Richard Smith (64)

(a.k.a. Dick Riley) Jazz Cornet/Trumpet Player. September 23, 1926 - February 13, 2007. Born in Los Angeles, CA. He left for Pomona College in 1943 and got drafted in 1945. As he always said, "they ran out of war just in time", and he returned to graduate from UCLA. Before the year was out, he (cornet/trumpet player) and a Pomona classmate (clarinet) took off across country to visit New Orleans. After a call from a colleague in New York, saying they had a chance to play on a TV show. That gig turned into five years in NYC-playing with Conrad Janis and his Tailgate Band, working for CBS, winning the Arthur Godfrey Talent Scouts with their band, getting married, having a daughter, and getting a phone call from Turk Murphy, who needed a trumpet player for his San Francisco band. As Richard never learned to read music, life with Turk was brief. He then played with Kid Ory and finally hung up his horn in 1960 to work in radio.