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Tommy Smith
Smith grew up in the housing schemes and began his prolific career at 14 when his quartet won Best Band, and he received Best Musician Trophy at the 1981 Edinburgh Jazz Festival. A year later, he was invited to appear on the TV show 'Jazz at the Gateway' with Niels Henning Ørsted Petersen and Jon Christensen; toured with the European Youth Jazz Orchestra, and recorded his quintet for BBC Radio.
At 16, he released his first two albums, Giant Strides and Taking Off! and studied at Berklee with financial assistance from Sean Connery. He joined Gary Burton's quintet after a recommendation from Chick Corea at 18, toured worldwide, and recorded on ECM's album Whiz Kids.
Smith has documented over thirty solo albums for Blue Note, Linn, ECM and his own Spartacus Record label; toured 50+ countries, composed over 300 works, and collaborated with musicians, poets, and visual artists, including Arild Andersen, Scofield, MacCaig, Alan Davie, Kenny Munro, Jaco, Wheeler, DeJohnette, Liz Lochhead, Christine de Luca, Trilok, and poet Edwin Morgan who he developed a unique artistic relationship in 1996 collaborating on 55 works of poetry and music. In 1995 he established the SNJO and ensured its progress until funding began in 1998.
He founded the TSYJO in 2002 to provide an educational opportunity for the country's best young jazz musicians and fought to establish the first full- time jazz course in Scotland. In 2009 Smith was appointed head of Jazz at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and became Professor in 2010. Smith holds numerous jazz accolades from BBC, (2) British, (2) UK Parliamentary and (9) Scottish - Jazz Awards.
His contributions to Jazz were recognised nationally when in 1998, he became the youngest-ever recipient of an honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in recognition of his extraordinary artistic achievement. He subsequently received honorary doctorates from Glasgow Caledonian and Edinburgh Universities. In 2019 he was given an OBE for services to Jazz from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Awards
2019 Scottish Jazz Award [Best Band]
2019 OBE for Services to Jazz from Queen Elizabeth II
2017 British Jazz Award [Big Band]
2015 Parliamentary Jazz Award [Educator]
2013 Scottish Jazz Award [Best Live Performance/SNJO] 2013 Honorary Doctorate of Music University of Edinburgh
2012 British Jazz Award [Big Band]
2012 Scottish Jazz Award [Educator] 2012 Scottish Jazz Award [Album 'KARMA']
2011 Scottish Jazz Award [Educator] 2011 Scottish Jazz Award [Big Band]
2011 Parliamentary Jazz Award [Large Ensemble/SNJO]
2009 Scottish Jazz Award [Big Band]
2009 Scottish Jazz Award [Woodwind]
2008 Honorary Doctorate of Letters Caledonian University, Glasgow
2008 Heart of Jazz Award BBC Jazz Awards#2008
2002 The British Jazz Awards [Best Tenor Saxophonist]
2000 Scottish Arts Council [Creative Scotland Award]
2000 Honorary Fellow of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland 2000 Honorary Doctorate of the University Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh
1996 Arts Foundation/Barclays Bank [Jazz Composition Fellowship Prize]
1996 BT British Jazz Award
1992 Wavendon All Music Awards [Services to Music]
1989 British Jazz Award
1986 BBC National Big Band Competition [Outstanding Musician Award]
1981 Edinburgh Jazz Festival [Best Band]
1981 Edinburgh Jazz Festival [Best Soloist]
Gear
Roberto Romeo Saxophone Reeds Aizen Mouthpiece Bill Evans Mouthpiece
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Scottish National Jazz Orchestra: In the Spirit of Duke
by Jack Bowers
It had long been saxophonist Tommy Smith's dream to perform and record a live concert of music written by or associated with the great Duke Ellington. As leader of the acclaimed Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, Smith set about making that dream come true, and in October 2012 it happened, as an enthusiastic audience saw and heard a stellar performance In the Spirit of Duke by Smith and the SNJO, one that those who weren't lucky enough to be present that ...
Continue ReadingTommy Smith: Karma
by John Kelman
Tommy Smith is on a roll. Not that he's been on anything but for the last several years, with a string of superb albums, each as different as they are consistent in demonstrating the saxophonist's ongoing ascension as a player, writer and bandleader. But that's not all. Since returning to Scotland after graduating from Boston's Berklee College of Music in the 1980s and kick-starting his career with a series of albums on Blue Note, Smith has literally reinvented Scotland's jazz ...
