Modern Jacobite - Tommy Smith/BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

8/17/2019 Modern Jacobite - Tommy Smith/BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

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THE SCOTTISH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRACBB M O D E R O J A C O B I T D

TOMMY SMITH


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V OC A LISE Rachmaninoff 5.59

i. Opus 34, No.14

JA COBITD Smith 29.57

ii. 1689 iii. 1715 iv. 1745

CHILDR E N ’SSONGL Corea/Smith* 11.15

v. Bairn’s Sang Batch 1*

vi. Children’s Song No. 7- vii. Improvisation 1* - viii. Children’s Song No. 7 cont..ix. Bairn’s Sang Batch 2*

x. Children’s Song No. 3- xi. Improvisation 2* - xii. Children’s Song No. 3 cont.. xiii. Children’s Song No. 17- xiv. Improvisation 3*

xv. Children’s Song No. 4- xvi. Improvisation 4* xvii. Children’s Song No. 18- xviii. Bairn’s Sang Lest*


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odern Jacobite representsa rst foray into symphonicmusic for jazz saxophonistTommy Smith, a musician,composer and educator who

has long interleaved orchestral discipline withcreative jazz.

The centrepiece of this striking album is‘Jacobite’, an evocative symphonic work,presented here alongside personal re-imaginings of music by Rachmaninoff and ChickCorea. Tommy Smith composed ‘Jacobite’ asan ambitious painting in music for saxophoneand orchestra, and he has created a musicallandscape that is deeply imbued with dramatic

tension, extraordinary beauty and inamedpassion. It is also a musically inventive piece thatis nely balanced as an intricate structure, anarticulate narrative and an exceptionally visceralpiece of original music.

‘Jacobite’ takes its inspiration from a traumaticperiod in the history of Smith’s native Scotlandthat began in 1689 with the rst impotentuprisings, and surfaced again in 1715 beforenally ending with the crushing failure of the

1745 revolt. The music does not inch from theviolence of key moments in that struggle, norfrom the pathos of great loss, and the broodingbitterness of humiliation in defeat. ‘Jacobite’ istherefore a beautifully illustrated symphonicessay linked by three principal strands of musicalthought into a coherent, evocative and seamless

narrative.

ommy Smith was immediatelyprompted by Roger Pollen of theScottish Ensemble (SE) to

spend six months studyingorchestration, with a new commissionfor saxophone and strings very much

in mind.

As a Blue Note artist at the time, Smith hadaccess to the parent company EMI’s entireclassical catalogue, and had the pick of CD’sfrom the London ofce. He also researchedorchestration texts by Samuel Adler, RimskyKorsakov and Cecil Forsyth, and spent twoproductive years in Paris where he studiedclassical music and worked alongside Daniel

Humair.

Tommy Smith wrote his rst piece of classicalmusic, Unirsi In Matrimonio, for saxophone andstrings in 1990. It was met with general criticalapproval, and praise in particular from respectedcritic Michael Tumelty who wrote in the GlasgowHerald, “The movements work as mood pictures,full of atmosphere and outbursts of drama.”

This was quickly followed by another work for

strings and saxophone, Un Ecossais à Paris in1991, and he later collaborated very closely witheclectic classical pianist Murray McLaughlin forSonata No.1 - Hall of Mirrors and Sonata No.2 -Dreaming with Open Eyes.

Smith has chosen to preface ‘Jacobite’ with ashimmering interpretation of Rachmaninoff’s‘Vocalise’, in which his saxophone emotes arange of complex feelings in a devastatinglyromantic orchestration. ‘Vocalise’ is among thebest loved of the composer’s famous ‘FourteenSongs’, and Smith brings the subtlest nuances ofimprovisation to bear upon its melodic richness.

The third piece on this album is a portmanteauof compositions ostensibly by Chick Corea,entitled simply, ‘Children’s Songs’. It consists ofCorea’s original tunes alternating with Smith’s re-imaginings of Corea’s childhood memoirs. Thesevariations are delivered with improvisationalverve, and linked by the connective tissue of newmusic composed by Tommy Smith.

The long journey towards the making ofthis record rst began for Tommy Smith in1989, when he was asked to perform WilliamSweeney’s concerto for saxophone, An rathad ùr,with the BBC/SSO for the television series JazzTypes, which Smith also presented.


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The piano/saxophone duo recordings withMcLaughlin of these works moved one writerto observe that they were, “Powerful yet lyricalworks…they offer opportunities for improvisation,and Smith employs a jazzman‘s expressive toneto haunting and thrilling effect.“ (Inverness

Courier).

