Saxophone player Giacomo Smith’s London septet releases his fourth album, an instrumental and meditative work magnifying the legacy of century-old music that is always in motion.
High place of London jazz, the club Kansas Smitty’s has been hosting live artists since 2015 who represent the diversity of this bustling scene. All music lovers converge on Broadway Market in Hackney, in east London, to hear the latest creations of Moses Boyd, Shabaka Hutchings, Ezra Collective, Dave Archer or Femi Koleoso with his groups Ezra Collective and Kokoroko. But Kansas Smitty’s was first the name of the band, founded in 2013, of the saxophonist and clarinetist Giacomo Smith who released his fourth album on June 26. Things Happened Here via the new Ever Records imprint of !K7.
The group that hosted tubist Theon Cross until 2018 is now composed of Giacomo Smith, Dave Archer on guitar, Ferg Ireland (Ashley Henry, Ruby Rushton) on double bass, Will Cleasby (Judi Jackson, Kurt Elling) on the drums, Joe Webb (Hailey Tuck) on piano, Alec Harper on tenor and Mark Kavuma on trumpet. A high-flying septet which moves away on this album from dancefloor tones in vogue in London for a more cinematic and meditative instrumental music.
Things Happened Here is a concept album thought by his Giacomo Smith around the idea of capturing the complexity of the age in which we live. With its nine original titles, Kansas Smitty’s plunges us on an elegant journey into the heart of jazz history where the traditional and modern forms of the blue note merge in the same musical language, as subtle as intense. Lyric ballads, a wandering Mississippi blues by Sunnyland Slim, a poignant jazz military march, an intoxicating swing, a transcendental spiritual jazz or a dazzling groove with oriental tones, this captivating spiritual work magnifies the legacy of this century old music always in motion.
From time to time, you feel this overwhelming feeling of a memory that you cannot describe but which immediately transports you into a time and a space. This is the kind of feeling I wanted to create for the album. (Giacomo Smith)
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