Jim Tomlinson

Biography
Articles

Perhaps best known for his work as the compelling counter-voice to singer, Stacey Kent, Jim Tomlinson is increasingly recognised as a distinctive saxophone voice in his own right. The release of his debut album as leader, Only Trust Your Heart, was greeted with universal acclaim. His follow up CD, Brazilian Sketches, was named 'Jazz CD Of The Week' by the Observer newspaper in the UK as well as being very well received in Brazil and his third album as leader, The Lyric, won 'Album of the Year' at the 2006 BBC Jazz Awards. Jim Tomlinson played the 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 in 1990. It was at the Guildhall that his musical and romantic relationship with Stacey blossomed. Since then, Tomlinson has worked in a wide variety of groups, from Bryan Ferry to the experimental big band composer, Michael Garrick and together with Stacey, they have recently recorded with legendary Brazilian composers and instrumentalists, Marcos Valle and Roberto Menescal, as well as with the French string quartet Quatuor Ébène. His own quartet has appeared at clubs and festivals across Europe. More recently, he has toured almost exclusively with Stacey, focussing increasingly on his songwriting, producing and arranging. In 2007, Jim produced Stacey’s platinum selling, Grammy-nominated Blue Note album, Breakfast On The Morning Tram, for which he wrote four 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 has also performed on, produced and written for Stacey's recent albums, Raconte-Moi (Blue Note 2010), Dreamer In Concert (Blue Note 2011) and the Brazilian-themed, The Changing Lights (Parlophone/Warner 2013) and Tenderly (Sony 2015) When not performing, Jim and Stacey spend their time at their home in Colorado where they are able to divide their time between their music studio and the ski slopes of Aspen. Jim Tomlinson, saxophones, flutes