Scots saxophonist Tommy Smith returns to his and some other jazz roots with his new album Karma as well as paradoxically making a perhaps inadvertently radical statement. He tours the music in Scotland in late June and later elsewhere (see below). Tommy SmithI don’t think I’ve heard a better Tommy Smith record since his breathtaking Berklee ...
Posts Tagged ‘Spartacus Records’
Tommy Smith’s inadvertent radicalism
Friday, July 29th, 2011“Visceral precision and imaginative interplay”
Friday, June 10th, 2011Karma, Spartacus ***** Tommy Smith’s new quartet includes pianist/keyboardist Steve Hamilton and drummer Alyn Cosker off his 2005 Forbidden Fruit album, but this no less brilliant successor is very different. New is Kevin Glasgow on six-string electric bass, and the lingua franca has become an amalgam of Scottish, Irish and Arab folk elements ...
‘Karma’ review in The Guardian (4 stars)
Friday, June 3rd, 2011Scottish saxophonist Smith, a teenage prodigy in the 80s, is nowadays one of the most widely respected of European jazz musicians – not just for his sax mastery, but for his influence on his homeland's jazz culture through the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra and its youth wing he founded and still runs. Smith ...
KARMA
Saturday, March 26th, 2011
Hailed on arrival by critics as the toughest and most creative group of his career, Tommy Smith's KARMA sees the brilliant Scottish saxophonist lead a band of virtuosic musicians on a deeply grooving acid jazz adventure ...
Spartacus
Monday, August 23rd, 2010
featuring Tommy Smith (Tenor Saxophone), Kenny Barron (Piano), James Genus (Bass), Clarence Penn (Drums) The Peacocks I Want To Be Happy Emily Bye Bye Blackbird It Never Changed My Mind The Lady Is A Tramp When I'm All Alone Spartacus I Loves You Porgy Reviews John Fordham (The Guardian) ***** — CD of the WeekThis beautifully recorded acoustic jazz record was made at Clinton Studios ...
The Christmas Album
Sunday, August 22nd, 2010
featuring Tommy Smith (tenor saxophone), Gareth Williams (piano), Orlando Le Fleming (bass), Sebastiaan De Krom (drums) Winter Wonderland God Rest, Ye Merry Gentlemen Auld Land Syne I'll Be Home For Christmas The Holy & The Ivy Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas We Three Kings The Christmas Song Reviews John Fordham (The Guardian) — This might sound a bit of a turkey, as you might ...
Into Silence
Sunday, August 22nd, 2010
featuring Tommy Smith (tenor & soprano saxophones & bells) The Scream Oran Na Politician Naima Libra Capella Ad Te Levavi Deneb My Romance Orion Aquila Phoenix Tibi, Christe, Splendor Patris Cassiopedia My One & Only Love Perseus Ursa Minor 'S Ann Aig Posrt Taigh N H-Airigh Cetus Lynx Indus Vela Gradual Draco Alleluia Collect About the Music This recording features 25 improvisations, folk songs, ballads and some Gregorian Chants within the beautiful and haunting reverberation of the Hamilton Mausoleum.
Alone At Last
Sunday, August 22nd, 2010
featuring Tommy Smith (tenor & soprano saxes, synth, samples & percussion), Edwin Morgan (poetry), Kenny Barron (piano), James Genus (bass), Clarence Penn (drums), Groven Myhren (soprano vocal), Steve Hamilton (synth & computers samples), Aidan O'Donnell (bass), John Blease (drums, gongs & pionciana pod) Ally The Wallygator Into Silence Wolf Mercury Twin Towers Robert Burns Over The Rainbow In The Cave Folk Song In The Beginning Loch ...
Bezique
Sunday, August 22nd, 2010
featuring Brian Kellock (piano), Tommy Smith (tenor Saxophone) Bud Powell Very Early Never Let Me Go Come Rain Or Come Shine The Thrill Is Gone Ladies In Mercedes Don't You Know I Care Parker 51 Lush Life Reviews Kenny Mathieson (The Scotsman) ***** — "SCOTLAND'S two leading jazz musicians convened for this duo performance at The Hub in Edinburgh in July and played in dazzling ...
Miles Ahead
Sunday, August 22nd, 2010
width the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra featuring Belinda Gough (flute & alto flute), Mhairi Milne (clarinet), Michael Huntriss, Allon Beauvoisin (bass clarinet), Allon Beauvoisin (bass clarinet), Laura Macdonald (alto saxophone), Eddie Severn (trumpet), Hedley Benson (trumpet), Tom MacNiven (trumpet), Nigel Boddice (trumpet), Colin Steele (trumpet), Charles Floyd (french horns), Paul Klein (french horns), Chris Greive (trombones), ...
