Julian Smith is a native of Birmingham, England.[3] His father was a music teacher, which allowed Smith to learn a variety of instruments as a child, including the clarinet.[4] He attended the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (then Birmingham School of Music / Birmingham Conservatoire) where he studied bassoon as his first study instrument with second study saxophone.[4] He graduated with distinction in 1991.[5] After graduating from the Conservatoire, Smith focused more on the saxophone.[4]
Career
Early career
Early in his career, Smith held teaching jobs with both Sandwell College and Cheltenham College.[6] He also made guest appearances on records for Tony Hadley, and Hamish Stuart and performed live on national television with acts like Chris Rea, M People, and Dina Carroll.[7][8] In 1993, Smith formed a band[9] and eventually began operating under the stage name Joolz Gianni. Some of his tracks were featured on Sony Music's Classic Chillout compilation series from between 2001 and 2003.[10][11][12][13] In 2003, he released a solo album as Joolz Gianni entitled Chilled 2 the Sax,[7] which featured Acker Bilk, Dina Carroll, and Ola Onabule.[14] After releasing his album Throughout This Time, he continued teaching music privately[3] and playing small gigs.[3][15]
Britain's Got Talent
In April 2009, Smith first appeared on an episode of the third series of Britain's Got Talent.[16][17] During the audition round, he performed a version of "Somewhere" from the musical, West Side Story, on soprano saxophone.[18][19] The audition received a standing ovation from the audience and praise from judges Simon Cowell,[20] Piers Morgan, and Amanda Holden.[18][20][21] Smith was subsequently chosen to be among the 40 semi-finalists who would perform live in May 2009.[15][22][23] During his semi-final performance, Smith played a rendition of "All by Myself" and advanced to the final round by winning the public vote.[24] For the final round on 30 May 2009,[25] he played another rendition of "Somewhere,"[3] receiving around 700,000 votes[6](16.4% of the total vote) and placing as the second runner-up behind singer Susan Boyle and winning dance troupe Diversity.[3][5][25] Smith later performed alongside the other 9 finalists on the nationwide Britain's Got Talent live tour in June 2009.[26][27]
Post-Britain's Got Talent
In the ensuing years, Smith released several albums through Big Bear Records,[28] including Somewhere[7] and Christmas Songs and Lullabies (both in 2010).[28] That year, he played a headlining gig at the Birmingham International Jazz and Blues Festival,[10] was featured on the charitable single "The Prayer" for Classical Relief for Haiti,[10][29] and toured with The Stylistics.[10][30] He also performed a duet with Kenny G at the Royal Albert Hall and played for Prince Charles at Clarence House.[28][31] In 2011, he went on a 48-date tour throughout the United Kingdom,[28] and in 2012, he toured with Diversity on their "Digitized" tour.[32] Smith continued touring throughout 2013,[33] including a show with the winner of the first series of The X Factor, Steve Brookstein.[34]
In 2015, he independently released a new album, Wonderful World.[5] In 2017, he toured the United States and Canada before returning to England where he performed a new concert series at St. Stephen's Church in Redditch.[35] On New Year's Eve in 2020, Smith started a Zoom-based concert series. The shows, which are virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic, feature various young performers playing multiple genres of music. Proceeds from the events were donated to the National Health Service.[36]
Personal life
Smith has two children with his wife Iraz[3] and said that he entered Britain's Got Talent to "make life better for them".[37]
