Matt Smith Music

Matt Smith is an accomplished teenage jazz drummer, turntable mixologist, occasional vibraphonist, the 2006 WFD Speed Drumming World Champion, and the current World's Fastest Drummer (Traditional Grip).


With Johnny Rabb, Ohio WFD, 2005

Since 2005, he has held a number of speed drumming world records, and in 2007, set the world speed endurance record when he performed 5132 single strokes in five consecutive minutes.


	Two WFD speed drumming World Champions, Matt and Art Verdi

On June 26, 2008 Matt broke Mike Mangini's 4 year old traditional grip world speed record, when he recorded 1132 single strokes played in 1 minute, making him the world's fastest verifiable traditional grip drummer of all time.

Matt is the son and grandson of two accomplished jazz musicians. His father has served as a Fulbright Professor of Jazz Studies in Romania and South Africa, and led a celebrated big band in the 1980s. He was also named the 2008 recipient of the Jazz Ambassador Award by the International Association for Jazz Education. Matt's grandfather was New Orleans' best known jazz trombonist a decade before, a pioneering jazz educator, and a performer with several national orchestras.


Louie Bellson Drumset Competition (2005)


	Rashied Ali (left) , Matt Smith (right) Ali became a friend to Matt after listening to Matt's version of Coltrane's "Expressions"

Matt was introduced to the drums at age 9, when Louie Bellson (one of his father's performing acquaintances) gave him his first pair of drumsticks. Matt's official debut occured at age 12, when he performed for a jazz combo on Romanian National Television.

At age 14, Matt recorded his first album under his own name, featuring an all star European lineup. In 2005 (without Bellson's knowledge), he entered and placed second in the Louie Bellson National Drumset Competition, and became the youngest finalist in that competition's history. Two weeks later, he entered his first WFD event, and became the youngest competitor to score .............................................................1000 or more single strokes in one minute.

Since 2005, Matt has performed and been interviewed on numerous American media outlets, including PBS, CBS Radio, CNN, and was named a runnerup in the Rising Star category of the 2008 Drum Magazine Readers Poll. His second recording is scheduled for release in 2008.

Matt can be emailed at mattblancd@hotmail.com

Media Clips

Worlds Fastest Drummer Traditional Grip Record