Tommy Smith

Tommy Smith (born 27 April 1967 in Edinburgh, Scotland) is a jazz saxophonist, composer and educator. The late jazz critic Richard Cook said of him, 'Of the generation which emerged in the mid-80s, he might be the most outstandingly talented'.

Early career
Born in Edinburgh on April 27, 1967, to a Scottish mother, Brenda Ann Urquhart, and father, William John Ellis, whom he never met, Smith was brought up in the Wester Hailes area of the city. Here he was encouraged by his late stepfather, George Smith, an avid jazz fan and drummer in the Gene Krupa style, to take up the tenor saxophone at the age of twelve.

Under clarinetist Jim O’Malley and pianist Jean Allison of the music department at Wester Hailes Education Centre, Smith was soon gigging around Edinburgh and Scotland with his quartet with John Rae. Within four years he had recorded his first album, "Giant Strides", at the age of sixteen in 1983 with a trio featuring drummer John Rae, and that same year he won a scholarship, assisted by a fund-raising programme organised by his music teacher, Jean Allison, to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston.., where he formed the co-operative group "Forward Motion" with Norwegian bassist Terje Gewelt, Canadian drummer Ian Froman and Hungarian pianist Laszlo Gardony. This group recorded two albums, "Progressions" and "The Berklee Tapes".

Into The Blue
At eighteen and on the recommendation of Chick Corea, Smith joined Berklee vice president Gary Burton’s group, alongside bassist Steve Swallow, pianist Makoto Ozone and drummer Adam Nussbaum, touring the world, recording the Whiz Kids album for (ECM Records) and catching the attention of critics including Larry Kart of the Chicago Tribune who opined: “The key addition is Tommy Smith, who, if memory serves, is only the second saxophonist  Gary Burton has employed in his twenty-odd years as a leader. Smith’s angular, bristling lines suggest he has his own story to tell.”

In 1989, Smith, still only twenty-two, signed to Blue Note Records. Recorded with producer Gary Burton’s guidance and featuring Smith leading a band composed of John Scofield (guitar), Eddie Gomez (Bass) and Jack DeJohnette (drums), his Blue Note debut, Step by Step.

Three further albums followed for Blue Note, Peeping Tom (1990), Standards (1991) and Paris (1992). During this period Smith also hosted a series of BBC TV specials called Jazz Types, in which he played with such guests as pianists Tommy Flanagan and Chick Corea, alto saxophonist Bobby Watson, bassist Arild Andersen, his old boss Gary Burton, pop/soul group Hue & Cry, and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

He recorded and toured with Hue & Cry, led by brothers Pat and Greg Kane, the American vibist Joe Locke, percussionist Trilok Gurtu and bassist Arild Andersen, among many others. In addition to his jazz-based commitments at this point, Smith also examined classical composition, leading to his first saxophone concerto, "Unirsi In Matrimonio", and a suite for saxophone and strings, "Un Ecossais A Paris". These works were followed by Sonata No. 1 – Hall of Mirrors, and Sonata No. 1 – Dreaming with Open Eyes, which is regularly played by the saxophonist Gerard McChrystal and virtuoso pianist Murray McLachlan.

Out Of The Blue
In 1993, Smith joined Scottish label Linn Records. "Reminiscence" (1993), "Misty Morning and No Time" (1994), Azure (recorded with Jon Christensen, Lars Danielsson and Kenny Wheeler in 1995), and "Beasts of Scotland" (1996) all received critical as well as audience acclaim. Writing in Playboy magazine, Neil Tesser noted of Beasts of Scotland that: “Smith’s artful writing makes the ensemble sound like a petite Philharmonic.” Reviewer Chris J Walker, in the Los Angeles Jazz magazine, remarked that ["Smith’s strong compositional talent vividly conveys the aura of the various wildlife that his compositions are named for.”]

The Sound of Love followed. Recorded in New York in September 1997 with Kenny Barron (piano), Peter Washington (bass), and Billy Drummond (drums), it focused on the Duke Ellington-Billy Strayhorn songbook. The album reached number 20 in the American Gavin Jazz Chart.

Released in 1998, Gymnopedie: The Classical Side of Tommy Smith. Recorded with his regular duo partner, classical pianist Murray McLachlan, the disc featured music by Satie, Bartok, Grieg and Chick Corea, and Smith’s Sonatas No 1 "Hall of Mirrors" and No 2 "Dreaming With Open Eyes" based on Michael Tucker's book of the same title.

Returning to jazz and to New York the following year, Smith then recorded his final album for Linn, "Blue Smith", with guitarist John Scofield and his regular rhythm team, bassist James Genus and drummer Clarence Penn.

Alone At Last
Having premiered his 3rd Saxophone Concerto with the Orchestra of St. John Smith’s Square at Chelmsford Cathedral in May 1998, Smith went on to produce singer Jeff Leyton’s debut album with the City of London Philharmonic. Leyton, who is Smith’s uncle, also sang on Monte Cristo, the saxophonist’s commission for the combined forces of the Paragon Ensemble and his own Sextet, with text by Edwin Morgan. It was first performed at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, in September 1998.

