Tommy Smith

Tommy Smith, a tenor saxophonist known for his robust tone, grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland, where his playing has spanned straight-ahead jazz and fusion. During his teenage years in that city he developed a deep passion for jazz, earning acceptance to the prestigious Berklee College of Music at just 15. He relocated to Boston in 1984 to enroll there, and by 1986 the 18-year-old musician had joined Gary Burton’s band as a sideman on Chick Corea’s endorsement. Blue Note signed him in 1989; the label issued his Burton-produced fusion/post-bop album Peeping Tom the following year and the straight-ahead Standards in 1991. Once his studies at Berklee concluded, Smith went back to Scotland and joined the Glasgow-based Linn imprint, which released Misty Morning & No Time, Reminiscence, Beasts of Scotland, Azure, and the Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn tribute The Sound of Love during the mid- to late 1990s. His next project, Blue Smith, appeared in spring 2000 as his first recording of the new millennium.