RHAPSODY IN BLUE LIVE
SCOTTISH NATIONAL JAZZ ORCHESTRA
tommy smith brian kellock

Spartacus Records STS013

Release Date: 8th June 2009

"taking Gershwin full-bloodedly into the modern era" The Herald
"TOMMY Smith is not one to do things by half measures."The Scotsman

The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra's Rhapsody in Blue takes George
Gershwin's classic jazz age concerto on an unprecedented adventure.

Re-orchestrated by SNJO director, saxophonist Tommy Smith, this
Rhapsody in Blue of the twenty-first century was written
to feature Scotland's world-class jazz pianist Brian Kellock,
who played the original Rhapsody as a music student in Edinburgh in 1981.

Familiar themes, including the iconic clarinet glissando and Gershwin's
heartbreaking nostalgic refrain, have been used - respectfully - as source
material and reworked into a fifty-two minute epic that flows through
exciting up-tempo movements, rhapsodic blues passages, a sensational
Cuban fantasia and hard swinging jazz choruses, showcasing SNJO's
magnificent ensemble playing and top class, creative soloing.

The piece was premiered at Edinburgh Jazz Festival 2006, going on to
further acclaim at London Jazz Festival, Brecon Jazz Festival
and in concerts throughout the UK, and the CD will be launched
officially at a special Glasgow Jazz Festival performance
at the Old Fruitmarket on Sunday, June 28.

martin kershaw - clarinet, alto saxophone
paul towndrow - alto saxophone
tommy smith - tenor saxophone
konrad wiszniewski - tenor saxophone
bill fleming - baritone saxophone
ryan quigley - trumpet
paul newton - trumpet
tom macniven - trumpet
linsey mcdonald - trumpet
chris greive - trombone
michael campbell - trombone
michael owers - trombone
lorna mcdonald - bass trombone
graeme scott - guitar
brian kellock - piano
calum gourlay - acoustic bass
alyn cosker - drums