Andy P. Smith
andy p.
smith
Andy P. Smith
andy p.
smith
Biography
Biography
Andy P. Smith is known for the depth of his “pocket” as a performer, his uncanny versatility as a pedagogue, and his wit and creativity as a composer. His recent projects include CD recordings, Finally Here and Festive Interplay with Angel Roman and Mambo Blue, Deliberations by Erik Unsworth, Jim Shearer’s Cloud Bowling With Claude Bolling, and Latin Jazz group Batuquê Trio’s Transparency and sophomore recording pending release in 2024. Smith’s career has taken him from the recording studios of Nashville, TN to Tanglewood, Lincoln Center, Ravinia and the Hollywood Bowl. In 2012, Andy was awarded a Tinker Foundation grant to study contemporary Brazilian Samba-Jazz drumming in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Andy has been a repeat clinician and performer at the Jazz Education Network Convention, The Percussive Arts Society International Convention. With Batuque Trio, Andy performed the inaugural David Baker Guest Artist Series Concert at The Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. Other performances include the Lotus Music Festival, Ciudad Juarez International Jazz Festival, UNCH Chihuahua Mexico Jazz Festival, and grant sponsored workshops with Bernard Woma, Ghanaian Musical Ambassador.
Andy’s compositions include Two Maracatu for Drum-set Duo (a popular youtube video features Andy with drummer Marcus Finnie); (My Favorite Purple) Prickly Pear, premiered by the University of Texas at El Paso Percussion Ensemble at their 2023 Texas Music Educators Convention, and Brazilian Suite for Tambourines, premiered at Nashville’s Schermerhorn Symphony Center. Andy’s work, Vento no Ritmo (Wind in Rhythm), now a sextet for flutes and percussion was released in 2019 on the CD, Inspirations from Tennessee “The Dolly Project,” by Deanna Little, and featured in a collaborative performance at the National Flute Convention in the same year.
Andy taught at Middle Tennessee State University from 1999-2008, and the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts, a state sponsored program for elite college-bound musicians, from 2004-2017. Andy is Director of Percussion at the University of Texas at El Paso. Smith directs all aspects of percussion at the Dept. of Music with a philosophy emphasizing professionalism and depth of musicianship. His Doctorate is from the the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, IN where he served as an Associate Instructor and Assistant Director to Michael Spiro's Brazilian Percussion Ensemble.
Contributions to PAS (The Percussive Arts Society) include numerous PASIC invited and featured performances, adjudication, directing MTSU and UTEP ensembles in competition, serving as past Vice President of the Tennessee Chapter, and currently serving on the University Pedagogy Committee.
Andy is published by Row-Loff Publications, and C. Alan Publications. Additionally, Andy self-publishes his eclectic works at andypsmith.squarespace.com. He is endorsed by Pearl/Adams, Evans Drumheads, Zildjian Cymbals, and Innovative Percussion.
Batuquê Trio
Batuquê Trio
BATUQuê trio
Batuquê Trio blends a myriad of Latin jazz styles, from the folkloric roots of Cuban and Brazilian music to contemporary trends in Afro-Cuban, Brazilian and Caribbean jazz. The term, batuquê, refers to Afro-Brazilian polyrhythmic drumming and dance.
Released in 2015, their debut, album Transparency, showcases the members' exciting original compositions and rhythmically infectious standards. Available at iTunes, CD Baby and Amazon!
Compositions
Compositions
To purchase, email Andy. smiths614@icloud.com. Purchases can be made via Paypal, Cash App, or Venmo.
2 Maracatu: for Drum-set Duo (2013) 8'
This recital piece combines detailed orchestration and thematic development with sylistic improvisation. It is inspired by the music of Brazilian drummers Edu Ribeiro, Nenê, and Marcio Bahia, and the maracatu nações of Recife Brazil. Provides a challenging lesson in conventions of contemporary maracatu drum-set
$35
Bread & Butter (2013) 3'32
To Purchase: http://www.rowloff.com/search/description.html?item=14CS9
Rowloff Publications. Premiered by the Tennessee Governor's School for the Arts percussion quartet. Integrates plastic buckets, brake drums, and mixing bowls with conventional toms, snares, and cymbals. Intended to demonstrate that these "found" percussion items have become so common in contemporary percussion performance that they have become "conventional" themselves. Two primary themes–a three against four polyrhythm, and a bucket drummer backbeat groove–are explored combining accessibility with pointillist aesthetic leanings. Included on Texas and other state recommended ensemble lists. Performed at Midwest Convention in Chicago.
Lalopalooza (2008)
Dedicated to Prof. Lalo Davila commemorating 20 years as Director of Percussion Studies at Middle Tennessee State University. A salsa tune for percussion ensemble with instrumental features and optional horn section.
To Purchase: http://www.rowloff.com/ConcertFolder/ConcertRhythm.html
Jingles (2010)
Quartet for Orchestral Tambourine, Riqq, Pandeiro, and R&B tambourine.
self-published $35 plus shipping. smiths614@icloud.com. Purchases can be made via Paypal, Cash App, or Venmo.
Brazilian Suite for Tambourines (2013) 3’30’’
Premiered at Schermerhorn Symphony Center, June 21, 2013 by the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts Percussion Ensemble. A quartet for orchestral tambourines exploring a variety of primarily orchestral techniques through Brazilian rhythms samba, vassi, and baião.
self-published $30. To purchase, email Andy. smiths614@icloud.com. Purchases can be made via Paypal, Cash App, or Venmo.
Fora da Caixa (2011) 6’ - 8’
Experimental Multi-Percussion Trio. This word-score composition for percussion trio was written for the Caixa Percussion Trio. A framework for collective structured improvisation is provided in the form of texted instructions placed inside graphic boxes. Each of four boxes represent major sections of the work. Additional instructions lay outside of the boxes prompting the performers to undermine the otherwise harmonious instructions within. Thus, on the macro and micro levels, the work encourages the performing ensemble to think “outside the box” - the literal translation of Fora da Caixa.FREE.
contact
Booking
contact
Booking
to reach out for booking or for any reason, please contact andy p. smith by submitting your info below
Sponsors
Downloadable Clinics Hand-Outs and Pedagogy
Hand-outs and pdf. pages for clinics and study
Downloadable Clinics Hand-Outs and Pedagogy
Hand-outs and pdf. pages for clinics and study
Latin Must-Haves
Concise but fully-loaded clinic of go-to parts for drum-set and phrasing concepts for Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, and Caribbean Music
Drum-set Nitty-gritty
Essentials for jazz, funk, and Latin styles covering stylistic independence, phrasing, fresh ideas for hands, and other nuts and bolts
pasic 16 clinic: 21st century brazilian samba-jazz
Brazilian drum-set clinic as presented at PASIC 2016, and distilled from Smith’s 2014 scholarly publication, O Baterista
ritmos brasileiros: baião
Style and independence study for baião from north-eastern Brazil/Brasil
Clinics - Page 2
Clinics - Page 2
Lamento transcription
Edu Ribeiro Drum-set performance transcription, “Lamento” from Trio Corrente.