The next seven years were spent building theforces necessary for a much bigger orchestralwork, which came in the form of the saxophoneconcerto Hiroshima (1998). This was premieredwith the Orchestra of St. John Smith‘s Squareat Chelmsford Cathedral, and included strings,brass, woodwinds, percussion, piano andsaxophone.

Tommy Smith also appeared as solo saxophonistfor Sally Beamish‘s The Knotgrass Elegy,commissioned for the 2001 BBC Proms, andperformed with the BBC Symphony Orchestra atthe Royal Albert Hall in London. Fiona Maddockswriting in the Guardian commented that, “The saxophonist Tommy Smith, holding all togetherwith his eloquent wizardry, brought the piece to awistful close with a forlorn meditation.”

In 2002, Tommy Smith performed his earlier,

and much lengthier 50-minute re-invention of‘Children’s Songs’ for saxophone and orchestrawith the Scottish Ensemble at St John‘s Kirk,Perth. The Glasgow Herald remarked at the timethat, “It transcends technical and stylistic barriersbetween written and improvised music, resultingin a composition that preserves absolutely thecharacter of the originals.”

Other classical music endeavours have includeda massive undertaking for the EdinburghYouth Orchestra‘s 40th anniversary in 2003.A very special suite, entitled Edinburgh, wasspecially written for the occasion, and featuredsaxophone, bass and drums, accompanied by

a one hundred-strong symphony orchestra.The work was subsequently toured in Scotland,Estonia, Russia, and Finland.

Smith also featured as a soloist with the BBC/SSO for the 2012 BBC Proms Last NightCelebrations in Scotland at Glasgow’s CityHalls. His contribution alongside pianist JoannaMacGregor and soprano Carolyn Sampson,under the baton of conductor Stephen Bell,marked a memorable nal night at the world’s

most celebrated classical music festival.

Then, in January 2015, the window ofopportunity opened with a suggestion fromthe BBC/SSO for a remarkable collaboration,which has now been fullled in the musicalenergy of ‘Jacobite’. Following discussions, Smithimmediately embarked upon a feverish period

of writing and orchestrating that continuedunabated until the recording dates in May of thatyear.

Keen listeners may detect elements of Scottishfolk melody as one of several points of departurein this dynamic and highly organized work.Tommy Smith uses every part of the orchestra totell his story, and colours his composition withdelicate touches of improvisation. However, hisoverarching aim with ‘Jacobite’ was to conceive

of something subtle, organic and expressive.

“ ‘Jacobite’ is a piece of modern music thatfeatures saxophone and many other soloistsin the orchestra, so it‘s quite unconventional” ,explains Smith. “It’s certainly not a full blownconcerto, especially when the rst entrance ofthe saxophone appears after two and a halfminutes of orchestral texture and solos fromcello and ute. The saxophone acts as the mainnarrator throughout the piece, embodying a

purely improvisational quality that speaks to allthe thematic material.”

The outcome is a high watermark in theaccomplished career of one of the Europe’sleading jazz musicians. It is also a welcomeaddition to the growing repertoire of modernmusical works that blur distinctions, and breakdown barriers to musical understanding.


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V i o l i n 1 L A U R A S A M U E L

