Over the past 40 years, guitarist Greg Smith has survived a squeaky voice and ripped pants to study with the legendary jazz great Pat Metheny at Berklee and has shared the stage with the likes of Chris Botti, Chick Corea, Edgar Winter, Diana Krall, Isaac Hays, the Moody Blues and Brian Wilson. This New York transplant who once used a sledge hammer thinking it was a drum stick for a slide can be seen on a regular basis in and around Tampa, Fla.

Smith plays a variety of musical styles including jazz, blues and world music on his debut CD Above the Clouds. The album contains 14 original tracks that are a culmination of Smith's life and 40-plus years as a musician. On the smooth jazz pieces, Smith very much sounds like his former instructor, Metheny.

Listening to Above the Clouds is like attending a Greg Smith performance without the idle chatter and the clanking of glasses.

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