Fraser Smith Quartet: Tip Top! (UBU0119)

Ubuntu Music is delighted to announce the upcoming release of Tip Top!, the debut album from tenor sax player Fraser Smith, which will be released on 7th April 2023.

Tip Top! is the current stop-off-point in the musical journey/career of Fraser. Two decades of study and scholarship have informed this album of original material. Wholly inspired by the music and artists of the late bebop to early hard bop periods, Fraser pays tribute to his heroes with ten tracks stylistically dedicated to the jazz masters of the mid-twentieth century.

A slightly late starter, Fraser picked up the sax at age 15, and at around the same discovered a Charlie Parker CD in the Woolworths discount bin. These incidents started him on a lifetime path of decoding and understanding bebop and its descendent genres. With no musicians in his immediate family, he was left to his own devices, listening and playing along to the CDs of Louis Armstrong and Scott Hamilton. Three years later Fraser was accepted onto the jazz course at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama where he later graduated with first class honours. After that he moved to the capital to complete his Masters Degree at the prestigious Trinity College of Music, London.

Homing in on swing and bebop, Fraser then continued to learn the craft the old way. Through thousands of hours on and off stage he listened and emulated to inform his own sound. The result is a style that has been described as rich and firmly rooted in the jazz tradition. Contrary to many of his contemporaries he takes prominent influence from the likes of Mobley, Dexter, Illinois Jacquet and unsung hero of the Tenor Wardell Gray (with a track on the album written in dedication).

Fraser has worked professionally for the last 12 years, playing as far away as Mexico and China, and everywhere in between with a whole range of projects and bands. He’s led his own group at world famous Ronnie Scott’s numerous times and is a regular on the UK jazz club scene. 

Tip Top! was an effort to solidify and record some of the musical experiences Fraser was having. With jazz being transient in its nature, gigs come and go. The vibrant and world class ‘straight ahead’ London scene is happening every night and without stopping to take note, it can pass one by. For this recording Fraser assembled a top band of musicians whom he was playing with on-the-fly on a regular basis in different set-ups and wrote music specifically for the group, to solidify the communion. 

Fraser describes the project: “I wanted to take a snapshot of where I was at that point with my playing. It is only recently I’ve felt that years and years of study and performing have begun to manifest, allowing me to express myself more accurately. Feeling a new control and facility enabled me to compose in the vein I was aiming for. This was another major driving force behind this venture.”

Rob Barron, pianist (and Ubuntu artist), is one of the best in the business and has a top reputation across London and Europe. He has played with Benny Golson, Grant Stewart and Phil Woods to name just a small handful. From Hollywood scores to the most in-demand side man, he’s one of the very best in the music business. The same can be said for Steve Brown, first call drummer for many of the US masters when they’re in town. He was the regular UK drummer for the late jazz legend Barry Harris and has also toured extensively with Scott Hamilton among others.  Bassist Simon Read is a young player making waves, already playing with some of London’s best improvisers. 

From the very first rehearsal the band was ‘oven ready’, with little actual musical direction needed. As hoped from the outset, a connection was made and everyone in the group felt the music in the same way. 

For a group with a sound as specific as this, there was only one place to take them to record. Durham Sound Studios located in Kentish Town (London) has the ghost of an old phonograph store sign above the door. Not a computer in site, you can smell the solder from the owner making last minute adjustments to the vintage equipment. Straight to tape, the band laid each track down in no more than two takes using gear from the era they pay homage to. 

What started out as an effort to capture Fraser’s current experience of the London live jazz scene, became an amalgamation of things. It now stands as a tribute to his heroes, a small gesture in return for countless hours of music and enjoyment that the original creators themselves sacrificed everything to offer. And finally, it stands up as an album in its own right, albeit highly stylised. A contribution to the huge tapestry of musicians today striving to keep modern jazz alive, playing the music to the best of their capacity in honour of their idols. 

Fraser continues with his thoughts concerning Ubuntu Music, his new record label: “Ubuntu has been on my radar for a long time due to the amount of amazing artists that they represent. I was thrilled for Martin (Hummel) to come onboard after the initial stages of the production of my album. He shared a wealth of knowledge about the process of releasing and comes at it with a genuine interest in the music and musicians. I don’t think the same can be said for other labels!”

Martin Hummel, Director of Ubuntu Music, concludes: “Fraser is one of the strong emerging talents in the London jazz scene, paying his respect to the masers while playing on his terms. Tip Top! swings like it was recorded in the golden age of jazz in the sixties. With Rob Barron on piano leading the excellent rhythm section, it’s a thoroughly enjoyable, timeless ride.”