Jazz guitarist returning home for Old St. Hilary’s concert July 25

Guitarist Perry Smith starts each day with a cold plunge.

Hooking a refurbished air conditioner up to a large barrel, Smith cools the water down to 40 degrees, then sits in it for six minutes.

“It helps me musically and helps me mentally,” he says. “It sharpens my body and mind and improves my technique and stamina on the guitar.”

Smith follows up the tingly cold plunge with 150 pushups, 150 bicycle crunches, 20 minutes of jump rope, 100 more pushups and 10 minutes of stretching. Then he picks up his guitar — a custom Mirabella archtop — and hammers away for 60 minutes on technique, improvisation, recording and honing his repertoire and sight reading.

This regimented approach has allowed Smith, 42, to build more than two decades of success as a jazz musician. The Tiburon native will perform with his trio New West Guitars July 25 at Old St. Hilary’s Landmark in a concert hosted by the Belvedere-Tiburon Landmarks Society — a sweet homecoming for the Brooklyn-based jazz guitarist whose career has brought him all around world.

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