Nate Smith (musician)


Ira Nathaniel "Nate" Smith is an American drummer, songwriter, producer and three time Grammy nominee.

Life and career

Smith was born in Chesapeake, Virginia, and started playing drums at age 11, initially influenced by rock and funk music. At 16, he developed an interest in jazz after listening to Album of the Year by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Smith studied media art and design at James Madison University. While at James Madison, he performed at the Conference of the International Association for Jazz Education in Atlanta, where he met Betty Carter, who invited him to joint performances at the Blue Note in New York City. Smith went to graduate school at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he met Dave Holland and joined Holland's quintet in 2003. Smith appears on the albums Critical Mass and Pathways. In 2017, he released his first album as leader, Kinfolk: Postcards from Everywhere on Ropeadope Records. In 2018 Smith cowrote and performed in the self-titled, debut EP release from the Vulfpeck spin-off group 'The Fearless Flyers', later going on a US tour with the group and releasing a second such EP in 2019.
Smith has composed soundtracks for broadcast documentaries on Discovery Channel and The Learning Channel. He co-wrote and produced the Michael Jackson song "Heaven Can Wait".

Discography

As leader

With Robin Eubanks
With Dave Holland
With Jose James
With Chris Potter
With others