Jim Tomlinson

Tomlinson was born in Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire, England. He grew up in Northumberland, then attended Oxford University where he estudied Philosophy, Politics and Economics. Meanwhile, he was playing clarinet and saxophones, mostly the tenor, and developing his interest in jazz. In his postgraduate year he studied at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama and began to establish himself on the local jazz scene. His reputation quickly spread and he was soon working with noted musicians, including Matt Wates, David Newton and Michael Garrick, recording with the latter on his 1997 session For Love Of Duke And Ronnie.

In the 90s he was frequently leader of his own quartet, touring extensively in the UK. He is often in the musical company of singer Stacey Kent, whom he married on August 9, 1991, appearing on her very well-received albums for Candid Records. Tomlinson’s playing on tenor is immensely satisfying. He has a heartfelt way with ballads, plays with driving intensity of up-tempo pieces, and as an accompanist to Kent has proved himself to be supportive, understanding and lyrically inventive. Tomlinson is a musician who has ably carried the flame of mainstream tenor saxophone playing into the new century. Perhaps best known for his work as the compelling counter-voice to singer and wife, Stacey Kent, and currently recognized as a distinctive saxophone voice in his own right. In recent years the novelist Kazuo Ishiguro, writes fanciful, mildly surreal lyrics to Tomlinson’s music.

Tomlinson did not study music formally until well into his 20s. He played 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 and Drama in 1990. It was at the Guildhall that his musical and romantic relationship with Stacey blossomed.

The release of his debut album as leader, Only Trust Your Heart (Candid 2000), was greeted with enthusiastic and universal acclaim. His follow-up CD, Brazilian Sketches (2003), was named Jazz CD Of The Week by the Observer newspaper in the UK.

Since then, Tomlinson has worked in a wide variety of groups, from Brian Ferry to experimental big band composer, Michael Garrick. His own quartet has appeared at clubs and festivals across Europe. Most recently, he has toured almost exclusively with Stacey in Europe, USA and the Far East, reserving time to perform in a quintet dedicated to the music of Lester Young with fellow saxophonist and Guildhall graduate, Mark Crooks.

Tomlinson’s latest CD, The Lyric (2005) features Stacey Kent extensively and is the first release on his own record label, Token. The album recently hit the charts in Poland, France, Spain, Hong Kong and the UK. The Lyric also won ‘Album of the Year ‘ at the 2006 BBC Jazz Awards. In 2007 Jim produced Stacey’s new platinum selling, Grammy-nominated Blue Note album, Breakfast On The Morning Tram, for which he also wrote four new 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 married American singer Stacey Kent on August 9, 1991. When not performing, Jim shares his passion for skiing with Stacey, a sport at which they both excel. Only touring commitments in March 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 prevented them from racing in the Nastar US Championships for which they both qualified in consecutive seasons. Tomlinson and his wife are based in England and have built up large followings in France and Germany.

With Stacey Kent at Fnac Montparnasse (Paris, France), 12 September 2007

Their most recent tours since the release of Breakfast On The Morning Tram have taken them to 27 countries. Tomlinson continues to write and arrange for Stacey, including special commissions for the BBC Big Band and work on the new French language album, Raconte-Moi projected for release in early 2010. Some of his compositions are "Postcard Lovers", with lyrics by novelist Kazuo Ishiguro; and "O Comboio", written by the Portuguese poet António Ladeira, which Kent sings in Portuguese.

More and more is Tomlinson a tenor player in the Stan Getz/Lester Young mold, but his sound and flowing lines are unique unto themselves. His Album Brazilian Sketches is easily one of the finest Bossa Nova releases since the sixties era when Bossa Nova was at its height. Tomlinson has a searing, flowing beauty to his lines that add incredible warmth to these mostly Jobim tunes. His wife, singer Stacey Kent takes part in 4 of the tracks. Also outstanding is the work of the guitarist Colin Oxley. Her wife, Stacey Kent and Tomlinson, suggest a latter-day answer to João Gilberto, Astrud Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Stan Getz, whose early recordings remain the foundation of what they do. In one of his CD liner notes he wrote: ""As a fourteen year old saxophonist living in the far north of England, keen to expose himself to the world of jazz, I had a little option when shopping for records but to operate on the rule of thumb, 'if there is a saxophone on the cover, buy it.' This is how I chanced upon the cover of Getz/Gilberto. Neither of the names meant anything to me, but I was intrigued that the saxophonist on the back cover had a handkerchief stuffed down the bell of his horn (I still am!) and I bought the record. Suffice it to say that twenty years later, the music of Stan Getz is a continuing source of inspiration to me and my passion for bossa nova is unabated."

• 2000, Only Trust Your Heart, Candid label
• 2003, Brazilian Sketches, Candid label
• 2006, The Lyric, O-Plus label