Today, we're putting The Tonearm's needle on Toronto saxophonist Patrick Smith.

Patrick has become a key player in the city's creative music scene. His new album, Words Underlined, came out in December on Lit Soc Records. It's the first release from the new label started by Sellers & Newell, a Toronto bookstore that moonlights as a music venue. Patrick recorded there with guitarist Dan Pitt and drummer Lowell Whitty. The trio plays without a bass, and the album alternates between composed pieces and full improvisations.

A few episodes back, we featured a talk with Noah Franche-Nolan, who also collaborated with Dan Pitt. A link to that, and my November 2024 conversation with Dan, are both in the show notes.

Patrick's here to talk about making music in the trio format, the Toronto scene, and why a bookstore was the right place to record.

(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from the album Words Underlined by The Patrick Smith Words Trio)

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Dig Deeper

Artist and Album:

• Visit Patrick Smith at patricksmithsax.com and follow him on Instagram and Facebook
• Purchase The Patrick Smith Words Trio's Words Underlined from Lit Soc Records, Bandcamp, or Qobuz and listen on your streaming platform of choice
• Listen to Patrick's fusion project Pangea: Rebirth on Bandcamp

Sellers & Newell and Lit Soc Records:

• Sellers & Newel Secondhand Books — Toronto's beloved College Street bookstore and performance space
• Lit Soc Records on Bandcamp
• Why this Toronto bookstore is starting its own record label — Toronto Today, November 2025
• Toronto bookstore is moonlighting as an underground live music venue — BlogTO, September 2021

The Musicians:

• Dan Pitt — guitarist and composer, Toronto
• Between the Lines of Dan Pitt's 'Horizontal Depths' - The Tonearm, November 2024
• Lowell Whitty — drummer and founding member of the Heavyweights Brass Band

Mentors and Influences:

• Mark Shim — saxophonist; Patrick's primary teacher in New York
• Mark Shim at Manhattan School of Music
• Dave Young — Order of Canada recipient; Oscar Peterson's longtime bassist, now based in Toronto
• David Liebman — saxophonist, educator, and major post-Coltrane voice
• Developing a Personal Saxophone Sound by David Liebman — available via J.W. Pepper
• Jeff Coffin — saxophonist; source of the Sonny Rollins quote relayed in the episode

Musical References:

• Paul Motian — the drummer whose bassless trio recordings were the direct inspiration for this project
• Paul Motian Trio — It Should've Happened a Long Time Ago (ECM, 1985) — with Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano
• Paul Motian Trio — Time and Time Again (ECM, 2007) — with Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano
• Johnny Cash — My Mother's Hymn Book — the stripped-down solo Cash record Patrick cites as a model for songwriting
• Sonny Rollins — saxophone icon; his advice about creativity as resistance runs through the episode
• From Sacred Space to Silent Film — Noah Franche-Nolan Serves the Music - The Tonearm, February 2026 - Noah also collaborates with guitarist Dan Pitt

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