Mary (Alma) Foster Smith died Sunday, May 6, 2012.
Her health had declined over the last several years, and she became forgetful, to the point where she could no longer gig. The death of her longtime friend Bert Myrick in 2010 really affected Alma; they were very close, personally and musically. Her family helped out, but Alma could no longer maintain her neat little house on Roselawn. She ended up in a series of nursing homes and continued to decline. Alma’s voice remained strong, but she no longer recognized old friends.
Alma knew she was performing somewhere every night, and the countless number of notes she played are still reverberating somewhere.
Alma performed regularly at the Detroit Jazz Festival, and we offer this biography from her longtime friend and admirer Jim Gallert.
Alma Smith was a professional musician for more than sixty years. The youngest of nine children, Mary Alma Smith was born in Montgomery, Alabama on May 15, 1922, and raised in the North End area of Detroit. Alma’s fascination with music started early. Her mother had played piano as a youngster and she encouraged all of her children to play an instrument.
“My brother played very good boogie-woogie, but he died young,” she recalled. “And my sister could play. But I was the one that made music my livelihood.”
Alma’s keyboard prowess was obvious, and she received lessons when her family could afford them. Alma went to Cass Technical High School as a music major and honed her dancing skills by taking lessons from Detroit dancer La Claire Knox. She became active in the city’s flourishing arts community, as she recalled.
“I appeared in Carmen and Aida at the Detroit Institute of Arts with the Black Opera Guild. I also played piano after school in a band called King’s Aces.”
Alma tried to play like Errol Garner, Art Tatum, Nat Cole and Fats Waller (all of whom she heard in person). During the late thirties when Alma was a teenager, Detroit had some fine jazz trios. Most were modeled after Cole’s group (piano-bass-guitar) and sported a diverse repertoire, with blues, ballads, novelty songs and jazz standards.
One such group was the Evans-Faire Trio, an up-and-coming band comprising guitarist John Faire, bassist Curtis Wilder (brother of trumpeter Joe), and pianist Reuben Evans. Reuben lost his hearing and the guys needed a replacement, and Alma sounded good. In addition to the novelty aspect of a mixed gender trio, Curt and Johnny figured they wouldn’t have to buy band uniforms for Alma, and they were correct, as her mother and sisters bought her “beautiful evening gowns” to wear on jobs.
The musicians changed the trio’s name to The Counts And Countess, and they got Detroit’s own Delbridge & Gorrell as managers – likely the novelty aspect caught their attention. Alma convinced her mother to let her go ‘on the road’, and around 1944 the band set off to Cleveland, where they had the daunting task of following Art Tatum’s trio in a local club. They did OK, and The Counts And Countess worked their way west to Los Angeles, where they stayed for the next four years.
Alma’s talent blossomed with the group, and her charm and good looks helped put the band over with audiences.
“I played piano and vibes and did a little singing—very little singing, ‘cause I was kind of shy,” she said. Alma also wrote material, including “I’m A Barfly Baby”, “I’ve Got A Man”, and “Everybody’s Got Somebody, But Where Is The One For Me”.
Alma made an impact playing her vibes, especially on “Flying Home”, generating enough swing during one theater job to stop the show. “Someone in the audience yelled, ‘Lionel Hampton, take off that dress!’ she laughed.”
L.A. had many lounges and ‘cocktail rooms’ during the 1940s and work was plentiful, especially for a band built around the sound of local favorite Nat Cole. The Counts And Countess clicked on the coast, and played the best “white lounges” and theaters, recorded for two local record labels, and made three Soundies. Despite their success, Los Angeles lost its sheen after a few years. Alma got homesick and yearned for the Midwest., and her decision to leave broke up the band.
Detroit was jumpin’, and Smith quickly found work at the Parrot Lounge in a quartet led by ex-Basie reedman Rudy Rutherford. She quit after a disagreement with Rutherford over what Smith perceived as a “lack of professional courtesy to a band member” (the band member was Alma Smith).
Alma was pretty as well as talented, and she caught the eye of several musicians who wanted to “make beautiful music” with her. She finally said “yes” to bassist Paul Foster, longtime member of pianist Willie Anderson’s trio. Alma and Paul were divorced after a few years, but the two remained friends. Alma always kept “Foster” as part of her name.
Alma began gigging as a single, a new challenge, but she quickly got her bearings. Her easy manner and pleasant singing voice made her an unqualified success, and her swinging piano always attracted jazz devotees. Alma offered something for everyone when she played, a philosophy she knew would keep her working. “I’m a practical person,” she explained. “I’d rather be somewhere playing music than standing on my feet at Hudson’s all day.”
Like many young musicians, Alma took to bebop upon first hearing, and when Dizzy Gillespie’s orchestra was in town, tenor saxophonist Lucky Thompson (then a member of the band) carried her to rehearsals (he was interested in Alma as well as her music). “I loved Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker,” she says. “But I was not in the arena to play that kind of music.”
Alma got a job offer from Eddie “Lockjaws” Davis in Cleveland (on a rented B-3), and after that gig she secured bookings in Cleveland as a single and soon formed her own trio. She also bought a Hammond B-3 organ and practiced diligently, so that in three months “I had some of the best organ jobs in Cleveland.” Alma didn’t often play her B-3 in later years, but she could really swing that thing.
Alma made frequent trips to Detroit to be near her family and finally moved back in 1964. She settled into the music scene, working as a single at hotels and restaurant. Alma played at the Rhinoceros Club off-and-on for fifteen years (1979-1994). The Rhino was the perfect venue for Alma. It was classy piano bar, surrounded by customers for whom she’d play requests – and the tip jar was full at the end of each night.
Smith spent fifteen years as a piano jack-of-all-trades (accompanist/instructor/performer) in the Detroit Public School system, and she got great satisfaction from helping youngsters develop as musicians (jazz star Rodney Whitaker got some early experience playing in Alma’s trio). She also got a pension; Alma was always planning for her future, and never expected to end up penniless. Miss Smith wanted work, not a handout.
Alma worked diligently to maintain a presence on the jazz scene. Her trio (Bert Myrick, drums and Will Austin, bass) appeared regularly at Baker’s Keyboard Lounge, and she became an important part of saxophonist Vincent York’s Jazzistry group, giving a mini-history of jazz piano in area schools. Alma also gave talks on Jazz history at local colleges.
In 1992, she began a 15 year engagement at Sweet Lorraine’s, where the sound of her piano complemented the interesting fare offered at the restaurant. Alma also played each year at the Michigan Jazz Festival. She always maintained her membership in AFM Local 5, and would shake her head when talking about musicians who stopped paying dues and then expected the Union to help them find work.
Alma Smith kept her sense of humor and upbeat outlook on life. She always had plans and was open to opportunities. Alma was among the last of her generation of Detroit musicians, an elegant pianist with awesome ‘chops’ and a strong lyrical approach to material. Alma always told a story when she played, and her stories were often captivating. She had a personal way with the blues, too, as pianist and vocalist.
Her personal philosophy is summed up in one of her many compositions, “Time Won’t Stop And Change Keeps On Coming”, the essence of which is: Trust your feelings, believe in yourself, take advantage of your opportunities.
Alma leaves behind many friends and admirers, and we will remember her smile, her warmth, and those wonderful stories she told.
Copyright 2012 Jim Gallert
Here’s a link to the Vocal Group Harmony website where you can hear the Counts And Countess: http://www.vocalgroupharmony.com/RideRed2.htm
You can remember Alma by following this link to the Vocal Group Harmony website where you can hear the Counts And Countess: http://www.vocalgroupharmony.com/RideRed2.htm
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