The Legendary Buster Smith is the debut and only solo album released by saxophonist Buster Smith

Buster Smith

Henry "Buster" Smith , also known as Professor Smith, was an American jazz alto saxophonist and mentor to Charlie Parker. Smith was instrumental in instituting the Texas Sax Sound with Count Basie and Lester Young in the 1930s...

, recorded and released in 1959

1959 in music

-Events:*January 5 – The first sessions for Ella Fitzgerald's George and Ira Gershwin Songbook are held.*January 12 – Tamla Records is founded by Berry Gordy Jr. in Detroit, Michigan....

. The album features five original compositions by Smith, alongside versions of "September Song

September Song

"September Song" is an American pop standard composed by Kurt Weill, with lyrics by Maxwell Anderson, introduced by Walter Huston in the 1938 Broadway musical Knickerbocker Holiday. It has since been recorded by numerous singers and instrumentalists...

" by Kurt Weill

Kurt Weill

Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...

 and "Organ Grinder's Swing" by Will Hudson.

Background

In 1959, after several years of suggestion by Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records

Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...

, alto saxophonist

Alto saxophone

The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...

 Buster Smith

Buster Smith

Henry "Buster" Smith , also known as Professor Smith, was an American jazz alto saxophonist and mentor to Charlie Parker. Smith was instrumental in instituting the Texas Sax Sound with Count Basie and Lester Young in the 1930s...

 put together a band to perform a session of Jazz pieces. The album was recorded in a single studio session on June 7, 1959 and was released the next month on August 15. The lineup featured mostly Dallas based musicians, including Smith's own brother Boston Smith.

The album was digitally remastered, remixed and produced in 1999 and released for the first time on compact disc

Compact Disc

The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

 on October 19 of that year.

Track listing

1. "Buster's Tune" – 3:35
2. "E Flat Boogie" – 6:53
3. "September Song" (Maxwell Anderson
   Maxwell Anderson
   James Maxwell Anderson was an American playwright, author, poet, journalist and lyricist.-Early years:Anderson was born in Atlantic, Pennsylvania, the second of eight children to William Lincoln "Link" Anderson, a Baptist minister, and Charlotte Perrimela Stephenson, both of Scots and Irish descent...
   
   , Kurt Weill
   Kurt Weill
   Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
   
   ) – 3:52
4. "King Alcohol" – 4:34
5. "Kansas City Riffs" – 5:17
6. "Late Late" – 7:42
7. "Organ Grinder's Swing" (Will Hudson) – 6:35

All compositions by Buster Smith except as indicated.

Performing musicians

• Henry "Buster" Smith - Alto saxophone and guitar
• Eddie Cadell - Tenor saxophone
• Leroy "Buster" Cooper - Baritone saxophone
• Charles Gillum - Trumpet
• Clinton Smith - Trombone
• Herman Flowers - Piano
• Boston Smith - Piano
• Josea Smith - Bass
• Robert Cobbs - Drums

Production

• Robert Sullivan - Engineer
• Gunther Schuller - Liner notes
• Donald Elfman - 1999 Reissue producer
• Naomi Yoshii - 1999 Reissue producer