Ms. Smith has performed with the following jazz recording artists: Gary Bartz. Greg Osby. Milt Hinton. Donald Harrison. Hubert Laws. Cindy Blackman. Vanessa Rubin. Cecil Bridgewater. Rufus Reid. Donald Byrd. Mark Whitfield. Randy Weston. Marian McPartland. Summer 2002, Fall 2003-2004 and Winter 2003-2004 – Cecilia was featured artist at John F. Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts -10th Anniversary Celebration of Mary Lou Williams Women In Jazz Festival. Cecilia has been studying Mary Lou Williams’ work for 5 1/2 years. She founded the Mary Lou Williams Resurgence Project, where she is the Artistic Director. Cecilia created an All Star, Mixed Gendered and Multi-generational Big band for this year’s Kennedy Center Celebration. She also brought in the Morgan State University Chorus to perform complex Mary Lou Williams works. Cecilia received rave reviews after her performance! Cecilia was also awarded a Berklee College Of Music Alumni Grant, which helped her continue the project. 2002 – Ms. Smith led a project at New England Conservatory Of Music – highlighting Mary Lou Williams’ compositional work. Spring 2003, she performed at the John F. Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts – where her performance was part of the Mary Lou Williams Women In Jazz Festival. She was featured at the Bethleham Music Festival in summer 2002. 2001. Ms. Smith was chosen to perform at the Montreux Jazz Festival in New York in 1998. This prestigious event, sponsored by Time Warner, was held at Central Park’s Summerstage. The Cecilia Smith Quartet is currently the top-rated Jazz band on the New England Foundation for the Arts’ touring roster. Smithsonian Institution presented Ms. Smith with a Symposium/Concert Presentation entitled “Sung-Unsung Jazz Women.” She was awarded the 1998 Trailblazer Award by the International Women in Jazz, Inc., and the Universal Jazz Coalition, Inc. Ms. Smith was featured at the 1999 Mary Lou Williams Women In Jazz Festival, Washington, D.C. The Clifford Brown Festival was held in Wilmington Del., Anapolis Jazz Festival and Jazzmatazz at the R. Regan Center, Washington D.C. She was presented by the Ifa Yoruba Contemporary Arts Trust (London) Educational clinics and a concert presentation were held at the Tabernacle Performing Arts Center, Portabello Squares – DOT.COM CAFE in May 1999. Cecilia was on National Public Radio’s Piano Jazz With Marian McPartland in March 2000 and August 2002. This one-hour interview/performance was broadcast both nationally and internationally. Cecilia studied and performed Mary Lou Williams’ work in February 2000. This performance was attended by more than 400 people at Our Lady of Victory Church, Brooklyn, NY. National Public Radio (NPR), featured Ms. Smith in the “Jazz Profiles” program. Cecilia was profiled in Milt Jackson’s segment about the nation’s youngest vibist. Ms. Smith is also a regular guest on the Black Entertainment Television Network. from http://www.ceciliasmith.com