Continue ReadingTommy Smith: Torah
by John Kelman
Since returning home after schooling at Berklee College of Music, vibraphonist Gary Burton's final ECM quintet and Whiz Kids (1987), and four Blue Note discs as a leader, Tommy Smith has virtually single-handedly placed his native country on the jazz map with his Scottish National Jazz Orchestra (SNJO). He's also become a powerful advocate on the educational/mentoring front, leading the Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra and, with Exploration (Spartacus, 2007), demonstrating that it's possible to encourage mature performances from a ...
Continue ReadingThe Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra featuring Joe Locke: Exploration
by John Kelman
At a time when the oral jazz tradition is in increasing jeopardy, you've got to admire Tommy Smith. Berklee schooled in the 1980s, the Scottish saxophonist had a promising career in the United States. He was a member of Gary Burton's mid-1980s quintet, with the vibraphonist producing Step by Step--the first of four records Smith released on Blue Note between 1988 and 1992--featuring an all star line-up including John Scofield, Eddie Gomez and Jack DeJohnette. But after a few years ...
Continue ReadingTommy Smith Group: Forbidden Fruit
by John Kelman
You have to respect an artist who turns his back on the possibility of significant US exposure and returns home to his country of origin instead to give back some of what he received growing up. Scottish saxophonist Tommy Smith spent a decade in the US, studying at Boston's Berklee School of Music in the early '80s, joining Gary Burton's quintet for Whiz Kids (the vibraphonist's final ECM date), and recording a series of albums for Blue Note from '88 ...
Continue ReadingTommy Smith: Evolution
by John Kelman
A member of vibraphonist Joe Locke's widely-acclaimed Four Walls of Freedom, Scottish saxophonist Tommy Smith is finally beginning to crack a broader international market. The surprise is that it's taken this long. Since returning home from the States in the late '80s, Smith has become something of a cottage industry in the UK, creating the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, whose purview ranges from repertory classics from the likes of Charles Mingus, Count Basie and Miles Davis, to more contemporary fare ...
Continue ReadingTommy Smith: Blue Smith
by Glenn Astarita
Scottish saxophonist Tommy Smith boasts a corpulent and ringing tone via his zealous articulation of extended notes and stylish mode of execution as he often melds tenacity with grace and eloquence. Here, Smith unites with guitarist John Scofield, bassist James Genus and drummer Clarence Penn for a jazz/blues based venture, aptly titled, Blue Smith.
In some instances, the pairing of Smith and Scofield does indeed rekindle thoughts of the guitarist’s now legendary early 90’s teaming with tenor sax icon Joe ...
Continue ReadingRoyal Conservatoire of Scotland 2020 Jazz Awards
Source:
All About Jazz
The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) in jny:Glasgow today announced the winners of its 2020 Jazz Awards. Saxophonist Matt Carmichael won the Fog Arts Prize in Jazz Improvisation. The winner of the George Duncan Prize for Jazz Composition was Richard Glassby, for composing an outstanding original suite of music. Glassby commented, These pieces were the product of a great first year at RCS, I have had the chance to work with some amazing musicians who have really brought my music ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Tommy Smith
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Tommy Smith's birthday today!
Tommy Smith is a leading light in European jazz, first and foremost as one of the finest saxophonists of his generation, and latterly as the founder and current director of The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra (SNJO). These career-defining achievements are framed by his status as an international recording artist; a composer and arranger of extraordinary ambition; and not least, as a jazz educator... Read more.
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Tommy Smith
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Tommy Smith's birthday today!
Tommy Smith is a leading light in European jazz, first and foremost as one of the finest saxophonists of his generation, and latterly as the founder and current director of The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra (SNJO). These career-defining achievements are framed by his status as an international recording artist; a composer and arranger of extraordinary ambition; and not least, as a jazz educator... Read more.
Place our Musician of the Day ...
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"Modern Jacobite" - History, Art And Identity Entwine With A New Symphonic Work By Tommy Smith
Source:
Michael S. Clark
Many jazz composers and musicians now work comfortably across lines of demarcation between classical music and jazz forms. The outcome over the years has largely been a victory of good sense over tender sensibilities, with much fulfilling music to enjoy. Now, Scots tenor saxophonist Tommy Smith, with the 80-piece BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, offer music lovers a full-bodied listening experience on 'Modern Jacobite'. Modern Jacobite (released in the USA 2nd September 2016) opens with Tommy Smith’s personal interpretation of Rachmaninov’s ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Tommy Smith
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Tommy Smith's birthday today!
