Tommy Smith (saxophonist)
| Tommy Smith | |
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Photo shoot for Modern Jacobite
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Thomas William Ellis Smith |
| Born |
27 April 1967 Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Genres | Jazz, orchestral jazz, swing, big band, western classical music, jazz fusion, free improvisation |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, band leader, composer, educator, record company |
| Instruments | Tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute, shakuhachi, piano |
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Labels | Blue Note, Spartacus, ECM, Linn, Hep |
| Associated acts | Arild Andersen, Paolo Vinaccia, Kenny Barron, Kurt Elling, Murray McLachlan, Jack DeJohnette, Gary Burton, Kenny Wheeler, Jon Christensen |
| Website | tommysmith |
Thomas William Ellis Smith (born 27 April 1967) is a Scottish jazz saxophonist, composer and educator. The jazz critic Richard Cook said of him, "Of the generation which emerged in the mid-80s, he might be the most outstandingly talented".
Smith was born in Edinburgh on 27 April 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, where he was encouraged by his 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.
Aged thirteen, at a weekly jazz workshop, under the direction of Gordon Cruikshank, Smith met pathologist and pianist Vincenzo Crucioli, who spotted his talent and took him under his wing. Together with drummer John Rae, the group went on to win the Edinburgh International Jazz Festival Best Group award in 1981. Smith also winning the Best Soloist, aged fourteen. He attributes much of his success to the Crucioli family, who took him under their wings and served as a well of inspiration. Under clarinettist 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. In 1983, aged sixteen, Smith recorded his first album, Giant Strides, with a trio featuring Rae; and that 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.
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."
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Wikipedia