O’Higgins & Smith Play Coltrane & Dolphy

O’Higgins & Smith Play Coltrane & Dolphy

Dave O’Higgins & Tom Smith (two of the UK’s greatest exponents of tenor, alto, soprano saxophones, flute and bass clarinet) reinterpret the music from the 1960’s of the US great jazz combination of John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy.

Dave O’Higgins - tenor & soprano sax

Tom Smith - alto sax & bass clarinet

Graham Harvey - piano

Jeremy Brown - bass

Matt Skelton - drums

Tom Smith is an award-winning saxophonist, composer, and arranger, firmly established within London’s vibrant jazz scene. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music and a two-time finalist in the BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year competition (2014, 2016), Smith is recognised for his innovative projects, dynamic compositions, and commitment to pushing the boundaries of jazz.

In February 2025, Smith will release his highly anticipated new album, A Year in the Life (Fey Moose Records). This debut recording from the Tom Smith Big Band is a celebration of London’s thriving jazz community, featuring a stellar lineup of established and emerging talent. Recorded at Livingston Studios and released on Fey Moose Records in association with ECN Music, the album showcases Smith’s masterful compositions and arrangements, inspired by artists such as Maria Schneider, Pat Metheny, Carla Bley, Bill Frisell, and Guy Barker.

The Year in the Life brims with storytelling, each track offering a distinct perspective on the joy of making music in London. Highlights include the grooving title track, the high-energy funk of “We’re Being Watched,” the introspective beauty of “Breathe,” and the brass-laden splendour of “Atlas.” The album’s big band features some of the UK’s finest musicians, including Graeme Blevins, Alex Garnett, Freddie Gavita, and Luke Tomlinson, to name a few. Smith’s ability to blend tradition with contemporary innovation brings a fresh and engaging approach to the big band genre.

Beyond his big band work, Smith leads a range of creative projects. His trio album, Gecko (2020, Basho Records), and his collaboration with pianist Daniel Bulatkin on Drifter Days (2022) have both received critical acclaim. He is also the founder of Queertet, a trailblazing LGBTQI+ jazz initiative, and his compositions and arrangements have been performed by ensembles such as the London Gay Big Band and the National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO).

Smith’s music reflects the diversity and vitality of London, embodying a city where music thrives around every corner. “This band has all of my favourite people in it, and I think it sounds like London – music everywhere and something new around every street corner,” he says.

With A Year in the Life, Tom Smith invites audiences to step into his world of dynamic compositions and vibrant musical storytelling, cementing his position as one of the UK’s most exciting jazz artists today.

Dave O’Higgins now has 26 albums as leader to his credit. His sax sound is very personal and recognisable, with a clear sense of melodic development and adventure. A popular performer with the public, with an excellent sense of pacing and presentation, he has a wide palette from Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, John Coltrane and Joe Henderson through to Stanley Turrentine and Michael Brecker. He has relentlessly pursued artistic exploration and development with a deep respect for the tradition of the music. His latest project is Monkin’ Around, a co-operative with Greek drummer, Billy Pod & Aussie bassist, Luke Fowler, exploring the music of Thelonious Monk.

Dave has worked with some of the world’s finest musicians, including Joey Calderazzo, Joe Locke, Dave Kikowski, Eric Alexander, Grant Stewart, Max Ionata, Phil Dwyer, Adam Nussbaum, Joe Lovano, Phil Woods, Jimmy Smith, Nancy Wilson, Peggy Lee, Kurt Elling, Wayne Shorter, Eddie Gomez, Billy Childs, Abdullah Ibrahim, Chico Chagas and Stephane Grappelli. He also wrote and produced the last Matt Bianco album, “Gravity”. While his jazz career was in its early stages, Dave cut his teeth as a sideman with Ray Charles and Frank Sinatra.

Other regular bands over the years include:

Darius Brubeck Quartet

Brubecks Play Brubeck

Sean Fyfe Quartet

John Dankworth and Cleo Laine

Jim Mullen

Martin Taylor’s Spirit of Django

Jamie Cullum

Kyle Eastwood

BBC Big Band

Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Orchestra

Nominated Best Tenor Sax 2018 British Jazz Awards

Dave O’Higgins / Rob Luft Quartet nominated Best Band 2020 Parliamentary Jazz Awards

“A stunning player in the neo-bop vein, with an apparently effortless flow of coherent ideas, beautiful time and a highly developed harmonic sense.”

JAZZ GUIDE

“His professional presentation was an object lesson to the amateurishness of local players. His musicianship seemed boundless. Like his friend Martin Taylor did last year to our guitarists, Dave O’Higgins did to our sax players – gave them new and exciting challenges. And gave us mere listeners an exceptional night.”

ADELAIDE ADVERTISER, AUSTRALIA

Enjoyment, then, is at the heart of what makes this band tick, and Dave O’Higgins communicates that well through his introductions and explanations, and also through his playing. He gave Trinkle Tinkle which closed the first set, and Giant Steps, which opened the second set, a spirit of adventure but also of serene authority. He thinks in long lines, and the more one tunes in and listens, the more there is to appreciate in his playing.

LONDON JAZZ NEWS 2019 CD launch O’Higgins & Luft Play Monk & Trane

The group, switching between trio, quartet and quintet formats, make this sometimes difficult music hugely entertaining; it's always questioning, exciting but never pretentious or dull. JAZZWISE 2024 CD launch Monkin’ Around “4 in 1”

For this unique concert, we bring together Dave O’Higgins & Tom Smith (two of the UKs greatest exponents of tenor, alto, soprano saxophones, flute and bass clarinet), to play the music from the 1960’s of the US great jazz duo of John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy.

John Coltrane, jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist and composer was the most influential and acclaimed figure in the history of jazz and 20th Century music . A pioneer of modal and free jazz, he played with a unique tone and aggressive style described perfectly as “sheets of sound”.

Eric Dolphy , a multi- instrumentalist, expanded the boundaries and vocabulary of the alto saxophone; established the unconventional bass clarinet within jazz and was among the earliest significant jazz flute soloists.

Whilst both Coltrane & Dolphy achieved major concert and recording successes in their own right and some notoriety among conventional jazz circles with ground changing music, it was their coming together, with an outstanding trio to play a series of concerts at New York’s “Village Gate” jazz club, where the two jazz greats created dazzling rapport and interplay, that pushed the boundaries of hard bop jazz on into free jazz

This music was recorded on several albums titled “Evenings At The Village Gate” that has made it possible for todays jazz greats – O’Higgins and Smith, to capture the mood, spirit and technique of this wonderful music and bring it to todays audiences in this concert, with their own imagination, creativity and improvisation.

Dave O’Higgins, a huge hit on his last visit to Southport Jazz, has performed to sold out audiences for his performances not only in quartet format with the music of John Coltrane, but also the music from the wealth of great American jazz tenor saxophonists, and most recently his arrangements for larger ensembles. 

Tom Smith has proved his musical abilities as a saxophonist and as a writer and arranger of original, outstanding modern big band music. He performs the alto saxophone in Chris Ingham’s Rebop presentation of Miles in the 50’s.