EFG London Jazz Festival 2017

Tommy Smith & Brian Kellock

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Last Show: Saturday 18 th November 2017

PizzaExpress Jazz Club (Soho)

Two of Scotland’s finest jazz artists, saxophonist Tommy Smith and pianist Brian Kellock, have teamed up to bring appreciative audiences some of the most beautiful, haunting and iconic pieces in the jazz repertoire. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the commentary from the press has been routinely littered with phrases such as… ‘bewitching layers of delicacy’, ‘full flight’, ‘spontaneous invention’, and ‘sheer artistry’. Tommy and Brian, are a musically dynamic duo who bring reverence and invention in equal measure to the timeless art of jazz. Their sets are largely drawn from the three CDs they have made together for Spartacus records, ‘Bezique’, ‘Symbiosis’ & ‘Whispering of the Stars’, which prominently feature selections from the great American & European Songbooks. More importantly, their gregarious performances are informed by lifelong immersion in jazz history and a commitment to surprise, entertain and inform in the most inclusive of jazz experiences. 

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“I have been around some powerful bandleaders in my time (eg Elvin Jones, Miles Davis, Chick Corea) and I can tell you that Tommy ranks up with the best as a leader/conductor as well as a player”

Dave Liebman

Saxophonist Tommy Smith has been a presence on the world jazz scene since his teenage years. At the age of nineteen he was touring internationally with Gary Burton’s Whiz Kids quintet and three years later he signed to the legendary jazz label Blue Note.
Smith has since gone on to establish and direct the internationally acclaimed Scottish National Jazz Orchestra and he regularly tours the world with Norwegian bass master Arild Andersen’s trio, widely regarded as one of the premier groups working in jazz today.
In 2017 Smith celebrates his 50th birthday with a duo tour featuring the pianist he calls his own personal orchestra, the hugely resourceful Brian Kellock, who has worked with Scott Hamilton, Stanley Turrentine, Sheila Jordan and many other touring American musicians.
Friends for over thirty years, Smith and Kellock form a partnership that spins classic songs into spontaneous jazz gold. Their concerts are master classes in the arts of improvisation and communication and have been described as world class by Jazz Journal magazine.