"Joshua Smith plays saxophone on a world-class level.
An outstanding technician, he articulates very clearly,
and his improvisations are consistently rich in content."
-Harvey Pekar, Jazziz Magazine
Joshua Smith is a jazz saxophonist living in West Marin, in the San Francisco, Bay Area...
Smith began gigging around his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio at age 14. Early on, he became well versed in straight ahead jazz, though playing with some of the area’s best jazz players. During this time Joshua performed with and learned from an older generation of Cleveland’s stalwart jazzmen.
Joshua has performed throughout the U.S. and Europe playing jazz both as a band leader and sideman. He’s played countless concerts, restaurants, and private events (weddings, parties) in all varieties and incarnations.
Since moving to San Francisco in 2004, Joshua has been playing with many of that area's finest jazz musicians. He plays regularly at jazz venues in the Bay Area and has provided music for private functions at mainstay locations such as SF City Hall, the Legion of Honor, The de Young Museum, the Asian Art Museum, etc.
Joshua's jazz groups (quartet, trio, duo) have a wide ranging repertoire of well-loved (as well as more obscure) jazz standards and straight-ahead jazz classics. His attentiveness and ability to create the ideal musical atmosphere are key to Smith providing the perfectly appropriate musical backdrop for any event.
Weddings, corporate parties, bar/bat mitzvahs, birthdays, and holiday celebrations are all familiar terrain for Smith’s jazz groups. His sidemen are experienced jazz players, culled from the best of the Bay Area jazz scene.
Joshua has performed at many premiere modern jazz venues and festivals such as--- 'The North Sea Jazz Festival', 'The Blue Note Jazz Festival', 'The Glastonbury Festival', Chicago's 'Empty Bottle', 'The Knitting Factory' in NYC, 'Teatro Fondamenta Nuove' in Venice, 'The Outpost' in New Mexico, The Detroit Institute of Art, 'The Tri-C Jazzfest', 'The Louisville Jazz Festival', etc.
He’s played with a long list of notable musicians including Cuong Vu (trumpeter of the Pat Metheny Group), Joe Maneri, Chris Jonas, Clyde Stubblefield, The Platters, Scott Amendola, Trevor Dunn, Time Berne, Karla Khilsteadt, Nate Wooley, Howie Smith and many others...