Fraser Smith
Saxophonist and bandleader Fraser Smith was born in Birmingham, grew up in Wales and now lives in London. He left the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama with a first class degree and then went on to finish a Masters Degree at Trinity Conservatoire. Influenced by the big tenor saxophonists of the last century such as Illinois Jacquet, Dexter Gordon, Lester Young and Hank Mobley, Fraser stays stylistically close to those jazz influences and his original compositions channel the energy of hard-bop.

His band, Fraser and the Alibis, are Fraser on tenor sax, Joe Webb (organ), Harry Sankey (guitar) and Gethin Jones (drums). The four originally met at the Royal Welsh College in Cardiff and have been together for a number of years playing their own inspired compositions. They ‘channel the intensity and feel good effect of the swing and jive music of the dance hall era, combined with the intricacies and virtuosities of later jazz movements’.

After playing approximately 400 gigs together over the last decade and with various bands at Ronnie Scott’s Club, Brecon, Birmingham, London, Cheltenham and Swansea jazz festivals, they released their debut album in 2017.