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Tommy Smith solo saxophone

Tommy Smith solo saxophone

A master class in individual virtuosity

Downbeat Magazine

One of the important voices in the tenor players of today

Jack DeJohnette

Jazz

Instrumentation

  • Tommy Smith OBE - Saxophone

Repertoire

Tommy Smith’s solo saxophone concerts feature entirely acoustic performances of spontaneously chosen melodies drawn from the jazz, folk, classical and praise song traditions. Using the venue's natural acoustics allows Tommy to showcase his wonderful tone reproduction and improvising capabilities in an intimate conversation with the audience. A typical concert lasts for 60/75 minutes plus an encore, if requested, and draws on the Duke Ellington songbook and ballads from the John Coltrane and Stan Getz repertoires as well as melodies associated with Robert Burns, the Gaelic song and psalm-singing traditions, Erik Satie and European praise song.

Biography

Tommy Smith is one of the world’s leading saxophonists. A presence on the global jazz scene since his teenage years, when he toured internationally with vibes virtuoso Gary Burton’s Whiz Kids quintet, Smith has gone on to record with the definitive jazz label, Blue Note and work with myriad jazz greats including Chick Corea, Jaco Pastorius, Dame Cleo Laine, John Scofield, Randy Brecker and Jack DeJohnette.

His compositions and work as a soloist extend to the symphonic arena, through albums including Modern Jacobite, recorded with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and as their founding director he has built the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra into a world class, award-winning big band. This ensemble's collaborations include tributes to Weather Report, with drummer Peter Erskine, and Frank Sinatra, with Kurt Elling, and new works for jazz soloists, traditional musicians and Japanese taiko drummers.

Recent work has included touring and recording with his own quartet, Tommy Smith Quartet: Embodying the Light in dedication to John Coltrane, and playing concerts with Norwegian double bass master Arild Anderson’s trio, which records for the prestigious ECM label. Smith's priorities currently are playing solo acoustic concerts in churches and cathedrals and developing his duo with pianist Peter Johnstone.

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