AWF COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT: WHAT’S THE BEST LESSON YOUR MUM EVER TAUGHT YOU?

Giacomo Smith is a busy man. The founder and band leader of Kansas Smitty’s he doesn’t just run a band but also a bar under the same name with his ultimate sidekick, Jack Abraham. We’ve been with Smitty’s since the beginning and they’ve been our Associate Artists for a wee while now. Not only that, but Giacomo has been one of our Achieve Your Greatness workshop leaders for the last year, it’s not something he’d really done before and we’ve been mega proud of how he’s taken to educating the next generation like a duck to water.

To celebrate his 30th year we grabbed 3 minutes and 40 seconds with him just before our final Achieve Your Greatness workshop at Corelli College. Catch the video or read on below. Before you do, make sure you get your ticket to see the Kansas Smitty’s House Band at Shoreditch Town Hall on Saturday 18th November as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival. Tickets HERE.

 

1. What’s popping? Corelli College…2017
2. What was the last vacation you took? September, Venice
3. Who do you wish you could meet for the first time again? Wynton Marsalis
4. Who’s your favourite person to play music with? Dave Archer
5. When did you realise that music was a real option for you? Age 5
6. What tune would you play when you enter a room? Get Out Of My Life Woman
7. Where are you from? Saratoga, New York
8. What’s the most delicious place in the world? Bologna
9. If you were a pasta what would you be? Bigoli in salsa
10. How many languages do you speak? One, well
11. What’s your favourite word? Pass
12. What’s the first app you open in the morning? Mail
13. What‘s your spirit animal? Pass
14. What’s the one thing you don’t know that you want to learn? French
15. What’s the best lesson your mum ever taught you? That’s a good question, come on…uh…ahhhhh…uhhhh (We’ll come back to it)
16. How do you make a lady laugh? I don’t know, you tell me
17. Who’s your ultimate style icon? Johnny Hodges
18. Do you ever get stage fright? No
19. What‘s that sound in the background? That’s what’s popping
20. When was the last time you were nervous before going on stage? Aged 14
21. What’s the one song you never want to be requested ever again? Summertime
22. Who was your childhood crush? Pass
23. What’s your most overused emoji? Red faced, what’s the red faced one? (The Devil?)…No no no… Embarrassed
24. What’s the most amazing gift you’ve ever received in your life? Saxophone
25. What’s the best movie of all time? Shawshank Redemption
26. Who would play you in the movie of your life? David Choi…David Choi! (he’s Giacomo’s roommate and filming the video. Look out for his photos and footage of Achieve Your Greatness HERE)
27. It’s a random day in 1997, what are you doing? Reading Disney Adventures Magazine
28. It’s a random day in 2007, what are your doing? Throwing away all my copies of Disney Adventures Magazine
29. It’s a random day in 2027, what are you doing? Wishing I hadn’t thrown away all my copies of Disney Adventures Magazine
30. What advice do you have for anyone working in an office who wants to have a more creative life? Get in with these kids
31. If you could invite any four people, living or dead to your gig at STH hall who would they be? Let’s see…Twyla Tharp, Jelly Roll Morton, Wynton Marsalis and Beyoncé
32. What’s the best lesson your mum ever taught you? Always cook dinner for four even if there are only two at the table (That makes so much sense)

Catch the Kansas Smitty’s House Band at Shoreditch Town Hall on Saturday 18th November as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival. Tickets HERE.