Beauty & the Beast

Release Date: 28th Oct 2016
Catalogue No: STS023
Label: Spartacus
Length: 52 minutes

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Tommy Smith: Part 1

Work length6:15

Bill Evans, Scottish National Jazz Orchestra

Tommy Smith: Part 2

Work length9:24

Bill Evans, Scottish National Jazz Orchestra

Tommy Smith: Part 3

Work length9:34

Bill Evans, Scottish National Jazz Orchestra

Tommy Smith: Part 4

Work length8:12

Bill Evans, Scottish National Jazz Orchestra

Tommy Smith: Part 5

Work length3:39

Bill Evans, Scottish National Jazz Orchestra

Tommy Smith: Part 6

Work length5:28

Bill Evans, Scottish National Jazz Orchestra

Tommy Smith: Part 7

Work length9:41

Bill Evans, Scottish National Jazz Orchestra

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Tommy Smith wrote the epic suite Beauty and the Beast specifically for the American saxophonist and ex Miles-Davis sideman Bill Evans, and this recording with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra fully captures the power, passion and majesty of breath-taking orchestral jazz.

This fabulous live recording captures the colossal scale of the work, and marks the towering improvisational accomplishments of modern jazz musicians hitting peak form.

Bill Evans is one of the most dynamic saxophonists of his generation, and he brings all of his trademark energy and muscularity to a demanding piece of music. Not least of those demands is the requirement to contrast the seductive lyrical charms of 'Beauty', with the flashing fury of 'The Beast'.

Smith's Beauty and the Beast is a fairy tale with teeth, and the SNJO guide the listener through its seven-part structure with fearless authority. The rhythm section of Steve Hamilton (piano), Kevin Glasgow (electric bass) and Alyn Cosker (drums) are particularly commanding, and provide a rock-solid platform for Evans to solo freely and in uninhibited style.

Beauty & the Beast

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