The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra is not a “singles band”.
During its 25-year history, the group has released 11 internationally acclaimed albums, but special times demand special measures and the ensemble’s director Tommy Smith has spoken about the circumstances behind a new recording – produced entirely in lockdown – which commemorates the achievements and legacy of Nelson Mandela.
As one of the few people to have been granted the freedom of Scotland’s four biggest cities, the late South African president forged a close affinity with the country which he visited on several occasions after his release from decades of incarceration.
And now, the SNJO is unveiling a special charity single – in a digital version – to raise funds for the Nelson Mandela Scottish Memorial Association this Saturday on what would have been his 102nd birthday.
It’s a new arrangement of Sam Cooke’s civil rights anthem, “A Change is Gonna Come“, which still has a powerful emotional message more than 50 years after its initial release.
The song brings together San Francisco-based singer Kenny Washington, vibraphone maestro Joe Locke, who is currently in New York, and musicians from throughout Britain, all of whom have been recorded remotely and collated by Mr Smith, who is widely regarded as one of Scotland’s greatest contemporary musicians.
He spoke to the Press and Journal about the challenges posed by so many different soloists and instrumentalists all playing their parts in different locations.
He said: “We were supposed to be touring in April, with a lot of modern music by the likes of Joni Mitchell, The Beatles and Led Zeppelin, but obviously that had to be cancelled and almost everything has been put on hold in recent months.
“I was keen to continue working on something during lockdown and I thought ‘A Change is Gonna Come’ would resonate with the times in which we are living.
”It wasn’t straightforward to bring this together, but there was a collective desire to make it happen. We started with the drums, the bass, guitar and piano, and then we added all the brass, four trumpets, four trombones, a flute and three clarinets.
”Then we got in touch with Kenny and Joe in the United States and they added their vibraphone and vocal parts and we had all the different ingredients we needed.
”It was a bit like doing a jigsaw…but we had a terrific start in that the song is so evocative and has such a powerful message for audiences everywhere,
”I think it is very appropriate that it is coming out on July 18, which is the international day of celebration for Mr Mandela, who had such a close connection with Scotland.
”In the longer term, there are plans to create a statue of him in Glasgow and I know that we in the SNJO are keen to help that initiative. I am pleased with the results.”
Mr Smith revealed how he had immersed himself in books during the lockdown and has derived inspiration from reading so much about Mandela, Dr Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, while watching the unfolding Black Lives Matter protests.
He added: “I have been struck by the desire for change and it has been an extraordinary time, for so many different reasons. Nobody is going to fix this problem [racism] overnight, but I think people are learning and that has to be a positive development.
”Let’s face it, there are too many people fighting at the moment and not enough looking for what unites rather than divides us. But we are humans, we are all the same and we can’t afford to forget that, particularly during this unprecedented situation.”
Mr Smith will be performing in Japan in September and Bulgaria in November, but he also wants to celebrate the SNJO’s 25th anniversary at the end of the year and is hopeful that a concert can be staged – albeit with social distancing – at Perth Town Hall.
The new single will receive its first play on radio on the Jazz FM Breakfast Show on Saturday at 8am and the video will go live on YouTube two hours later.