Many an aspiring musician, and for that matter performer of any discipline, could learn much from observing artists of the calibre of Tommy Smith at close quarters. As I had the privilege of doing on a rainy Thursday evening which can best be described as dreich. The most iconic Scottish word according to a recent poll conducted by the Scottish Book Trust.

The first half of his fourth and final concert to mark the fortieth anniversary of the Queen’s Hall was billed as an unplugged solo. But, in truth, it felt more like a one-man orchestra for he not only played his triple-barrelled instrument of breath, body and brass to classy perfection, but also the twin demands of the room (acoustics and audience) to a standard that was higher than the sustained piercing note which concluded his first of five improvisations. Think Joe Pasquale on helium!

“Jazz has the reputation for being difficult.” Not my words, but those of a cultured gentleman sitting next to me who in conversation with his friend added “intimidating”. Well, if not knowing what to expect and which direction the music is likely to turn constitute “difficult”, I can live with that. Especially if the playing is of such an exceptionally high standard as Smith’s.

The tunes, if you can call them that, were as much a surprise to him as they were to the audience. “I really don’t know what I played,” he confessed, before easing into his final offering with the wry introduction, “I really don’t know what it will be.” A marketing executive’s nightmare; a jazz musician’s dream.

Fragments of recognisable melodies such as A Red, Red, Rose, Round Midnight and The Peacocks (A Timeless Place) momentarily broke the surface like the dorsal fin of Jaws before disappearing back into the deep. Or as his former collaborator the late Edwin Morgan (whose poems form the basis of the SNJO’s next concert series Planet Wave) put it in Skeleton Day: “Skull, ribs, hips emerge from the dark like a caravan / Bound for who knows where”.

But what each of the improvisations shared was an emotional depth and intensity which the aforementioned audience member astutely described as “austere”. Befitting of the times, you might say.

In winding up his solo set, Tommy spoke a little about the TSYJO with which the All-Stars, who joined him on stage in the second half, earned their stripes. Three things stood out: his selfless and tireless dedication to establish a youth jazz orchestra in Scotland, the membership of which is based on the ability to play, not pay; how instrumental and successful he has been in laying the foundations for future generations of Scottish jazz musicians to flourish; and the essential components of his teaching and his craft. Namely: practice, listen and react.

All of which were in abundance as the nigh-on twenty members of the first-time-out ensemble – supported by Pete Johnstone on piano, Joe Williamson on guitar, Calum Gourlay on bass, and Dominykas Snarskis and Stephen Henderson on drums – blew the bejesus out of their instruments in a succession of brassy belters ranging from Charlie Parker’s Moose the Mooche and Joe Zawinul’s Young and Fine to Astor Piazzolla’s Michelangelo and Tommy Smith’s Numbers from the SNJO’s 2010 album Torah.

Though the title of their third tune by Pat Metheny was a fitting description of what the programme notes described as a “new and exciting future” for the seventeen-year-old ensemble: Better Days Ahead.

Peter Callaghan
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