For a man who has acted with Al Jolson, led a band, served as the Ward McAllister of Harlem and bills himself on his calling card as the greatest pianist on earth, obviously the name Willie Smith is an insufficient handle. Accordingly, Harlem's Willie Smith calls himself The Lion*and habitually refers to himself in the third person. His entrance into a Harlem hotspot is nothing short of imperial. "The Lion is here," is his simple greeting, and it gets plenty of respectful attention. For Willie may not be the greatest piano player on earth, but he is hard to beat...
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