Colin Smith (born 20 November 1934, London, England – died 29 March 2004) was an English jazz trumpeter.
He joined the
Terry Lightfoot band in 1957 before moving on to playing with
Cy Laurie, in 1958. In 1959 Smith began ,what would turn out to be, a long tenure in the
Acker Bilk band, only taking a break in 1966 to sail across the Atlantic in a 45-foot ketch. Rejoining Bilk in 1968, he worked alongside the saxophonist
Tony Coe and the trombonist
John Picard. Amongst such musical company, he was able to experiment with his more progressive ideas.He soon evolved into a versatile sideman and could often be found working as a regular member of
Stan Greig’s London Jazz Big Band. In 1977, together with Picard,
Dick Morrissey,
Ian Stewart and
Charlie Watts, he played in the Bob Hall/George Green Boogie Woogie Band (a band which would eventually become known as
Rocket 88). He went on to play with many bands before returning to play with Bilk one more time, 1992.