![](https://www.cc-seas.columbia.edu/wkcr/sites/default/files/styles/story_image/public/photo4stories/Willie_Smith_%28Gottlieb_07921%29.jpg?itok=YC3wHHlU)
Today's Jazz Profile follows the career of Willie "The Lion" Smith, one of the masters of Harlem Stride Piano. The Lion (November 1893 - 18 April 1973) was a contemporary of James P. Johnson and Thomas "Fats" Waller. He picked up the organ and piano around the age of 6 continued until the end of his life, playing ragtime, blues, Dixieland, boogie-woogie, swing, bebop and bop. Join WKCR as we follow the upbeat, virtuosic music of The Lion. Tune in for Leonard Feather's live interview of The Lion early in the show!