A Tale of Three Jazz Scenes – In Conversation With William Smith
William Smith is a Maltese drummer who is building his name in the New York jazz scene. Maltese jazz aficionados will at the very least be familiar with Will, who was exposed to the genre at an early age and grew up within the community.
And if you know Will, you’ll know that leaving the island to hone his musical prowess was something he yearned for. And it was a persistent yearning until he eventually did – leaving to study first at the Jazz Conservatory in Utrecht, and later at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music, which includes notable alumni across generations from Ron Carter and Herbie Hancock, to Gregory Hutchinson and Ambrose Akinmusire, to Adam Neely and Emmet Cohen.
Will continued to leave a mark in his home country and has performed multiple times at the Malta Jazz Festival, which as you might expect, is Malta’s flagship jazz festival. Notably, he performed at the 2019 edition as a band leader with the William Smith Trio, opening for Chucho Valdés Jazz Bata and Ozmosys. Much of the material from that performance would eventually find its way onto Will’s debut album, Nomad, which was released just two years ago in 2022, complete with an album launch at Palazzo de La Salle.
Two years can feel like a lifetime when you’ve made the jump from student to graduate and are now really and truly trying to make it in one of the most competitive, high-talent scenes in the world. That’s where Will is in his life right now – working as an educator and performing gigs around the city. In this interview, Smith talks about his jazz past, jazz present, and jazz future. It’s like A Christmas Carol, but with jazz. Let’s get to it.
Who are some of the artists you've been playing with lately? Are there particular gigs or moments that stand out as ones you're especially proud of?
Currently, I’m the drummer for Marty Scott’s quintet. The group comprises exceptional young musicians in the New York scene: Jacob Chung on tenor saxophone, Caleb Tobocman on Bass, Tommaso Perazzo on piano, Marty Scott on trombone, and myself on drums. I also occasionally play with pianist William Hill III and vocalist Amanda Addleman.
Recently I was playing a gig with Marty’s quintet and we were opening up for Grammy-nominated vocalist Carla Cook. After our set, the event organizer pulled me aside and asked me if I wanted to stay on and play drums for Carla. I obviously accepted. It was one of those serendipitous, very “New York” moments. Playing at The Django with Marty’s quintet a couple of times was also very memorable. It feels like a trip going from recalling watching videos on YouTube of musicians I looked up to play at that club to actually playing there.
Your debut album Nomad came out in 2022, with songs you'd written over the years but mainly during your time in the Netherlands. Nomad was well-received and even won an Award for Artistic Achievement from Arts Council Malta in 2023. Time has passed since writing and recording these songs, your environment has changed, and you’ve built a lot more experience since. How has this affected your compositional voice? What does the next William Smith album sound like in your head?
This is a very good question as it’s not an easy one to answer. My relationship with composing has definitely changed. When I was writing Nomad, I felt a need to write. Nowadays I don’t feel it as much. I have written some new compositions, some of which almost feel like a continuation of Nomad, but the idea of making a second album hasn’t materialized yet. At this point in my career, I feel like I’m dedicating a lot more time to the drums. I want to get closer to the sound that I hear in my head on the instrument. That has become the utmost priority these days. I used to beat myself up about it a lot, you know, not writing as much, but I’m learning to give myself a little more grace. The time will come when I’ll be writing a lot more again.
Let's talk about that jump between being a student and a graduate as a musician. Now that you're in the thick of working as a musician, how has that affected how you see the relationship between being an artist and being a working musician in jazz?
Oh man. You need to do what needs to be done. The New York scene isn’t an easy one to navigate. There are many opportunities, but there are also many other phenomenal musicians. You need to pay your dues. It’s not the first time I had to schlep my drumset on the subway to a $100 gig in the rain. Especially since I’m fresh out of school and slowly trying to put my name on the map, so to speak. You kind of have to say yes to a lot of things. I also think one shouldn’t limit oneself to doing one thing only. I also teach, both privately in person and over Zoom as well as in music schools in New York, and I love it. But between playing and teaching and trying to make ends meet, it’s important to find time for creative endeavours. I’m lucky that most of the gigs I play are with friends or other fantastic musicians. So even if the pay is nothing extraordinary, the music is great. The level is high and everyone’s having a good time playing with friends.
Related to the above, how have your goals as a musician and artist changed since starting your journey to becoming a full-time musician? What is the main thing you’re hoping to achieve in your career?
I just want to keep doing what I’m doing, and slowly expand the scale of it. I feel like I enjoy being a sideman more than I do being a bandleader, at least for now. I like the idea of people calling me because they want my sound on their gig or their recording. It feels extremely rewarding. So yeah, I would say I want to just keep building genuine connections with other musicians, keep working on my instrument, and seeing where it takes me.
It’s hard to mention just one “main” thing I’m hoping to achieve in my career. I’ve always set lofty goals for myself but having a busy international touring career was always up there on that list of goals.
You've experienced the jazz scenes in Malta, the Netherlands, and now the US. What have you learned from each of them? If you could bring something back to each scene from the others, what would it be?
Let’s start off with Malta. Malta was the place where I discovered jazz, thanks to the Malta Jazz Festival. The clubs in Malta were my stomping grounds where I began to learn how to play this music. What I loved about the scene in Malta was the community, especially amongst musicians my age. We were in it together. That element of group exploration, even if we didn’t sound great, was extremely fun and rewarding. I owe a lot to the people I played with back then who were more experienced than me: Warren Galea, Oliver Degabriele, and Joe Debono to name a few, who were always encouraging and happy to play with me when I was still coming up.
The Netherlands was a stepping stone for me. It was the first time that I got to study with some serious musicians with some serious experience. I was also attending a lot more concerts. Compared to Malta which only really had the Malta Jazz Festival at which one could witness jazz greats perform, in the Netherlands there were many concert venues and clubs like TivoliVredenburg and the Bimhuis where I could go and listen to my heroes up close. The Netherlands was where I got a taste of what this music is and what I could do with it, but deep down I knew that I didn’t want to stay there. Ironically, the Netherlands made me realize that I needed to come to New York to fully understand this music as deeply as possible. My teachers at the conservatory there also encouraged me to take that step.
That brings me to New York, where I’m currently living. Here the level is ridiculously high. There are 18-year-old drummers who play like they have 50 years of experience. You’re always expected to bring your 100% to every gig, session, and rehearsal. I feel like I’m always on my toes, I’m always motivated and inspired to practice, to get better, and to keep striving to get to the sound that I hear in my head. I’m always trying to come up with something new in the practice room. I get to listen to my heroes on a weekly, if not nightly, basis. If, 11 or so years ago when I started exploring jazz, you were to tell me that I’d end up in New York graduating from the Manhattan School of Music I would have laughed. Sometimes I still can’t believe I’m here.
In a nutshell, if I could combine Malta’s community with the Netherlands’ quality of life and New York’s cutting-edge, high-level musicianship, I wonder what that scene would look like!