Music like Walter Smith III

Walter Smith III (born September 24, 1980) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer.

In addition to performing with his own group, Smith is a member of the Ambrose Akinmusire Quintet and Eric Harland's Voyager. He regularly plays and records with Taylor Eigsti, Christian Scott, Logan Richardson, Kendrick Scott, Aaron Parks, Warren Wolf, and others.

Smith has released five albums as leader: Casually Introducing (2006), Live in Paris (2009), III (2010), Still Casual (2014), and Twio (2018).

Smith began playing the saxophone at the age of seven in his hometown of Houston, Texas. While at Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, he received a Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship from the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) and the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA); the NFAA Young Talent Award; a full-tuition scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music; and a United States Presidential Scholar in the Arts medal. He graduated from Berklee in 2003 with a degree in music education. He later earned a degree at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz.