Jon Smith

Jon L. Smith is a Philadelphia bassist who folds hip-hop and R&B textures into jazz vocabulary, playing mainly five-string electric bass. He has worked with Jeff Bradshaw, Nestor Torres, Karen Briggs, Laurin Talese, Chantae Cann, Nick Colionne, Jessica Reedy and Carol Riddick, and has played bass in drummer Anwar Marshall's group. His own records include The Social (2018), Yermo (2021) and Sueños (2023). Yermo pairs him with flutist Elena Pinderhughes, drummer George "Spanky" McCurdy and bassist Hadrien Feraud, and brings in his father, bassist and luthier Ken Smith, on double bass. His self-titled album, produced by Simon Martinez, features trumpeter Keyon Harrold.