He is a trumpeter and producer born in Pasadena,
California, also previously known as Nolan Andrew Smith.He began his career in the late
1960s/early 1970s after attending college and doing his military service and
in 1974/5 became a studio musician in Los Angeles and took on a two-year
stint with Marvin Gaye as his Musical Director.He moved on from there to take on the position of Lead
Trumpet with the Count Basie Orchestra for the years 1976 to 1979 and from
there he worked continually with a string of acclaimed artists and
musicians that include Anita Baker, Natalie Cole, Phil Collins, Earth, Wind
& Fire, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, The Gap Band, the Lionel Hampton
Orchestra, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder and many more.The albums he has appeared on are
countless and include his own Lamentation from the Middle Passage, Golden Years by Count Basie, City
Life by The Blackbyrds, Dangerous by Natalie Cole, Live from
the Nation's Capital by the Buddy Collette Big Band, Take It To The
Limit by Norman Connors, Who's Been Talkin' by Robert Cray, Dingo
by Miles Davis & Michel LeGrand, All This Love by DeBarge, Knee
Burns by David Byrne, Faces and Illuminations by Earth,
Wind & Fire, Best of My Love by The Emotions, Classy Pair by
Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie, The Gap Band, Live at the London
Palladium, In Our Lifetime and Here, My Dear by Marvin Gaye, Pleasure
One by Heaven 17, Simple Things by Carole King, Burnin' by
Patti LaBelle, S.O.S. by The S.O.S. Band, It Only Takes a Minute
by The Emotions, Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards by Tom
Waits, Whisper in Your Ear by The Whispers, Hotter than July and
Conversation Peace by Stevie Wonder In the 1990s he changed his surname
to Shaheed and nowadays he is also a music producer and has his own
recording studio.He is also a
master athlete having won countless championships worldwide in track
events.
