an inspiration to others and as a kind of budda.
(speaking of which, the little budda from my office fountain came up
missing in the last few days...hmmm.) He gave many people an opportunity
to benefit from the music as a listener, student, sideman, aspiring
musician and as a singer. I am so glad that he was honored in the past
2 years so he could get a sense of his value to others and the
communities he pervaded. He received a lifetime achievement award from
the San Jose Jazz Society, was honored for his lifetime achievement as a
pianist in the bay area at the Monterey Jazz Festival, and just this
January in the community of Santa Cruz for the entire Dobson Family as a
lifetime achievement award along with his wife Gail (vocals) and
children Smith, jr. (vibes & drums), and Sasha (vocals).
Smith always seemed to slough off praise and honors in a very
self-effacing way. (the budda in him?) I received an email the day
preceding his death that speaks to me in this situation. I am distilling
a part of the article from Jack Riemer of the Houston Chronicle. It was
about a performance by Itzak Perlman the violinist at Lincoln Center
when he broke a string after the first few bars. Instead of putting his
leg braces back on and walking across the stage to get a replacement
string on crutches he decided to wait a moment, closed his eyes and then
signaled the conductor to start again from where he had left off. He
played with such beauty and passion and impossibly on only three
strings. When he finished to great applause he reportedly smiled, wiped
the sweat from his brow and said..."You know, sometimes it is the
artist's task to find out how much music you can still make with what
you have left." It seems to me that without Smith Dobson, we only have
three strings left. So I guess it will be up to the rest of us to make
the best music we can with what we have left. On another
note...sometime before the end of this year I hope to release another
recording on Kapland Records dedicated to Smith featuring Martan Mann on
piano, who is Gail Dobson's brother and Smith's former brother in law.
In closing I just want to say on behalf of myself, my wife Cheri, and
our children Amber and Ryan, that we love you Smith ! You will be dearly
missed. And...we love you Gail for making us part of your family ! in
jazz we trust... Kapland Records "My heart is sad and lonely. For you I
sigh . For you dear only. I tell you I mean it. I'm all for you body and
soul.">>
--Bruce
PS- See http://home.nestor.minsk.by/jazz for an article on Boston's
Rebecca Paris, and an interview of jazz journalist, producer, and
sometime rmb-er, Chris Albertson.
Phil Smith
> On another
> note...sometime before the end of this year I hope to release another
> recording on Kapland Records dedicated to Smith featuring Martan Mann on
> piano, who is Gail Dobson's brother and Smith's former brother in law.
Please let me (us) know when you release the record. I'd like a copy. I
last had the pleasure of playing with Smith at Martan's 60th birthday
party. It was a blast. Everything you said was right on. I played with
Martan a few weeks ago. He's a great musician. I look forward to the record.
-Phil
Bruce LeClaire
Sorry, but I was quoting an article I found on the net about Smith.
It's Kapland Records which is planning the release, you could try the
following links
http://www.ronkaplan.com (splash page for next link)
http://www.ronkaplan.com/main.htm
but I couldn't find any mention of Smith on there.
The original article on Smith was published (~Apr 25) on the following
link:
http://home.nestor.minsk.by/jazz/news/arc0104.html
Regards,
--Bruce
Phil Smith
>
> Phil Smith wrote:
> >
> > Bruce LeClaire wrote:
> > > On another
> > > note...sometime before the end of this year I hope to release another
> > > recording on Kapland Records dedicated to Smith featuring Martan Mann on
> > > piano, who is Gail Dobson's brother and Smith's former brother in law.
> >
> > Please let me (us) know when you release the record. I'd like a copy. I
> > last had the pleasure of playing with Smith at Martan's 60th birthday
> > party. It was a blast. Everything you said was right on. I played with
> > Martan a few weeks ago. He's a great musician. I look forward to the record.
>
> Sorry, but I was quoting an article I found on the net about Smith.
> It's Kapland Records which is planning the release, you could try the
> following links
>
> http://www.ronkaplan.com (splash page for next link)
> http://www.ronkaplan.com/main.htm
Oh, sorry. I know Ron, he lives a few miles from me. I'll ask him next
time I see him.
Thanks,
Phil