For those unaware, Melvin Smith is a master of the saxophone and his exceptional and superior expertise on the sax quickly set him apart from a plethora of other horn players.

A skilled artist and musician from his youth, Smith has played with the best in sacred and secular music, including Kirk Whalum, Jonathan Butler, Oleta Adams, Norman Connors, Fred Hammond, BeBe Winans, Israel Houghton and Byron Cage, to name but a few.

This gift has undoubtedly made room for him, opening doors for him to play at the famed Montreux Jazz Festival - as a thirteen-year old - and later at the Lincoln Center.

His new album Perserverance (due out July 14th, 2023), is a soulful and passionate tribute to musical mentors, family members, and supporters. Indeed, the album kicks off in fine style with a bright and joyful Jimmy Heath (a former teacher of his) original, Sound for Sore Eras, here performed by a quartet, and never looks back.

1. Sound for Sore Ears
2. Karita
3. Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
4. Letter To the Ancestors
5. Beatitudes-Interlude
6. One by One
7. Gettin’ It
8. Beatrice
9. Perseverance
10. Golden
11. Beatitudes

The new album opens on the invigorating Sound for Sore Eyes and the shimmering Karita and then proceeds to bring us the illuminated, spiritually traditional Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child, the highly impassioned Letter To the Ancestors, a short, but sweet Beatitudes-Interlude, and then comes the absorbing One by On.

Up next is the engaging Gettin’ It and the graceful Beatrice and they are in turn loving followed by the free and easy rhythms that propel the titular Perseverance, the album rounding out on the endearing Golden, coming to a righteous close on the full version of a lovingly enriched Beatitudes.

Official Website