Taken from a yet-to-be-announced new album, Sunday Davidson is the start of a new chapter of Italian born, American raised, London resident Giacomo Smith and his Kansas Smitty’s collective. The five Kansas Smitty’s records to date, all produced by Giacomo, along with recent productions for Jas Kayser‘s debut album on Jazz Re:Freshed Records and Jamie Cullum’s recent album, all show off an artist whose grasp of the history of jazz, blues and folk is deep and considered.

“Sunday Davidson was a nurse Dave Archer and I met on the ward of a Bristol hospital years ago.” Giacomo explains about the new single, “We were doing ward tours playing jazz for patients. To this day, it’s some of the most meaningful work I’ve ever done as an artist. You can really appreciate the full transportive power of music when you are interacting with people who are rehabilitating or sick. Sunday Davidson was a man we both thought carried the same optimism in his demeanor that we were trying to capture in our music. His smile inspired us, and we hope we were able to inspire him too.“

When Giacomo first formed the band in an East London basement in late 2012 it was the sounds of Robert Altmans Kansas City that inspired him to go looking for the sounds of Basie, Bennie Moten, Mary Lou Williams et al. Those influences are clearly heard in the eponymously titled first record that launched the band into the vibrant London scene.

That first band put together by Giacomo featured Theon Cross, Reuben James and Pedro Segundo. Since then with each consecutive release he has reinvented the sound and line up, with 2021’s Plunderphonia album featuring Jas Kasyer on Drums and Dylan Jones on trumpet.

An avid crate digger in his collection you can find cuts from Jelly Roll Morton, Ravel (both who inspired last years Plunderphonia release) Yusef Lateef, Blind Willie Johnson, Louis Armstrong and Brian Eno. His nomadic tastes are a reflection of the journey he has been on from the start. Born in Calabria in Italy he was then forced to up sticks with his mother to Saratoga Springs, New York. From there he moved to Montréal where he studied classical clarinet and eventually ended up in London since 2011 where he has resided ever since.

Kansas Smitty’s Live Dates

29th April – The Daffodil – Cheltenham

30th April – Cheltenham Town Hall

1st May – The Daffodil – Cheltenham

23rd June – Django in June (FR)