Jeffery Smith was a baritone jazz vocal recording artist, perhaps best known for his albums on Verve, among them his distinctive debut release produced by Shirley Horn, and his self-produced records, including Down Here Below and A Little Sweeter, which was praised in a full page review in TIME as being "the most vital album of the year".

Jeffery Smith's musical career included two world tours and four albums with the Claude Bolling Big Band, performances at Jazz at Lincoln Center with Wynton Marsalis and LCJ Orchestra, in tribute to Louis Armstrong, and collaborations with a wide variety of artists such as Dianne Reeves, Kenny Barron, Regina Carter, Joe Lovano, Dee Dee Bridgewater and TK Blue. Smith was also the founder and director of Tri-Loxodonta Productions, a not-for-profit music organization cultivating jazz in upstate New York. Smith died on July 5, 2012.