Willie "The Lion" Smith

By Helen Lesnick

A pastel portrait of Willie "The Lion" Smith. He was an American jazz pianist and one of the masters of the stride style. He was usually grouped with James P. Johnson and Thomas "Fats" Waller as the three greatest practitioners of the genre from its Golden Age. Duke Ellington called him "the greatest influence of all the great jazz piano players" and Duke composed and recorded, "Portrait of the Lion" in 1939 in honor of him. I originally learned about him from a profile in Ken Burns wonderful documentary series, "Jazz". I was so impressed with Mr. Smith and his story I decided immediately to do his portrait.