Jazz
William Austin Smith is a big band composer, arranger, performer and conductor. In 2013-14 he recorded two jazz albums in Paris, France, with Julie Rose Wilde and Ron Meza's High Definition Big Band. The first is an electronic re-imagining of Johnny Mercer classics, commissioned by the Kessler Collection hotels. The other is a gypsy jazz/big band fusion album (see below for more information on Bohemian Dream Cabaret).
In 2012 Austin was commissioned to compose two original works for the Camel City Jazz Orchestra, based out of North Carolina's Piedmont Triad area. The first is a medium swing shuffle called "Mad Dash", which was written as a theme song for the band. The other work is a compilation of three Christmas tunes, (Greensleeves, My Favorite Things and Carol of the Bells), adapted into a fantasy jazz odyssey. Austin also produces jazz music for film and animation.
Latest Updates -
Paris, France - Austin teamed up with singer/songwriter, Julie Rose Wilde, and Ron Meza's Parisian, High Definition Big Band, to arrange and record Bohemian Dream Cabaret, an album of original music by Julie Rose Wilde, The album also includes two instrumentals by Austin, and features famous gypsy-jazz guitarist, Bireli Lagrene, French violinist, Didier Lockwood, and U.S. big band drummer, Jeff "The Hammer" Hamilton. The project is a fusion of gypsy jazz and cabaret styles with the traditional jazz orchestra. See "The Making Of" below...
