Dallas Smith

As a scholarship student at Florida State University, he studied with Harry Schmidt before taking a year abroad in Germany to pursue language studies, a move that led to several years living in Germany, Sweden, and Afghanistan. During that time, three defining musical shifts occurred: he began playing flute, transitioned into the jazz world, and developed a deep passion for East Indian classical music on the bansuri. After returning to the U.S., he moved to San Rafael, CA, to study with Indian music masters Ali Akbar Khan and G.S. Sachdev, as well as jazz saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis. His wide-ranging musical interests carried him into jazz, world music, and fusion, ultimately leading to performances across the U.S., Europe, and India and earning recognition as a woodwind virtuoso fluent in each of his disciplines. He moves easily between meditative soundscapes, the rhythmic intensity of Indian fusion, the complexity of jazz, and original compositions that blend all three. A pioneer of the electronic wind synthesizer, he embraced emerging technologies to expand his creative reach, recording his first solo album Stellar Voyage in 1984 and collaborating with Susan Mazer on The Fire in the Rose. In performance and on recordings, he shifts seamlessly from the silk-like lyricism of flute to the richness of saxophone and clarinet and the expressive possibilities of electronic wind instruments, creating a distinctive blend of East Indian, jazz, and classical influences. His career includes collaborations with Ahmad Jamal, Steven Halpern, Zakir Hussain, and other major figures in contemporary instrumental music.