Patrick Mungo Smythe (2 May 1923 – 6 May 1983) was a Scottish jazz pianist, who rose to prominence as a member of the Joe Harriott Quintet during the 1960s.

Early life

Smythe was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Scotland, the son of an Edinburgh solicitor. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

and went on to study law at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

. The

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

interrupted his studies, as he enlisted with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, serving for five years as a night-fighter pilot. After the war, he resumed his legal studies, this time at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, where he was also recognised as a talented classical and

jazz pianist Jazz piano is a collective term for the techniques pianists use when playing jazz. The piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings. Its role is multifaceted due largely to the Musical ...

. After graduating, he spent several years in his father's law firm, before leaving Edinburgh for

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, in the late 1950s in search of a professional career in music.

Joe Harriott

After working briefly with the Jamaican trumpeter Dizzy Reece, in May 1960 he joined the quintet led by another Jamaican, alto saxophonist Joe Harriott. Harriott was in the process of reshaping his band in order to begin playing his revolutionary brand of

free jazz Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventi ...

, and recruited Smythe specifically for his willingness and ability to play this music, which was unheard of in Europe at the time. Smythe's graceful, lyrical phrases were the perfect complement to Harriott's increasingly abstract playing, and also to the explosive trumpet and flügelhorn of Shake Keane. Smythe, bassist Coleridge Goode and drummers Phil Seamen and (later)

Bobby Orr Robert Gordon Orr (born March 20, 1948) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest players of all time. Orr used his skating speed, scoring, and play-making abilities to revolutionize the ...

combined effortlessly to bring full realisation to Harriott's conception of complete ensemble interaction, at the expense of traditional roles of soloist and accompanist. Smythe's pivotal role highlighted one of the principal differences between Harriott and his American counterpart

Ornette Coleman Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, trumpeter, violinist, and composer. He is best known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Ja ...

, who viewed the harmonic qualities of the piano, as incompatible with his own brand of free improvisation. The Harriott quintet stayed together until 1965, recording three albums (''Free Form'', ''Abstract'' and ''Movement'') while also holding a long-term residency at the

Marquee Club The Marquee Club was a music venue in London, England, that opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts. It was a small and relatively cheap club, in the heart of London's West End of London, West End. It was the location of the first ...

Soho SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

. Smythe stayed with Harriott after the dissolution of the quintet, becoming a key member of the group Indo-Jazz Fusions, co-led by Harriott and the Indian composer and violinist

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but he left for Atlanta in 1997 with fellow guitarist Clay Cook, with whom he formed the short-liv ...

. This double quintet of five Indian and five jazz musicians aimed to fuse Indian

raga A raga ( ; , ; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. It is central to classical Indian music. Each raga consists of an array of melodic structures with musical motifs; and, fro ...

structures with jazz improvisation, performing and recording extensively until Harriott's departure ended the project in 1969. With his knowledge of Indian ragas, Smythe was considered by Mayer to be the bridge between the two camps.

Later career and legacy

In a diverse career, Smythe worked and recorded with many other jazz musicians when they passed through Britain, including

Stan Getz Stan Getz (born Stanley Gayetski; February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wis ...

, Paul Gonsalves,

Ben Webster Benjamin Francis Webster (March 27, 1909 – September 20, 1973) was an American jazz tenor Saxophone, saxophonist. He performed in the United States and Europe and made many recordings with Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Johnny Hodges, a ...

Eddie Lockjaw Davis Eddie may refer to: *Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Linux and Mac OS X *Eddie (crater), a crater on Mars *Eddie (given name) *The Eddie, a surfing tournament Arts and entertainment * ''Eddie'' (film), a 1 ...

Zoot Sims John Haley "Zoot" Sims (October 29, 1925 – March 23, 1985) was an American jazz saxophonist, playing mainly tenor but also alto (and, later, soprano) saxophone. He first gained attention in the "Four Brothers" sax section of Woody Herman's big ...

and

Bob Brookmeyer Robert Edward "Bob" Brookmeyer (December 19, 1929 – December 15, 2011) was an American jazz valve trombone, valve trombonist, Jazz piano, pianist, arranger, and composer. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Brookmeyer first gained widespread public ...

. He worked mainly as an accompanist in the London clubs throughout the 1970s, helping bring Scottish jazz vocalist Carol Kidd to prominence. After a long illness, he died in 1983 in

, England, at the age of 60. The Pat Smythe Memorial Trust was established two years later, as a registered charity to provide financial awards to young jazz musicians of outstanding talent. It was funded entirely from benefit concerts and gave awards to such musicians as Julian Arguelles,

Jason Rebello Jason Matthew Rebello (born 29 March 1969) is a British pianist, songwriter, and record producer. Career Rebello was born in Carshalton, Surrey, England. His father's family is from India. Rebello was raised a Catholic in Wandsworth, London. H ...

, Nigel Hitchcock and Richard Fairhurst. The trust ran from 1985 to 2005, and is now defunct.

Discography

As leader

* ''UK Live: with Eddie Davis & Harold McNair 1967 Vol. 1'' (Jazzhus Disk, 2012) * ''UK Live: with Eddie Davis & Harold McNair 1967 Vol. 2'' (Jazzhus Disk, 2012)

As sideman

With Joe Harriott * '' Free Form'' (Jazzland, 1961) * '' Abstract'' (Capitol, 1963) * '' Movement'' (Columbia, 1964) * '' High Spirits'' (Columbia, 1965) * ''Personal Portrait'' (Columbia, 1968) * ''Swings High'' (Melodisc, 1970) * ''Genius'' (Jazz Academy 2000) * ''BBC Jazz for Moderns'' (Gearbox, 2009) * ''Journey'' (Moonlight Tunes, 2011) * ''Indo-Jazz Suite'' with

(Columbia, 1966) * ''Indo-Jazz Fusions'' with John Mayer (Columbia, 1967) * ''Indo-Jazz Fusions II'' with John Mayer (Columbia, 1968) With others * Elaine Delmar, ''Elaine Delmar and Friends'' (Polydor, 1980) * Paul Gonsalves, '' Boom-Jackie-Boom-Chick'' (Vocalion, 1964) * Shake Keane, ''That's the Noise'' (Ace of Clubs, 1967) * The King's Singers, ''Swing'' (EMI, 1976) *

Gilles Peterson Gilles Jérôme Moehrle MBE (; born 28 September 1964), better known as Gilles Peterson (), is a broadcaster, DJ, record label and festival owner. He is renowned for his genre-defying approach to music with jazz at its core. From this base he ...

, ''Impressed 2'' (Universal, 2004)

References

External links

Pat Smythe
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smythe, Pat 1923 births 1983 deaths Musicians from Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British World War II fighter pilots Scottish jazz pianists 20th-century British pianists 20th-century Scottish musicians Royal Air Force pilots of World War II