Richard Smith - Tangos (2014)

Fresh, sophisticated, soulful, Innovative, hard-grooving, pocket-orented globally connected music for everyone from musicologists to savvy hairdressers.

Richard’s well-known discs have garnished praise such as “Best Contemporary Jazz Guitar Album” (Tune Up Magazine), a nomination for “Record of the Year” (Ad Lib Magazine), and “Best New Artist” (Radio & Records Magazine). His album 'SOuLIDIFIED' spent 17 weeks in the top 10 for radio airplay of American contemporary jazz radio (Radio and Records Magazine) and 3 weeks at number 1 in the World for satellite and cable airplay (Music Choice).

This has been an exciting time for Professor Smith, a time of growth and change. In 2012 and 2013 Smith traveled to 11 countries around the globe performing music from his 13 releases and collaborating with a group of international all-stars on “Tangos” - the deepest and most engaging release of his career. The reason why Richard’s new global approach works so well is simple, he is a globally connected person, living abroad 3 months out of every year.

For half of 2012 the globetrotting guitarist was visiting professor at Agder University, Norway, one of Europe’s finest conservatories. It was a good fit, for Scandinavia has long been known for it’s unique, influential music. While in Northern Europe, Smith debuted his L.A. Chillharmonic arrangements for Big Band – bringing L.A. style funk, soul and jazz to Oslo, London, and Amsterdam, and to Denmark via a residency with the Royal Academy of Music.

In Greece he became a director of the Aegean Cultural Initiative, an organization that brings together multiple cultures and global music leaders. In Sicily, the land of his ancestors, (Smith’s Italian name is Pacifico) …he toured and recorded a duet project with one of the great guitar virtuosos in Europe Francesco Buzzurro. He traveled to South Africa and Tahiti – where he led an all-star band featuring jazz phenoms Eric Marienthal and Dan Siegel - for an exclusive Jazz cruise, and London, England, where he now directs the only overseas program for the USC Thornton School of music – ranked with Julliard as one of the top music schools in the World.

And in the course of these travels he fell in love with TANGO.