AMERICAN ADVENTURE SCOTTISH NATIONAL JAZZ ORCHESTRA. MIKE STERN TOMMY SMITH CLARENCE PENN DONNY McCASLIN JOE LOCKE DAVID LIEBMAN

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1 MIKE STERN TOMMY SMITH CLARENCE PENN DONNY McCASLIN JOE LOCKE DAVID LIEBMAN SCOTTISH NATIONAL JAZZ ORCHESTRA AMERICAN ADVENTURE DAVID KIKOSKI JOEL FRAHM BILL EVANS KURT ELLING MICHAEL DEASE ALYN COSKER RANDY BRECKER

2 1 Splatch 7:41 4 Pendulum 10:29 Mike Stern Guitar Tommy Smith Tenor Saxophone & Director Clarence Penn Drums Donny McCaslin Flute & Tenor Saxophone Joe Locke Vibraphone David Liebman Soprano Saxophone David Kikoski Piano Joel Frahm Tenor Saxophone Bill Evans Tenor Saxophone Kurt Elling Voice Michael Dease Trombone Randy Brecker Trumpet 5 Dear Lord 12:33 SCOTTISH NATIONAL JAZZ ORCHESTRA feat. Mike Stern arranged by Fred Sturm / composed by Marcus Miller 2 Duke Ellington s Sound of Love 6:06 feat. Kurt Elling and Tommy Smith arranged by Tommy Smith / composed by Charles Mingus 3 Yes or No 5:43 feat. Joe Locke and Alyn Cosker arranged by Fred Sturm / composed by Wayne Shorter feat. Donny McCaslin, David Kikoski and David Liebman arranged by Jim McNeely / composed by Richie Beirach feat. David Kikoski and Randy Brecker arranged by Geoffrey Keezer / composed by John Coltrane 6 Quartet No. 1 (part 2) 9:40 feat. Bill Evans and David Kikoski arranged by Tommy Smith / composed by Chick Corea 7 Pinocchio 6:58 feat. Michael Dease, Joel Frahm and Clarence Penn arranged by Jacob Mann / composed by Wayne Shorter All arrangements commissioned by the SNJO produced by Tommy Smith Ru Pattison Alto & Soprano Saxophone Martin Kershaw Clarinet & Alto Saxophone Konrad Wiszniewski Tenor Saxophone Bill Fleming Baritone Saxophone Ryan Quigley Trumpet & Flugelhorn Cameron Jay Trumpet & Flugelhorn Tom MacNiven Trumpet & Flugelhorn James Marr Trumpet & Flugelhorn Chris Greive Trombone Phil O Malley Trombone Michael Owers Bass Trombone Brian Kellock Piano Calum Gourlay Acoustic Bass Alyn Cosker Drums

3 The SNJO is one of the most inventive and contemporary orchestras in the world. Under the direction of composer and saxophone giant Tommy Smith, American Adventure is a timeless piece of jazz at its utmost best. I am truly honoured to be a part of it. This record burns! BILL EVANS This band can do it all from straight ahead to free jazz. Tommy Smith is one of the best musicians around and knows how to get these guys playing at the top of their game. AMERICAN ADVENTURE In the summer of 2013, The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra (SNJO), under the leadership of founder/director Tommy Smith, toured in the U.S.A. and Canada for the first time. They paused for a moment in New York City to record with some of America s most admired jazz musicians. American Adventure is the result of sessions which took place over Splatch is announced with a whisper and builds progressively to an incendiary duel in the blazing summer sun between a colossal Mike Stern and a burning Alyn Cosker. Sturm, who was commissioned by the SNJO to arrange Splatch observed, It s rare for composers to get precisely what they envisioned into a recorded DAVID LIEBMAN Tommy Smith and the SNJO continue to carve an amazing niche for themselves in the Jazz World! and I do mean WORLD they are simply a World Class Orchestra whose scope is incredibly wide. They have it all: precision, great soloists, deep swing... and the one and only Tommy Smith at the helm! RANDY BRECKER two hot days in June inside Avatar, one of New York City s most iconic recording studios. This latest chapter in the SNJO story explores musical narratives provided by some of the most adventurous composers, soloists and arrangers in contemporary jazz. Fred Sturm s eloquent arrangement of Marcus Miller s performance, and you ve gone a step better. Next, Kurt Elling sings the poetry of Duke Ellington s Sound of Love by Charles Mingus. The elegant orchestration supports Elling s graceful sonority and emphasizes every salient phrase he delivers. Tommy Smith, who takes the role of producer on the sessions,

