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Jamie Alexander Smith

Jamie started playing classical piano at age 6. Such a rigid musical environment quickly frustrated him and he started experimenting with improvising and composing his own music. He played a concert of his own piano compositions in school aged 11, and found that challenging himself not to rely on someone else to write the music for him was exciting and satisfying.

Improvising is a key element of Jamie’s 'musical conception'. Knowing exactly what you’re going to play when you go on stage or hit the recording studio is, for him, uninticing. Nothing can compare with the exhilaration of making music up on the spot.

Over the years Jamie has played in a variety of ensembles, from rock bands and jazz and funk ensembles to brass bands and an orchestra or two. He also taught himself how to produce music on a computer, and explored the world of virtual synths.

His latest recording, Kinesis EP, features four free improvisations on piano, blending the straight-ahead and the contemporary.

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6
Album Review

Jamie Alexander Smith: Kinesis

Read "Kinesis" reviewed by Bruce Lindsay


Kinesis, from the young Edinburgh based pianist Jamie Alexander Smith, is sub-titled Four Improvisations On Piano. The sub-title pretty much explains things--on a basic level and except for the fact that a fifth track, “WKG," puts in an appearance. Of course, while the basic level of explanation hints at Smith's compositional approach and makes his instrument of choice clear, it doesn't give any real indication of the music on offer. So what can be expected from the improvising ...

5
Album Review

Jamie Alexander Smith: Kinesis

Read "Kinesis" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


"Kinesis," when defined as simply as possible, means “movement." When the definition is expanded, or given a biological reading, it references the idea of movement that takes place in response to external stimuli. Without knowing the circumstances surrounding the recording of this oh-so-brief solo piano EP, it's hard to know which one Scottish pianist Jamie Smith is citing in the title, but it's irrelevant. Smith's music, whether influenced by external or internal forces, is ever-mobile. This five ...

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On Kinesis EP:

"Modern, contemporary … a very listenable solo jazz piano EP." – Bebop Spoken Here

"[Jamie has] got a nice sense of structure … each piece is tight and the EP never lacks momentum." - Improvised blog

On Attic EP:

"A composer, arranger and Hammondista with a very big future if [Attic] is anything to go by." - Rootdown FM

"A well focused EP... a downtempo groove that you’ll want to keep coming back to." - JazzWrap

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Kinesis

Self Produced
2014

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Kinesis EP

Self Produced
0

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Kinetic

From: Kinesis EP
By Jamie Alexander Smith

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