Internationally revered guitarist John McLaughlin has heaped praise on Edinburgh-born saxophonist Tommy Smith’s latest album.
Recorded in concert in the Queen’s Hall last month, Eternal Light features Smith in a duo with pianist Gwilym Simcock. The pair hadn’t intended to make an album at the time but when they listened to a private recording of the concert they decided they should make it available to the public.
“I’ve played at the Queen’s Hall many times,” says Smith, who first appeared at the venue as a fourteen-year-old. “Stepping onto the stage there always feels like coming home and it’s inspiring to know you’re following in the footsteps of so many great names from jazz who have played there.”
Smith remembers taking the 33 bus from Wester Hailes, where he grew up, to see saxophonists George Coleman and Illinois Jacquet, amongst others, performing at the former church in Clerk Street. This and his own memories of playing there previously were a factor in making the concert with Simcock special.
“We listened to the recording and I sent it to a few friends to get their reaction,” says Smith. The friends he mentions include vocalist Kurt Elling, saxophonist Bill Evans and vibes virtuoso Gary Burton, whose band Smith joined as a teenager and who featured with pianist Chick Corea at Smith’s 21st Birthday Concert at the Queen’s Hall in 1988.
All agreed the concert should be more widely heard. Guitarist John McLaughlin, who has been at the forefront of jazz since playing with trumpeter Miles Davis and launching his own hugely successful Mahavishnu Orchestra in the early 1970s, emailed a review to Smith.
“This recording is a jewel,” said McLaughlin. “Beauty, complicity, empathy, phenomenal technique and outstanding ‘live’ recording quality. All the elements that make up this wonderful, surprising, deeply appreciated and satisfying album. Bravo Tommy and Gwilym.”
Smith and Simcock have made Eternal Light available to download on the internet music platform Bandcamp and although a physical CD release might be an option later, they wanted to get the music heard ASAP.
“Playing with Gwilym felt natural right from the start,” says Smith, whose former duo partner, the late Brian Kellock had recommended that he and Simcock work together. “It was as if we were already speaking the same musical language. Over time, we discovered that we share a similar appetite for risk and lyricism, and the duo developed organically. It has become one of the most rewarding partnerships of my career.”
Like Loading…
Related