Blue Smith

Tommy Smith

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 15, 2000)
• Original Release Date: April 11, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Linn Records
• ASIN: B0000300H7
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #239,155 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
How do you follow up a lovely and intimate album of Ellington and Strayhorn ballads? If you're Scottish tenor saxist Tommy Smith, you unleash this gritty, brash, and groove-heavy monster. Backed by a stellar rhythm section featuring guitarist John Scofield, bassist James Genus, and drummer Clarence Penn, Smith sinks deep in the pocket at times and searches inquisitively and aggressively at others. Even at his most explorative, he never seems rash or unfocused; on the contrary, he always seems to know exactly what he's doing with each cascading flurry. The fierce, Coltrane-like calisthenics he performs on "Touch Your Toes" soon give way to the sumptuously slow-grinding "Blacken' Blue," in which he savors each note as if he were sucking on a rib tip. On the surface, this often raucous record has little in common with an album of Ellington ballads. But there are telling similarities, most notably the confidence and certainty with which Smith plays and the supreme importance that he places on his full-bodied tone. One can only hope that his decision to live across the pond doesn't keep him from receiving the recognition he's earned. --Marc Greilsamer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Distinction For Distinctiveness !, June 20, 2000

By	H. J. Sandford "jazzyjaney" (Yorkshire, England) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A master of mood and lyricism Mr Smith is a star saxophonist. This album features blues inspired tracks which are inspired and distinctive and are some of the most exciting and inventive I have heard to date. A new artist to me and an excellent example to discover him in.

A definite recommendation!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No-nonsense jazz, March 24, 2001

By	N. Dorward "obsessive reviewer" (Toronto, ON Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

There was a brief period in the early 1990s when record-labels like Blue Note & Verve were turning to England for new signings: players like Stan Tracey, Guy Barker, Andy Sheppard & the Scottish saxophonist Tommy Smith found themselves with contracts. Predictably enough the labels dropped them just about as quickly--Smith's now found on the Linn label (which boasts on each CD: "THIS CD SOUNDS _EVEN_ BETTER THROUGH A LINN CD PLAYER"). It's a great shame that Blue Note didn't stay the course: this album is first-rate, & deserves a wider audience.

Smith has assembled here a tough & professional New York band: John Scofield on guitar, James Genus on bass, Clarence Penn on drums. The basic territory is a middle-ground between the traditional saxophone artistry of Coltrane & Rollins and hot blues & funk. That's an area that's fairly well-explored in modern jazz, & the presence of Scofield makes comparisons with his 1980s/early 1990s band with Joe Lovano inevitable. What's remarkable is that Smith is by no means disgraced by the comparison. He's not as idiosyncratic a player as Lovano, but he's certainly got his own sound & approach. The compositions here aren't fancy but are carefully crafted, & give all the musicians solid launching-pads. There's real excitement in tracks like "The Blues Blew Blue" (a slow blues that then breaks into a breakneck chain of solos separated by stop-time episodes) or "Hubba Hubba" (with Scofield's fine choked guitar riffing). Medium-tempo pieces like "Eany Meany Miny Mo" work a pleasingly relaxed groove (until it builds at the end to a furious Coltranesque climax...), & Smith even tosses in a brief, gentle acapella reading of "Amazing Grace".

A word here for Scofield, who has rarely played better, even though he's perhaps one of the most ubiquitous leaders & sidemen in jazz today. Scofield's recent recordings seem to have moved away from his smart jazz/rock fusion on discs like _Time on My Hands_ to music where jazz is a less & less prominent ingredient; it's nice to hear him respond so well in a context that's a lot closer to his "classic" recordings of the 1980s.

A fine album, worth checking out.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent modern jazz, June 29, 2002

By A Customer

This is a challenging and rewarding album! I love the "classic" 1940s and 50s small group jazz and was looking for something modern to fit these tastes. This album is not anywhere near what I was looking for, but it is excellent, high quality music. The two solo saxophone numbers (Amazing Grace and Miracle) are worth the price of the CD alone! They are beautifully played. As Amazon said, this is definitely a groove heavy jazz record. Luckily, the album avoids the twin pitfalls of becoming a pop/jazz or "modern" jazz album. I had not heard of Tommy Smith before I bought this album, but I will definitely investigate his music further.