Award-winning Scottish saxophonist-composer-educator Tommy Smith is a creative force in improvised music performing in settings from solo to symphonic concerts and is one of Europe’s leading musicians. He has recorded 24 solo albums as a leader for Blue Note, Linn and his own label Spartacus Records and worked with stars like Chick Corea, Gary Burton, Jack DeJohnette, Arild Andersen, Trilok Gurtu, Jaco Pastorius and John Scofield... Read more.
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Tommy Smith
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Tommy Smith's birthday today! Award-winning Scottish saxophonist-composer-educator Tommy Smith is a creative force in improvised music performing in settings from solo to symphonic concerts and is one of Europe’s leading musicians. He has recorded 24 solo albums as a leader for Blue Note, Linn and his own label Spartacus Records and worked with stars like Chick Corea, Gary Burton, Jack DeJohnette, Arild Andersen, Trilok Gurtu, Jaco Pastorius and John Scofield... Read more. Place our Musician ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Tommy Smith
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Tommy Smith's birthday today! Award-winning Scottish saxophonist-composer-educator Tommy Smith is a creative force in improvised music performing in settings from solo to symphonic concerts and is one of Europe’s leading musicians. He has recorded 24 solo albums as a leader for Blue Note, Linn and his own label Spartacus Records and worked with stars like Chick Corea, Gary Burton, Jack DeJohnette, Arild Andersen, Trilok Gurtu, Jaco Pastorius and John Scofield... Read more. Place our Musician ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: Tommy Smith
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Tommy Smith's birthday today!
Award-winning Scottish saxophonist-composer-educator Tommy Smith is a creative force in improvised music performing in settings from solo to symphonic concerts and is one of Europe’s leading musicians. He has recorded 24 solo albums as a leader for Blue Note, Linn and his own label Spartacus Records and worked with stars like Chick Corea, Gary Burton, Jack DeJohnette, Arild Andersen, Trilok Gurtu, Jaco Pastorius and John Scofield... Read more.
Place our Musician ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Tommy Smith
Source:
All About Jazz is celebrating Tommy Smith's birthday today!
Born in Edinburgh in 1967, Tommy Smith won best soloist and best group titles at Edinburgh International Jazz Festival, aged 14, and recorded his first album at 15. After studying at Berklee College of Music he joined Gary Burton’s group, touring worldwide and recording the Whiz Kids album on ECM Records. He signed to Blue Note Records in 1989, Linn Record in 1993 and having formed his own record company, Spartacus...Born ...
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Capsule Reviews - Tommy Smith, Chase Baird
Source:
Music and More by Tim Niland
Tommy SmithKarma (Spartacus, 2011) Scottish saxophonist Tommy Smith is much in demand as a soloist (check his extraordinary playing on Arild Andersen's Live at Belleville) and as a well regarded educator. Smith's Karma (no relation to Pharoah Sanders' free-jazz masterwork of the same name) works well, as the band with Smith: Steve Hamilton on piano, synth and tambourine, Kevin Glasgow on electric bass and Alyn Cosker on drums work well as an integrated unit. Smith has sometimes referred to this ...
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JOHN SCOFIELD “Tommy is an incredible writer and a great, great player.”
GARY BURTON “Tommy Smith, the most talented tenor sax star to arrive on the world scene in years.”
CHICK COREA “Tommy has a unique sound and approach. I like it from when I first heard him play as a student at Berklee.”
DAVID LIEBMAN “Tommy Smith is one of the best musicians around.”
JACK DeJOHNETTE “One of the important voices in the young tenor players of today.”
BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE ★★★★★
LOS ANGELES TIMES “Smith’s soloing… is superb, never more so than in a stunning, utterly solo rendering of Solitude.”
Primary Instrument
Saxophone, tenor
Location
Edinburgh
Willing to teach
Advanced only
Credentials/Background
Professor of Jazz at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow
Wynton Marsalis
trumpetArild Andersen
bass, acousticJohn Coltrane
saxophoneJan Garbarek
saxophone, tenorStan Getz
saxophone, tenorColeman Hawkins
saxophone, tenorKeith Jarrett
pianoMcCoy Tyner
pianoBobby Wellins
saxophone, tenorPhotos
Music
Cause and Effect
From: KarmaBy Tommy Smith