James Howard Smith (born January 27, 1938, Newark, New Jersey) is an American jazz drummer. Smith studied at the Al Germansky School for Drummers in his home town of Newark from 1951–54, then attended the Juilliard School in 1959–60. He began his professional career in New York City around this time.
In the 1960s, he played with Jimmy Forrest (1960), Larry Young (1960–62), Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross (1962–63), Pony Poindexter (1963), Jimmy Witherspoon (1963), Gildo Mahones (1963), Jimmy McGriff (1963–65), and Groove Holmes (1965).
From 1967 to 1974 he played with Erroll Garner before moving to California around 1975. He then played with: Benny Carter (1975, 1978, 1985), Sonny Criss (1975), Bill Henderson (1975, 1979), Hank Jones (1976), Ernestine Anderson (1976, 1986), Plas Johnson (1976), Phineas Newborn, Jr. (1976), Harry Edison (1976–78, with Eddie Lockjaw Davis and Zoot Sims), Lorez Alexandria (1977–78), Tommy Flanagan (1978), Terry Gibbs (1978, 1981), Bob Cooper (1979), Marshal Royal (1980), Great Guitars (1980), Barney Kessel (1981), Herb Ellis (1981), Buddy DeFranco (1981), Al Cohn (1983), Red Holloway (1987), and Dave McKenna (1988). In 1993, he toured Japan with Jimmy Smith and Kenny Burrell.
In 1977, Smith performed at the Montreux International Jazz Festival with Oscar Peterson, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Ray Brown, Benny Carter, Miles Davis, Milt Jackson, Dizzy Gillespie, and Count Basie.