Louis Smith (musician) public school system. He later recorded for the SteepleChase label. Smith suffered a stroke in 2006, and was seen occasionally enjoying live jazz in the Detroit/Ann Arbor area, but did not return to performing. His cousin Booker Little was also a trumpeter. Smith died on August 20, 2016, at age 85. With Kenny Burrell With Horace Silver With Booker Little and Young Men From Memphis Louis Smith (musician) After graduating from Tennessee State University he attended graduate school at the University of Michigan. While studying at the University of Michigan, he played with visiting musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie, Miles
Ray Abrams (musician) Lips Page, Roy Eldridge, and Slim Gaillard. Ray Abrams (musician) Ray Abrams (January 23, 1920 – July 1992) was an American jazz and jump blues tenor saxophonist, born Ray Abramson in New York City. His younger brother was jazz drummer Lee Abrams. Ray Abrams first worked with Dizzy Gillespie in 1945, toured Europe with Don Redman in 1946 and was with Andy Kirk in 1947. He went back and forth between Kirk and Gillespie for decades. Outside of his work with Gillespie he might be best known for the "Ray Abrams Big Band." Other bands with which he played into