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If you are interested in learning about a pioneer African American music educator in the United States, then you want to read the story of Nathaniel Clark Smith. Smith was a prolific and charismatic music educator, musician, and composer who lived during the early years of music education history in the United States. His formal training in music was on a military base in Ft. Leavenworth, KS. Extended studies were from Guild Hall in London, England. A college graduate with B.M.A. and M.M degrees, Smith taught music in educational institutions and industries; was a world traveller who performed with the Ernest Hogan Minstrel Troupe; introduced the saxophone to African Americans; composed and published spirituals, marches, operatic songs, a suite, and an unfinished symphony; and hosted a radio broadcast show which was aired all over the Mid-West. He organized bands and out of that, orchestras, choirs, glee clubs and numerous combinations of the voice and instruments were developed. Smith captured the melodies of the countries that he visited in his music compositions.
During his illustrious career, Smith worked with Frederick Douglas, Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Booker T. Washington, Nat King Cole, Lionel Hampton, Milton Hinton, John Phillip Sousa, a young Charlie Parker, and others. His students from the Lincoln High School Band became the nucleus of the big band format of the Mid-West. His Pullman Porter musicians were able to perform at a moment's notice.
Married with one daughter and the son of an African Sergeant Trumpeter and Indian mother, The Story of Nathaniel Clark Smith is a colourful reading of the times during abolition to the mid depression years in the United States. It is the story of an African-American who survived the challenges of the time to obtain a successful music career, and who helped people to better their lives through music in the Mid-Western and Southern African-American communities of the United States.