He wrote the music for a play, Kill the Old, Torture the Young, which was also produced at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh. He also contributed tenor and soprano saxophone excerpts respectively to the movies Complicity and The Talented Mr Ripley, and premiered another large-scale composition, Sons and Daughters of Alba, incorporating Scottish folk music and musicians as well as text by Edwin Morgan, at Glasgow International Jazz Festival in July 2000.

Spartacus
In September 2000, determined to take full control of his recorded output, Smith established his own recording company, Spartacus Records. The first album on the new label, also called Spartacus, was released in February 2001, featuring Smith alongside American musicians pianist Kenny Barron, bassist James Genus and drummer Clarence Penn. That was followed by Smith’s solo recording, Into Silence, recorded in Hamilton Mausoleum on October 30, 2001 and a recording by Smith’s quartet of ten specially arranged Christmas songs.

Subsequent Spartacus releases include Evolution, featuring Smith’s sextet with Joe Lovano, John Scofield, John Taylor, John Patitucci and Bill Stewart; two duo recordings withpianist Brian Kellock; Miles Ahead with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra and guest soloist, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen; Smith’s solo project Alone At Last; and Forbidden Fruit by Smith’s all-Scottish quartet.

Smith continues to maintain a hectic work schedule. In recent years he has toured his own group to India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, France, America, Turkey, Switzerland, Azerbaijan, Malta, Bratislava, Russia, Yemen and Romania as well as the UK.

In April 2001, he was invited to take part in televised concerts in Switzerland alongside Benny Golson, Vincent Herring, Carl Allen, Buster Williams, Victor Lewis, Buster Cooper, and Randy Brecker. Then, in July that year, he premiered his extended composition, Beauty and the Beast, written for saxophonist David Liebman and the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, and toured in a quintet with Liebman. This was immediately followed by his appearance as solo saxophonist in Sally Beamish’s The Knotgrass Elegy, which was commissioned by the BBC Proms and performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Other classical music endeavours have included his largest known work for the Edinburgh Youth Orchestra’s 40th anniversary. Written for saxophone, bass and drums plus a one hundred-strong symphony orchestra and entitled Edinburgh, this was premiered on April 12, 2003 in the Usher Hall, Edinburgh before touring Latvia, Estonia, Russia and Finland.

Recognising that Scotland was producing an outstanding crop of young jazz musicians, Smith formed the Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra in 2002, financing rehearsals and travelling expenses for teenage players from across the country out of his own pocket. The orchestra has performed at jazz festivals throughout Scotland and launched its first CD, Exploration, in Toronto, Canada in 2008.

In 2005, Smith reunited with Joe Locke, recording the album “Dear Life” (Sirocco) and touring extensively with the vibist’s group, and formed a duo with another long-time colleague, Norwegian bassist Arild Andersen, Adding drummer Paolo Vinaccia, this has since developed into one of Europe’s leading jazz trios, with a busy concert itinerary and a debut album, Live at Belleville (released on ECM Records in 2008), which received innumerable album of the year nominations in the press worldwide.

As well as two duo albums, Smith’s partnership with pianist Brian Kellock resulted in Smith creating an expanded jazz arrangement of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue for the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra with Kellock as the featured soloist at the Edinburgh Jazz Festival on Friday July 28, 2006, a recording of which was released in May 2009. Another saxophone and piano pairing, with Swede Jacob Karlzon, has featured at jazz festivals in Edinburgh, Islay and Fife.

Scottish National Jazz Orchestra
Smith founded the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra in 1995, and remains its director. SNJO has presented programmes of both repertory classics and more contemporary works, often specially commissioned.

The repertory programmes have included Duke Ellington’s extended suites, celebrations of Count Basie and Benny Goodman (with special guest Ken Peplowski) and the collaborations between Miles Davis and Gil Evans – Porgy & Bess, Sketches of Spain (both with Gerard Presencer as trumpet soloist) and Miles Ahead (with Ingrid Jensen). SNJO has also presented the music of Charles Mingus, Oliver Nelson, Benny Carter, Stan Kenton, Thelonious Monk, Steely Dan, Astor Piazzolla and Pat Metheny (with guitarists Jim Mullen, Phil Robson, Mike Walker and Kevin MacKenzie) and premiered special commissions by Keith Tippett, Florian Ross, and Geoffrey Keezer as well as specially commissioned arrangements of John Coltrane, Chick Corea (with drummer Gary Novak), Wayne Shorter featuring Gary Burton, Electric Miles featuring John Scofield, Weather Report featuring Peter Erskine, and Kurt Elling.

