Nick Smart

Head of Jazz Programmes at the Royal Academy of Music, Nick Smart is an internationally renowned Grammy nominated jazz trumpeter, conductor and educator who has given guest masterclasses and performances around the world. In 2013 he was awarded the Parliamentary Jazz Award for Jazz Education, in 2015 awarded Honorary Membership of the Royal Academy of Music, and in 2022 conferred with Professorship from the University of London. At home he is recognised as one of the leading musicians on the UK jazz scene, where as well as being in regular demand as a sideman to players of all generations, he continues to record and tour with his own projects.
 
In 2005 Nick released his debut album as leader “Remembering Nick Drake” to critical acclaim throughout Europe. The album, described by Straight No Chaser magazine as “…a future classic because it really captures all that is best about British jazz….”, featured Smart’s arrangements of Nick Drake’s music played by an all star line-up including John Parricelli, Paul Clarvis, Christine Tobin and Stan Sulzmann amongst others. In December 2008 the Nick Smart Trio released a highly praised follow-up album, “Remembering Louis Armstrong”, featuring Hans Koller and Paul Clarvis. His last band, Nick Smart’s Trogon, merged contemporary jazz sounds with Afro Cuban concepts and released their album "Tower Casa" on Babel Records in November 2013. It received 4 star reviews in Jazzwise and the Guardian, who described it as "an undemonstratively idiosyncratic fusion, and Smart plays with brightness, tight timing and subtle intonation throughout." 
 
His versatility as a trumpet player and his work at the upper echelons of Jazz Education has allowed him to perform alongside many international jazz stars in a variety of contexts, from Jazz Festival appearances to summer school concerts. These have included George Russell, Dave Holland, Bob Brookmeyer, John Hollenbeck, the New York Voices, Ingrid Jensen, Mike Gibbs and Dave Douglas, as well as most of the leading names on the UK jazz scene. Amongst other things, Nick was a member of the late Kenny Wheeler's Big Band with whom he had a long association. He has recorded on the album of vocalist Christine Tobin in her interpretations of Leonard Cohen songs, and plays in the last quartet of saxophonist Stan Sulzmann on album “Shadow Painting”. He also performed internationally as the regular soloist with the famous James Taylor Quartet, “JTQ”.

As an educator Nick was invited to establish the Junior Academy Jazz programme in 2003, it is now one of the UK’s most successful pathways into further jazz education. And in July 2010 he was appointed to his current position as Head of the Jazz department. In this role he has further cemented the Academy’s position as one of the leading places to study Jazz, he was responsible for the founding of the Jazz BMus as an independent programme and established some highly successful initiatives including the Kenny Wheeler Prize and the International Jazz Artist in Residence scheme. As well as giving guest masterclasses at institutions throughout Europe, the USA and further, Nick remains committed to youth education and been involved with the National Youth Jazz Collective and as a consultant to NYJO London.

Also an acclaimed musical director of large ensembles, Nick has been invited to lead projects with big bands all over the world. He has been a guest director of European Big Band projects in Paris, Tallin and the Jazz Institute Berlin, and as the guest director of the Grahamstown Festival Big Band in South Africa, as well as at leading institutions such as Sydney Conservatory, New England Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music and Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. And at home he has conducted the Stan Sulzmann “Neon Orchestra”, the award winning Troyka large ensemble, “Troykestra”, the Gareth Lockrane Big Band, the Julian Siegel Jazz Orchestra and orchestral projects with JTQ.

Nick was a close colleague and friend of the late Kenny Wheeler and has been instrumental in keeping Wheeler’s legacy alive. As well as being a member of Kenny’s big band, Nick helped manage the latter stages of Kenny's career, secured the Kenny Wheeler Archive into the Royal Academy of Music Collections, completed a PhD focussed on Wheeler's development and co-wrote the biography; Song for Someone: The Musical Life of Kenny Wheeler (Brian Shaw and Nick Smart, Equinox Publishing Feb.2025). He also led and produced the Grammy nominated album recording “Kenny Wheeler Legacy - Some Days Are Better” released to critical acclaim on the US label Greenleaf Music in January 2025, featuring the Academy Jazz Orchestra in collaboration with the University Miami’s Frost Jazz Orchestra. Now regarded as one of the leading authorities in the world on Wheeler’s life and music, Nick has given talks, masterclasses and concerts around the world focussed on various aspects of Kenny’s life and his repertoire, many times in partnership with another close Wheeler associate, Dave Holland.