4 A real pleasure to be invited to play on this record. It s a great band. MIKE STERN On the day I was in the studio with the SNJO, the orchestra almost melted the sound tiles in the studio as they burned through a hyper-modern performance of Richie Beirach s Pendulum. Less than two hours later, they were on stage at New York University, in tuxedos, playing an Ellington programme which would have made Duke himself proud. JOE LOCKE I am always happy to work with my friends in the SNJO. They hold themselves to the highest standards of musicianship and perform new music and classic charts with ingenuity and verve. I am a fan! KURT ELLING contributes his only playing part on this track; sixteen bars of tender improvisation on a recording that is testament to his striving nature as a leader. Yes or No, also arranged by Fred Sturm, features Joe Locke who takes this iconic composition by Wayne Shorter on an epic improvisational journey. Locke has a long history with Smith and has contributed numerous wonderful arrangements to the repertoire of the SNJO. Once again, they enjoy the relaxed intensity of his playing in this energized treatment of Shorter s angular tune. Richie Beirach s Pendulum is a spontaneous tour de force arranged by Jim McNeely featuring Donny McCaslin, David Kikoski and the master, David Liebman. This combustible take features McCaslin, who also contributes mellifluously on flute, playing a wonderful tenor solo. Kikoski injects tremendous momentum into a climactic piece topped by Liebman s characteristic gusto. For many in the SNJO, the project is already destined to live long in memory. It still seems like a dream... recording in Avatar, NYC with my all-time jazz heroes. It s an experience I ll never forget, says Konrad Wiszniewski. Brian Kellock paid his own warm tribute by simply saying, Thank God for David Kikoski! Kikoski also provides the meditative solo introduction to Coltrane s sublime psalm, Dear Lord in an expansive arrangement by Geoffrey Keezer. He takes a simple theme of solace on a purposeful journey ultimately concluded by Randy Brecker. Keezer and Brecker have both toured with the SNJO in the last decade; Keezer performing his Alaskan Suite, and Brecker in a heartfelt celebration of his late brother, Michael Brecker. Bill Evans heroic performance is central to Tommy Smith s arrangement of Quartet No. 1 (Part 2) by Chick Corea. Smith exploits Chick s own original improvisation from the Three Quartets album in a proposition that allows David Kikoski to trade piano solos with a phantom Chick Corea, personified here by the SNJO. Clarence Penn brings considerable sensitivity and artistry to bear upon Wayne Shorter s Pinocchio, arranged by the promising Jacob Mann when he was 19 years old. The track also features guests Michael Dease and Joel Frahm; two personable and expressive players who duly placed their signatures on this session. What s possible when you have the SNJO trombone section with Michael Dease at the helm? Just about anything, enthuses Chris Greive. Three generations of educated jazz are present on this recording and it s been a marvellous collaboration. However, the combined elements enjoy an osmotic relationship with the outside world. There is free movement between tradition, knowledge, discipline, experience, creativity and good judgement. The clear benefits are elevated ideas and ambitious aims that lead to emancipation. Therein lies the basis of all accomplished jazz in our time;

5 the harder you work the more you can achieve. Certainly, the experience has been profound for SNJO drummer Alyn Cosker who says, To have had the chance to fulfil my dream of recording in New York with some of my musical heroes and the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra is something I will always cherish. It was a musical moment that I m sure we ll all never forget. Cosker s feelings are amplified by bassist Calum Gourlay, It s hard to believe what the SNJO achieved in the summer of 2013 actually happened, because it was so ambitious... (we) did things that many jazz musicians will spend their whole lives wishing they had done. American Adventure is a memento of the moment when the leading lights from Scotland s jazz community met the wisdom and expertise of American jazz face-to-face and in person. It is a confident exploration built upon long-standing and profound threads of professional association and enduring friendship. Ru Pattison spoke for many when he said, I am so grateful to have had this opportunity to play alongside and learn from so many inspiring improvisers. Martin Kershaw also revelled in the occasion, To play great charts in an amazing facility like Avatar with such inspirational guests made for a truly unforgettable experience. The moment I entered the studio, I felt the vibe... these guys were ready for some serious music, and it was accomplished. American Adventure also underscores the generational transections that radiated from the innovations set by Miles Davis and were proliferated by disciples, David Liebman and Bill Evans. A clear path is delineated through the compositions of Shorter, Coltrane, Corea, Miller, Beirach, and Mingus to the young voices of these present day players. The meeting is certainly historic for the SNJO, but it is historical too because it deals with the very fabric of contemporary jazz. Tommy Smith, reflecting on their achievements, said, Throughout our North American adventure, we formed new friendships and played some magnificent music inspired by tremendous audiences. Personally, I was proud to be leading such an exceptional group of musicians through nine concerts and two very memorable days at Avatar, supported by all our gracious and inspirational guests. liner notes Michael S. Clark DAVID KIKOSKI CLARENCE PENN ALYN COSKER The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra is filled with wonderfully creative musicians. Led by the master musician Tommy Smith, it s a group that covers a broad spectrum of styles in a cohesive and organic way. It was a pleasure recording with them on their American trip... I look forward to hearing them again! DONNY McCASLIN The SNJO elevates the big band sound to the level that exceeds the notes, rhythms and dynamics. They sound (and act!) like a family of musicians, and their vibe is tight like blood relatives! It was an honour to be involved with a band of this calibre. MICHAEL DEASE It was an honour and a pleasure to play with the SNJO under the wise and enthusiastic direction of Tommy Smith. They encompass everything I enjoy about playing jazz in a big band setting: swing, creativity, fantastic arrangements and infectious enthusiasm. I am proud to be a part of their American Adventure. JOEL FRAHM

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7 spartacusrecords.com snjo.co.uk Recorded June 2013 at Avatar Studios, NYC, USA Engineer James Farber Assistants Mike Bauer & Nate Odden Photography by Paul Thorburn Graphic Design by Nadja von Massow [nadworks, cb] Mixed August 2013 by Jan Erik Kongshaug at Rainbow Studios, Norway Produced by Tommy Smith Special thanks to Lindsay Robertson, SNJO Manager Tommy Smith is a D Addario Performing Artist and performs exclusively on Select Jazz reeds. snjo.co.uk spartacusrecords.com STS018 Spartacus Records PO Box 3743 Lanark ML11 9WD Scotland 2013 Spartacus Records 2013 Spartacus Records