Tag: review

“Exploration” – The Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra featuring Joe Locke

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… Continue reading “Exploration” – The Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra featuring Joe Locke

The Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra “Exploration”

Featuring special guest Joe Locke on vibes – who seizes the attention with every solo, such is his unbridled vigour and tumultuous energy – this album puts Tommy Smith’s young jazz orchestra through its paces courtesy of a sensibly chosen but by no means clich’d repertoire that allows members to explore their nascent soloing capabilities… Continue reading The Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra “Exploration”

Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra: Exploration

**** (4 stars) SAXOPHONIST Tommy Smith launched this big band, at his own expense, in 2002 to help foster the cream of young Scottish jazz talent, and their debut recording amply illustrates the depth of that talent. Bolstered by some section leaders from the senior Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, the band were joined by American… Continue reading Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra: Exploration

Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra / Joe Locke, “Exploration”

Tommy Smith knows all about youth jazz – he was a teenage saxophone prodigy himself, on the road with vibes star Gary Burton when barely out of school. Smith has been running an ambitious youth orchestra in Scotland for years, and this set (mainly distributed through the saxophonist’s website) doesn’t just chronicle the sound of… Continue reading Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra / Joe Locke, “Exploration”