“A Year in the Life celebrates the joy of making music in London, with each track telling a distinct story”, according to the press release for the album. And for its composer and arranger Tom Smith, “…the band sounds like London – music everywhere and something new around every street corner.”
Tom, of course, isn’t the first musician to draw inspiration from life in a big city. Elgar, Gershwin, Bernstein and others have all captured its bustle and excitement, as well as the potential for poignancy and isolation which can also be part of the urban experience. In jazz, the Ellington-Strayhorn partnership translated their impressions of place into the sound pictures of their Far East Suite.
Ellington would often surprise his public with new compositions which transcended the usual limitations and expectations of big-band writing, and from the first few bars of the title track of ‘A Year in the Life’, Tom lets us know that he too won’t be bound by anything predictably ‘jazz’. It becomes clear that the music will draw on many styles and genres. Our journey through his cityscape starts with nicely scored sax and brass voicings, reflective and haunting, followed by beautifully judged acoustic guitar and piano work (Jamie McCredie and Will Barry) before we’re fully up and running. Even then, the force of this big band’s blowers is patiently held back to past the 3-minute mark. The rest of the chart is full of ebbs, flows and space before building to a satisfying coda, capped by Tom Walsh’s fabulous lead trumpet.
This is a generous album, 9 tracks coming in at around 70 minutes, and so I’ll pick out just a few other highlights. Also in the press release for this debut album, Tom talks of his admiration for Pat Metheny and on ‘Breathe’ (YouTube below) , this influence is superbly and respectfully acknowledged with lyrical lines of melody and improvisation set against lovely block chords in the brass and saxes. Great writing – terrific playing.
‘Atlas’ is all tone and texture, with the ensemble passages setting the scene for Freddie Gavita’s wonderful trumpet solo. The late Kenny Wheeler would, I’m sure, be delighted to know that his legacy is secure and being taken to new heights by such a consummate master of the instrument. ‘Aplomb’ motors along effortlessly and we’re left in no doubt that this band can also really swing. From the outset, ‘Somewhere Far From Here’ is moving ever forward as it deploys jazz waltz tempos interwoven with clever bridge sections to take us on a scenic journey towards a celebratory, life-affirming destination.
Many of my favourite instrumental pieces are those which tell a story or describe a scene (often referred to as ‘programme music’ in classical music circles). In jazz and light classical, as well as the Ellington, the place-linked pieces on Gerry Mulligan’s The Concert Jazz Band ‘63 album come to mind, along with John Williams’s Holland Walk, written for the National Youth Jazz Orchestra in the early 1970s and indeed, some of Robert Farnon’s orchestral sketches of London in the 1950s – such evocations can be so skilfully vivid, that suddenly, you’re there! A Year in the Life is a very welcome and worthy addition to this formidable collection.
A Year in the Life is released today 21 February 2025
