On arrival by critics as the toughest and most creative group of his career, Tommy Smith’s KARMA sees the brilliant Scottish saxophonist lead a band of virtuosic musicians on a deeply grooving acid jazz adventure that draws on influences from around the world.

Comprising Tommy Smith on tenor and soprano saxophones and Shakuhachi flute, mega-talented pianist and keyboardist Peter Johnstone, six-string bass guitar sensation Kevin Glasgow and jet-powered drummer Alyn Cosker, KARMA presents the music of gobsmacking energy and superb inventiveness.

Writing for these musicians has given Smith a new edge. KARMA’S ten brand new compositions, while acknowledging past masters including Weather Report and Michael Brecker, drive forward concisely and urgently into the urban club culture of the current age with occasional pauses in a chill-out zone that evokes Smith’s native Scottish landscapes and Japanese meditation rites.

This is invigorating music of high quality presented with authoritative skill and boundless vitality and imagination by musicians playing at a creative peak, a truly KARMIC experience.

Tommy Smith OBE is one of the world’s leading saxophonists. A presence on the global jazz scene since his teenage years, when he toured internationally with vibes virtuoso Gary Burton’s Whiz Kids quintet, Smith has gone on to record with the definitive jazz label, Blue Note and work with myriad jazz greats, including Chick Corea, Jaco Pastorius, Dame Cleo Laine, John Scofield, Randy Brecker, Jack DeJohnette, Arild Andersen, Dizzy Gillespie and Trilok Gurtu to name but a few.

Listen to KARMA on Spotify here

“His toughest and most creative quartet yet.” SCOTSMAN *****

“It is quite possibly his finest recording yet.” GUARDIAN *****

“A rare splicing of rich-toned, pipe-like themes, fiercely guttural up-tempo tenor improv, Arabic and Irish music, tight grooving that suggests Weather Report.”
MOJO ****

“Smith really is a modern master of the tenor sax” London Jazz News

“Tommy has a unique sound and approach. I like it from when I first heard him play as a student at Berklee” Chick Corea