Smith, Floyd
Smith, Floyd
Smith, Floyd (Wonderful) , jazz guitarist; b. St. Louis, Mo., Jan. 25, 1917; d. Indianapolis, Ind., March 29, 1982. His father was a drummer. Smith began on ukulele, then switched to guitar; studied theory at the Victor Hugo School in St. Louis. He played in Eddie Johnson’s Crackerjacks and Dewey Jackson’s Band before working in the Jeter-Pillars Orch. (1937–38). He joined the Sunset Royal Orch. in summer 1938, then left to work with the Brown Skin Models before joining Andy Kirk in January 1939. He served in Europe with the U.S. Army during World War II, then returned to Andy Kirk in late 1945. Smith left Kirk in September 1946 to form his own trio which played for several years at the Dusable Club in Chicago. In the mid-1950s he worked with Wild Bill Davis and Chris Columbus, and led his own group to Europe with Bill Doggett in the early 1960s, and again led his own group. During the late 1960s, Smith played in the Hank Marr duo in Atlantic City. He moved to Indianapolis during the 1970s.
—John Chilton , Who’s Who of British Jazz/Lewis Porter