Larry Smith

 

Larry Smith was raised in Idaho. He has Bachelors and Masters degrees from Utah State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Utah. Larry taught band, choir, orchestra and English for six years in the public schools of Utah and Wyoming before he began teaching at USU in 1965. After 38 years in the USU Music Department, he retired in the spring of 2003.

During his career at USU, Larry taught music theory, ear training, arranging, saxophone, flute, jazz piano, and jazz history, and led the Jazz Orchestra. He wrote arrangements for the USU Jazz Orchestra, Marching Band, Concert Band, Pep Band, Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Singers, the Crestmark Orchestra, the Sunburst Club, "Touched by an Angel", and during USU’s Centennial, for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Bob Hope Show. Larry plays saxophone, flute, clarinet and piano and has played in groups that have accompanied Gladys Knight, Shirley Jones, Bob Hope, Buddy DeFranco, Maureen McGovern, the Lennon Sisters, and the Four Freshmen. He played jazz tenor sax in the Crestmark Orchestra, which played for the renowned Glenn Miller Shows at USU for 24 years.

Since retiring from full time teaching at USU, Larry has organized the Jazz Kicks Big Band, a 17-piece big band consisting of USU faculty members and former students. The Kicks Band rehearses weekly and plays several concerts each year. He also teaches jazz piano to select students each week.