full name William Overton Smith
b. September 22, 1926, Sacramento, California
with Darius Mihaud at Mills College 1946
with Roger Sessions at University of California, Berkeley; BA 1950, MA 1952
Paris Conservatory 1952-53
Juilliard Institute 1957-58
Professor (Emeritus), and Director of the Contemporary Group, University of Washington, Seattle 1966-present
Prix de Paris
Phelan Award
Prix de Rome
Fromm Players Fellowship
National Academy of Arts and Letters Award
BMI Jazz Pioneer Award
two Guggenheim Fellowships
six years in Italy, part of the time leading the American Jazz Ensemble
colleague of Dave Brubeck
Dave Brubeck Octet 1947-51; Dave Brubeck Quartet 1959-present
Bill Smith a.k.a. William O. Smith
Bill Smith - Folk Jazz - reviewd by jazzreview.com