Originally from Ottawa, ON, Patrick Smith is a saxophonist now based in Toronto. He has studied with Mike Murley, Kelly Jefferson, acclaimed American saxophonist Mark Shim and established himself as a gifted, in-demand musician. Smith is an active bandleader, currently helming his quintet, his trio 3-Oh and now his latest project, Pangea – a jazz fusion concept group comprising some of the top members of the Toronto music scene. 

Pangea draws from the spirit of John Coltrane, reimagined in the 21st century and existing in the age of global connectivity. Featuring local heavyweights Darryl Joseph-Denie (Ahi, Who You Got?), Kae Murphy (BADBADNOTGOOD, Whitney) and Jon Catanus (Erez Zobary, Diskarte), they are readying the release of their debut album for January 2025.

When forming Pangea, Smith aimed to combine arabic music, R&B/neo-soul, UK jazz and late era John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders and Sun Ra. The melody of the upcoming LP’s lead single, “Another Set,” is based on violin sections of old Arabic songs. In particular, it’s inspired by the way Johnny Abou Chacra of Kazdoura plays the saxophone and guitar. “Another Set” perfectly encapsulates Pangea’s influences and captures the feeling of pushing through when you really want to quit.

I came to music because I was lonely as a kid. Everything I do is in the spirit of being connected with something bigger than myself. With this project, I realized as we were recording that me, Darryl, Jon, and Kae all have different ethnic backgrounds and have vastly different upbringings and listened to vastly different music growing up. I think that’s cool. Artists and musicians know this, but it’s just ridiculous that humans as a species are still killing each other over being different…in 2024. I called the project Pangea in that spirit of global connectivity and just really wanting to have an open mind to all musical and cultural ideas. – Patrick Smith