About the Author Carl Smith has been an avid jazz fan since the 1940s when, as a child, he heard on the radio the big bands that were popular at that time. His father brought home a copy of Benny Goodman's 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert recording, released in the late forties, and he played it until he knew every note. He bought his first Bud Powell record in the fifties, which he still has in his collection, and through the years has developed a deep interest in all periods of jazz, from its emergence as a popular art form in the twenties to the avant garde. In addition to having every Bud Powell track ever released, including extremely rare and out-of-print items, Carl also has copies of every unreleased and private recording of Bud Powell that can be obtained, including considerable video material. Carl has also become widely recognized for his extensive collection of privately made live recordings of the great Sonny Rollins, who played with Bud Powell on the classic Blue Note recordings of 1949 and remarkably is still playing brilliantly today. Sonny Rollins' 2005 CD "Without a Song, The 9-11 Concert" is based on a tape Carl made from the audience. He is collaborating with Sonny on plans for the release of more of Sonny's great live recordings from the 1950s to the present time. Articles about Carl's work with Sonny Rollins' live recordings have appeared in The New Yorker ("The Colossus", May 9, 2005), The Boston Globe ("Wired", August 28, 2005) and in all the major jazz magazines (for example, "The New Benedettis", Jazz Times, August 2004). Back