Giacomo Smith

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Giacomo Smith (* 1987 / 88 in Rossano Calabro ) is an Italo- American , living in London jazz musician ( alto saxophone , clarinet , composition , and arrangement ) and leader of the band Kansas Smitty's House Band .

Live and act

Smith, whose mother is a professor at Skidmore College , grew up in Saratoga Springs , New York State. He started playing the piano at the age of five; at the age of ten he got to know jazz music when he started to play the clarinet . At the age of twelve he switched to the saxophone. He received a Bachelor of Music from Boston University in 2009 and a Masters from McGill University in 2011 , both as a classical clarinet interpreter. After completing his studies, he first worked in Canada. Then he moved to London to work in the study abroad office at Boston University. During this time, his own band (which would later become Kansas Smitty’s ) emerged from a group of musicians from the London jazz scene who had devoted themselves to swing music (“We all love the musical heritage of Kansas City, New Orleans, New York and Paris"). Smith's first recordings were with bands like Leonie Evans and The Baker Boys and with Alex Baranowski ( A Streecar Named Desire , 2014). His own band performed successfully at the Dead Dolls Club in Bethnal Green and then ended up in a jazz bar in East London at Broadway Market in Hackney, where they eventually became the house band, the now band's own Kansas Smitty's Bar .

The debut album of the same name by Kansas Smitty’s was recorded in November 2014, a mixture of the genres of Kansas City jazz , New Orleans funk, traditional jazz, swing, blues and influences of avant-garde jazz . Also on it was the track "Black Paddy", which was written by Smith and Theon Cross . Smith also performed with his own quartet, the Big Four , in 2019 at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club . He performed at the London Jazz Festival with a program of music by John Kirby . In the field of jazz, according to Tom Lord , he was involved in six recording sessions between 2015 and 2019, with Peter Horsfall ( Nighthawks ) and Joe Stilgoe ( Joe Stilgoe's Christmas Album , 2018). Kansas Smitty's third album , Things Happened Here , which was released in 2020, received critical acclaim.

In 2018 he was honored with the Kansas Smitty's House Band at the British Jazz Awards in the Small Band category.

Discographic notes

  • Kansas Smitty's House Band: Broadway 2018
  • Kansas Smitty's House Band: Things Happened Here (2019)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Ensemble Kansas Smitty's (Radio Bremen)
  2. ↑ Interview with Giacomo Smith from Kansas Smitty's, the jazz man from London's hottest jazz bar yet. Blogger Pole, June 23, 2015, accessed July 21, 2020 .
  3. ^ Ronnie Scott's event notice
  4. ^ Event information for the London Jazz Festival
  5. ↑ Tom Lord The Jazz Discography (online, accessed July 21, 2020)
  6. ↑ Dave Gelly: Kansas Smitty's: Things Happened Here. Jazz Journal, June 25, 2020, accessed July 17, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Smith, Giacomo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician (woodwind instruments)
DATE OF BIRTH 1987 or 1988
PLACE OF BIRTH Rossano Calabro