K A N A K O I T O

C H E R Y L C R O C K E T T P E T E R C Y N F R Y N J O N E S

J A N E H A I N E Y

P E T E R I S A A C S

A L A S T A I R S A V A G E

O L I V I E R L E M O I N E

G E N T K O C H O

A M Y C A R D I G A N

E M I L Y W A R D

M I N S I Y A N G

J A N E I E M O I N E

V i o l i n 2 L I S E A F E R I A T

L I Z A J O H N S O N

E L I Z A B E T H F L A C K

J U L I A N O R T O N

A L E X G A S C O I N E

J A N I S W A L T O N

J U L I A C A R P E N T E R

B A R B A R A D O W N I E

A L I C E R I C K A R D S

B E N N O R R I S

V i o l a s S C O T T D I C K I N S O N

A N D R E W B E R R I D G E

F I O N A R O B E R T S O N

J A C Q U I P E N F O L D

A L I C E B A T T Y

R I K E V A N S

M A R Y W A R D

J E N N I F E R E D W A R D S

C e l l o s M A R T I N S T O R E Y

A L I S O N L A W R A N C E

S O N I A C R O M A R T Y H A R O L D H A R R I S

S H A R O N M O L L O Y

G I L L D E G R O O T E

A N N E B R I N C O U R T

R O S E M A R Y T O W N H I L L

D o u b l e B a s s e s N I C H O L A S B A Y L E Y

I A I N C R A W F O R D

J O H N V A N L I E R O P

D E R E K H I L L

J E R E M Y W A R D

P A U L S P E I R S

F l u t e s T O M H A N C O X

R O S E M A R Y L O C K

E W A N R O B E R T S O N

O b o e s J O E S A N D E R S

D A N I E L F I N N E Y

J A M E S H O R A N

C l a r i n e t s Y A N N G H I R O

B A R R Y D E A C O N

S I M O N B U T T E R W O R T H

B a s s o o n s J U L I A N R O B E R T S

G R A E M E B R O W N

P E T E R W E S L E Y

H o r n s D A V I D F L A C K

J E R E M Y B U S H E L L

S T E P H A N I E J O N E S J A M I E S H I E L D

T r u m p e t s M A R K O ’ K E E F F E

E R I C D U N L E A

R O B E R T B A X T E R

T r o m b o n e s B E C K Y S M I T H

C H R I S T O P H E R M A N S E F I E L D

B a s s T r o m b o n d A L A N M A T H I S O N

T u b a A N D R E W D U N C A N

T i m p a p i

G O R D O N R I G B Y

P e r c u s s i o o H E A T H E R C O R B E T T

D A V I D L Y O N S

R O B E R T P U R S E

P i a n o L Y N D A C O C H R A N E

H a r p H E L E N M A C L E O D

V iolin 1 LAURA SAMUEL

KANAKO ITOCHERYL CROCKETT

PETER CYNFRYN JONESJANE HAINEY

PETER ISAACSALASTAIR SAVAGEOLIVIER LEMOINE

GENT KOCHOAMY CARDIGAN

EMILY WARDMINSI YANG

JANE IEMOINE

Violi n 2LISE AFERIAT

LIZA JOHNSON

ELIZABETH FLACKJULIA NORTONALEX GASCOINE

JANIS WALTONJULIA CARPENTER

BARBARA DOWNIEALICE RICKARDS

BEN NORRIS

Viola sSCOTT DICKINSON

ANDREW BERRIDGE

FIONA ROBERTSONJACQUI PENFOLDALICE BATTY

RIK EVANSMARY WARD

JENNIFER EDWARDS

CellosMARTIN STOREY

ALISON LAWRANCESONIA CROMARTY

HAROLD HARRISSHARON MOLLOYGILL DE GROOTE

ANNE BRINCOURTROSEMARY TOWNHILL

Double B a ssesNICHOLAS BAYLEYIAIN CRAWFORD

JOHN VAN LIEROPDEREK HILL

JEREMY WARDPAUL SPEIRS

FlutesTOM HANCOXROSEMARY LOCK

EWAN ROBERTSON

OboesJOE SANDERS

DANIEL FINNEYJAMES HORAN

Cla r inetsYANN GHIRO

BARRY DEACONSIMON BUTTERWORTH

BassoonsJULIAN ROBERTSGRAEME BROWN

PETER WESLEY

HornsDAVID FLACKJEREMY BUSHELLSTEPHANIE JONESJAMIE SHIELD

TrumpetsMARK O’KEEFFEERIC DUNLEAROBERT BAXTER

Tro mbonesBECKY SMITH

CHRISTOPHER MANSEFIELD

Bass TrombondALAN MATHISON

Tub a ANDREW DUNCAN

Timpa p iGORDON RIGBY

Percussio oHEATHER CORBETTDAVID LYONSROBERT PURSE

PianoLYNDA COCHRANE

HarpHELEN MACLEOD


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S axophonist - Composer - OrchestratorCD Desigp & E6 ecutiv d Producer TOMMY SMITH

R ecorded CITY HALLS, GLASGOW 28/29 MAY 2015

Mixed RAINBOW STUDIOS, OSLO 28/29 OCTOBER 2015

Cop ductor CLARK RUNDELLOr chestra M ao ager GAVIN REID

Se n ior Pr oducer ANDREW TRINICKRecor di og Engi n eer GRAEME TAYLOR

Mi x ing & M a ster ing JAN ERIK KONGSHAUGPhotohraph y DEREK CLARK

li oer N oteL MICHAEL CLARK

Tommy Smith is a D’Addario Performing Artist and performs exclusively on

Select J azz R eeds Timeless bespoke tailoring by Peter Johnsto n


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TOMMY SMITHTHE SCOTTISH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRACBB

Modern Jacobite - Tommy Smith/BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra

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