In addition, SNJO has performed music by contemporary jazz creators. These include Kenny Wheeler’s Sweet Sister Suite; Joe Lovano’s Celebrating Sinatra, with arrangements by the late Manny Albam; a programme of the music of Maria Schneider, conducted by the composer; and Smith’s own Planet Wave, an adventurous large-scale composition made possible by the Arts Foundation/Barclays Bank jazz composition fellowship prize which marries Smith’s music to poet Edwin Morgan’s text. The concerts with Joe Lovano also featured the premiere of Smith’s Torah, a work based on the first five books of the Bible, in which a titanic struggle between good and evil. Written over seventy days, the fifty-minute composition was created specially for American tenor saxophonist and SNJO. The same evening Torah was being premiered in Scotland, Dame Cleo Laine and John Dankworth premiered another work by Smith and Edwin Morgan, The Morning of the Imminent, at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Beauty and the Beast for David Liebman and "World of the Gods" for the Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers.

SNJO has also provided a platform for jazz musicians and composers based in Scotland to write for big band in concerts devoted to suites comprising contributions by orchestra members and external contributors alike. These include The Solar Suite, Great Scots Suite and The Edinburgh Suite.

Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra
Established in June 2002, the Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra. His work in jazz education began while working for Gary Burton in 1986 when the group had to present masterclasses to international students all over the world, this kind of work continued with his own groups until 1990 when he started teaching at Broughton High School in Edinburgh with John Rae, Brian Kellock and Kenny Ellis. In 1993 he began teaching improvisation at Napier University. In 1995 he created the curriculum for the National Jazz Institute in Glasgow which he directed until 1998. He has given masterclasses all over Europe, Americas and Asia. His students include Steve Hamilton, Stuart Gorman, Graeme Scott, Theo Forrest, Paul Booth, Konrad Wisznieski, Tom MacNiven, Allon Beauvoisin, Paul Towndrow, Fraser Campbell, Alan Benzie, Joe Wright, Peter Johnstone and Jo Fooks. In 2009 he became Artistic Director of a new conservatoire-level course in jazz at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow. The event was broadcated live by BBC News. The presentation lines were:

All*About*Jazz critique John Kelman, in his review of Arild Andersen's live recorded release (2008) Live at Belleville, said about Smith: AllAboutJazz contributor Karl Ackermann, in his review of Arild Andersen's Live at Belleville, wrote:

Discography

 * Complete Tommy Smith Discography

RECORDINGS:
 * 1981 European Community Jazz Orchestra, Eurojazz
 * 1983 Tommy Smith, Giant Strides (Hep Records)
 * 1983 Tommy Smith, Taking Off (Head Records)
 * 1985 Tommy Smith/Forward Motion, The Berklee Tapes (Hep Records)
 * 1986 Gary Burton Group, Whiz Kids (ECM Records)
 * 1988 Tommy Smith, Step by Step (Blue Note Records)
 * 1990 Tommy Smith, Peeping Tom (Blue Note Records)
 * 1991 Tommy Smith, Standards (Blue Note Records)
 * 1992 Tommy Smith, Paris (Blue Note Records)
 * 1993 Tommy Smith/Forward Motion, Reminiscence (Linn Records)
 * 1994 Tommy Smith, Misty Morning and No Time (Linn Records)
 * 1995 Tommy Smith, Azure (Linn Records)
 * 1996 Tommy Smith, Beasts of Scotland (Linn Records)
 * 1997 Tommy Smith, The Sound of Love (Linn Records)
 * 1997 Karen Matheson, The Dreaming Sea (Survival Records)
 * 1999 Tommy Smith, Blue Smith (Linn Records)
 * 1999 Tommy Smith & Murray McLachlan, Gymnopedié (Linn Records)
 * 1999 Hue & Cry, Jazz Not Jazz (Linn Records)
 * 2000 Tommy Smith Quartet, Spartacus (Spartacus Records)
 * 2000 Hue & Cry, Next Move (Linn Records)
 * 2001 Tommy Smith, Into Silence (Spartacus Records)
 * 2001 Tommy Smith Quartet, The Christmas Concert (Spartacus Records)
 * 2001 Clark Tracey, Stability (Linn Records)
 * 2002 Tommy Smith, Alone At Last (Spartacus Records)
 * 2002 Tommy Smith & Brian Kellock, Bezique (Spartacus Records)
 * 2002 Scottish National Jazz Orchestra/Ingrid Jensen, Miles Ahead (Spartacus)
 * 2003 Tommy Smith, Evolution (Spartacus Records)
 * 2004 Tommy Smith & Brian Kellock, Symbiosis (Spartacus Records)
 * 2004 Joe Locke, Dear Life (Sirocco Records)
 * 2005 Tommy Smith Quartet, Forbidden Fruit (Spartacus Records)
 * 2005 Renolds Jazz Orchestra, Cube (Shanti)
 * 2006 Pino Iodice, High Tension
 * 2007 Loic Dequidt Quartet, Nomade (Kopasetic)
 * 2008 Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra, Exploration (Spartacus Records)
 * 2008 Arild Andersen/Paolo Vinaccia/Tommy Smith, Live at Belleville (ECM)
 * 2009 Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, Rhapsody in Blue LIVE (Spartacus)
 * 2010 Karma (Spartacus)
 * 2011 Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra, Emergence (Spartacus Records)
 * 2012 Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, Celebration (ECM)
 * 2013 Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, In the Spirit of Duke (Spartacus Records)