Wadada Leo Smith

Wadada Leo Smith, American trumpet player and composer

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Born: December 18, 1941
Age in 2026: 85
Zodiac sign: Sagittarius
Birth year: 1941

About Wadada Leo Smith

Ishmael Wadada Leo Smith (born December 18, 1941) is an American trumpeter and composer, working primarily in the field of creative music. He was one of three finalists for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Music for Ten Freedom Summers, released on May 22, 2012. He played in various R&B groups and, by 1967, became a member of the AACM and co-founded the Creative Construction Company, a trio with Leroy Jenkins and Anthony Braxton. In the mid-1980s, Smith became Rastafarian and began using the name Wadada.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Wadada Leo Smith timeline

1967He played in various R&B groups and, by 1967, became a member of the AACM and co-founded the Creative Construction Company, a trio with Leroy Jenkins and Anthony Braxton.
2013He was one of three finalists for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Music for Ten Freedom Summers, released on May 22, 2012.

The world when Wadada Leo Smith was born

Wadada Leo Smith was born in 1941. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1941

#1 song"Chattanooga Choo Choo" – Glenn Miller
Top movieCitizen Kane
Best-selling bookThe Keys of the Kingdom – A.J. Cronin

Headlines and milestones

Major sports momentJoe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak
Top headlineJapan bombs Pearl Harbor — United States enters World War II
Technology milestoneFirst commercial television broadcasts (CBS, NBC)
Defining fadVictory gardens
Notable inventionAerosol spray can
World population2.30 billion

United States snapshot

U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
U.S. population133.4M

1941 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Wadada Leo Smith's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure	1941	2026
Gas	$0.19	$3.45/gal
Average home	$5,500	$435,000
Average income	$3,400	$67,500
Minimum wage	$0.30	$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket	$0.25	$11.95
Postage stamp	$0.03	$0.73
Population	133.4M	341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, MusicBrainz. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.