A Year In The Life, from Tom Smith, is a vibrant and enjoyable jazz work, with an inventive approach to the Big Band sound.
Released: Available now
Label: Fey Moose Records in association with ECN Music
Format: CD / Digital / Vinyl
BACKGROUND TO THE ALBUM
Tom Smith is a London based composer, band leader and saxophone player, both alto and soprano. A Year In The Life is performed by his ensemble, the Tom Smith Big band, and is intended as a musical celebration of the vibrant London jazz scene.
His compositions on the album, cowritten with a number of the musicians from the ensemble, combine dynamic swathes of sound, intricate detail, and a cinematic reach. The result is engagingly listenable while also rewarding repeated listening to seek out the finer detail within the compositions and playing.
GENTLE JAZZ GROOVES AND THUNDERING FUNK RHYTHMS
The album’s title track is the opening composition on the album and embodies all the above qualities. Particularly striking here are Will Barry’s fluent piano counter melodies and the soaring brass sections. Luke Tomlinson’s drumming is the absolute highlight, laying down gentle jazz grooves and then thundering funk rhythms. His driving drum solo is exquisite, leaving risky spaces that only the most gifted drummers can bring off successfully.
Speedboat In Trouble, that follows, conjures up an image of a city moving at speed and never sleeping. Conor Chaplin’s nimble bass work ensures the band never let up on this pacy composition. The saxophone, trombone and trumpet solos are inventive and at times delightfully playful. There is also a nicely surprising short piano interlude towards the end of the piece, almost as if the band are gathering their strength for the final musical charge.
Breathe is a gentle contemplative piece that has a hypnotic meandering vibe. Jamie McCredie’s solo guitar work navigates the elegant ebb and flow of the Big Band backing, with some wonderfully elegiac and lyrical phrases. Tom Smith’s alto saxophone solo offers a continuous movement of imaginative and melodious sounds, that perfectly complements the feel of the piece.
FILM NOIR SET IN A BROODING CITY SCAPE
We’re Being Watched resonates of a film noir set in a brooding city scape. Stinging guitar and sharp precision rhythms cross over with cinematic horns, and the tenor saxophone solo by Paul Booth is suitably edgy, scattering a flurry of notes, that literally dart out of the speakers. Aplomb, in contrast, is a swing driven dance track, that maintains a frenetic pacing and is the setting for a very fine and exuberant trombone solo by Trevor Mires. The statelier paced short coda at the end of track generously allows the listener to catch their breath.
Swansea Uproar closes out the album. It brings together swing and rhythm and blues in an intoxicating mix, that provides an enabling platform for some splendid punctuating musical phases delivered in ensemble mode, together with some fine solos. Will Barry’s piano solo is really striking here, hitting a beautiful pealing tone that splashes melody into every musical space.
AN INVENTIVE APPROACH TO THE BIG BAND ENSEMBLE
There are many standout performance on this recording. Hopefully some of those highlighted here will tempt you to give this magnificent album a spin. A Year In The Life is a vibrant and enjoyable jazz work, that through its inventive approach to a Big Band ensemble, provides a musical experience that will speak to people who might not in the first instance see themselves as jazz followers. The Tom Smith Big Band play some shows in October; more details are on Tom Smith’s website.
You can view the Tom Smith Big Band performing Breathe here:
Tom Smith: Website / Facebook / Instagram
Keep up with At The Barrier: Facebook / Instagram / Spotify / YouTube