Benjamin J. Smith (born March 1, 1905, date of death unknown)[1] was an American jazzalto saxophonist,tenor saxophonist andclarinetist. He was born in Memphis.
In the early 1920s, Smith played with local Memphis jazz bands before going on the road withterritory bands such as the Connor and McWilliams Boston Serenaders, William Holloway and the Merrymakers, and Eli Rice's Plantation Cotton Pickers.
In Kansas City he led his own bands and in 1930 played withGeorge E. Lee[2] and then in Pennsylvania led his own White Hut Orchestra and worked withBlanche Calloway andCharlie Gaines.
Around that time he recorded with theWashboard Rhythm Kings.[1]
Arriving in New York City in 1934, he worked withBenny Carter,Claude Hopkins, andHot Lips Page and into the 1940s worked in the bands ofLucky Millinder,Andy Kirk,Snub Mosley, among others.
He composed "I Dreamt I Dwelled in Harlem".[2]
