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Jim Tomlinson

Perhaps best known for his work as the compelling counter-voice to singer, Stacey Kent, Jim Tomlinson is increasingly recognised as a distinctive saxophone voice in his own right. The release of his debut album as leader, Only Trust Your Heart, was greeted with universal acclaim. His follow up CD, Brazilian Sketches, was named 'Jazz CD Of The Week' by the Observer newspaper in the UK as well as being very well received in Brazil and his third album as leader, The Lyric, won 'Album of the Year' at the 2006 BBC Jazz Awards. Jim Tomlinson played the saxophone and ran a band as a hobby whilst studying for his degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics at University College, Oxford. It was only after graduating and finding himself drawn to London’s jazz scene that he enrolled at the Guildhall School Of Music in 1990. It was at the Guildhall that his musical and romantic relationship with Stacey blossomed. Since then, Tomlinson has worked in a wide variety of groups, from Bryan Ferry to the experimental big band composer, Michael Garrick and together with Stacey, they have recently recorded with legendary Brazilian composers and instrumentalists, Marcos Valle and Roberto Menescal, as well as with the French string quartet Quatuor Ébène. His own quartet has appeared at clubs and festivals across Europe. More recently, he has toured almost exclusively with Stacey, focussing increasingly on his songwriting, producing and arranging. In 2007, Jim produced Stacey’s platinum selling, Grammy-nominated Blue Note album, Breakfast On The Morning Tram, for which he wrote four songs with the acclaimed author, Kazuo Ishiguro. Their song, The Ice Hotel, won first prize in the jazz category of the 2007 International Songwriting Competition and So Romantic was a finalist in the 2008 competition. He has also performed on, produced and written for Stacey's recent albums, Raconte-Moi (Blue Note 2010), Dreamer In Concert (Blue Note 2011) and the Brazilian-themed, The Changing Lights (Parlophone/Warner 2013) and Tenderly (Sony 2015) When not performing, Jim and Stacey spend their time at their home in Colorado where they are able to divide their time between their music studio and the ski slopes of Aspen. Jim Tomlinson, saxophones, flutes

Awards

BBC Jazz Album of the Year 2005 for The Lyric

Gear

Jim Tomlinson plays Selmer Saxophones. 


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14
Album Review

Stacey Kent: Summer Me, Winter Me

Read "Summer Me, Winter Me" reviewed by Neil Duggan


With her album sales measured in millions, Stacey Kent is one of the great success stories in modern jazz. Her multi-lingual abilities allow her to record in various languages and she has appeared in over fifty countries. Her appeal is global and it is her vocal ability which has taken her to these heights. Her voice is light but commands attention with her ability to engage and communicate the narratives of love and regret, often in a simple and minimalist ...

190
Album Review

Jim Tomlinson: The Lyric

Read "The Lyric" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay


Saxophonist Jim Tomlinson originally released The Lyric in 2005 on his own Token Records label, winning the 2006 BBC Jazz Award for Best Album. It's a skillfully crafted collection of standards, given graceful and stylish life by the husband and wife partnership of Tomlinson and singer Stacey Kent. The recording gets a 2011 mid-price rerelease on Blue Note Records, the couple's label since 2007's Breakfast On The Morning Tram. While the packaging has been updated--Tomlinson adds a few more sleeve ...

318
Album Review

Jim Tomlinson / Stacey Kent: The Lyric

Read "The Lyric" reviewed by Andrew Velez


Brimming with pop and jazz standards, The Lyric (winner of the BBC's 2006 Jazz Album of the Year award) launches with Brit tenor sax man Jim Tomlinson and trio's warm breezy take on “Manha de Carnival, on which pianist David Newton, bassist Dave Chamberlain and drummer Matt Skelton provide very tasty punctuation.

Easy bossa is a pleasantly recurring flavor throughout this set. A more heated, undulating “My Heart Belongs to Daddy allows Tomlinson and his American wife, Stacey Kent, to ...

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