Dallas Smith

Born in Columbus, Georgia, Dallas
Smith began his musical studies in the 6th grade on a song flute. His talent was obvious from this young age, and he studied clarinet with George Cardino through high school.

A scholarship student at Florida State University, Dallas studied with Harry Schmidt until he took a year abroad to study languages in Germany. Once there, he remained abroad, spending one year in Germany and subsequent years in Sweden and Afghanistan. During these years, three critical musical milestones occurred for Dallas: he began playing the flute, moved over to the jazz world, and began his love affair with East Indian Classical music on the Bansuri, the bamboo flute.

Upon returning to the U.S. after over three years abroad, he moved to San Rafael, California, to study with Indian Music masters Ali Akbar Khan and G.S. Sachdev, and jazz saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis.

As diverse as his musical interests were, that is how wide he ventured into the world of jazz, world music, and fusion. The result was that he performed in the U.S., Europe, and India -- becoming known as the finest woodwind performer to achieve virtuosity in each of his musical passions. He moves easily between the inspired and fluid world of meditation, the complex and exciting rhythms of Indian fusion, the complex world of jazz, and his own compositions, which blend all of them.

In addition, Dallas is also a pioneer in the performance and development of the electronic wind synthesizer, having naturally expanded his interest to the newer technologies that allowed him to move around all musical genres with unprecedented creativity and expertise. It was in 1984 that he recorded his first solo album, “Stellar Voyage,” and met Susan Mazer, when he collaborated on her first album, “The Fire in the Rose.”

In his performance and recordings, Dallas easily moves between the silk melodic quality of the flute to the sensual richness of the saxophone and clarinet and on to the magic of the electric wind instrument. His melding of East Indian, jazz, and classical music make both his performance and compositions refreshing and enticing.

Dallas has performed with Ahmad Jamal, Steven Halpern, Zakir Hussein, and other musical greats that cover the landscape of contemporary instrumental music.

About Mazer & Smith
About Susan Mazer