Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival

Edinburgh Festivals

1 Jun 2009

There’s a pretty big chance you’ll already have heard of the Edinburgh Festival and if you happen to be in Edinburgh over the month of August, you sure as hell aren’t going to miss it. For a whole month the city becomes a colourful jamboree of theatre…

In the swing of it - Jazz, Blues and Folk venues

15 Sep 2008

Boasting some of the finest new names and most exciting stalwarts of the jazz, blues and folks scene, Edinburgh and Glasgow have long set an impressive stall with some of the most diverse festivals and year round line-ups.

Barb Jungr sings Nina Simone

Barb’s hymn to Nina

31 Jul 2008

Barb Jungr has turned to the music of Nina Simone for her latest project, following the release of her Just Like a Woman album (a title that also neatly evokes her earlier Dylan project) with this live show dedicated to the woman whose voice and musical…

Anderson/Smith/Cosker

Nordic cool meets Scottish heat

31 Jul 2008

Saxophonist Tommy Smith’s current relationship with the Norwegian bass maestro Arild Andersen dates from 2005, when they got together as a duo at the Islay Jazz Festival. It was by no means their first encounter, however – Andersen was one of Tommy’s…

Stu Brown's Raymond Scott Project

Reviving a forgotten genius

31 Jul 2008

Drummer Stu Brown regards American pianist Raymond Scott as one of the great unrecognised musical geniuses of the 20th century, and has dedicated this project to performing the unique and often zany music of the man whose compositions earned him a cult…

After the flood

Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival

22 Jul 2008

Hurricane Katrina not only devastated a whole city, it nearly destroyed a legendary jazz culture. Malcolm Jack hears how Edinburgh has opened its arms to the top New Orleans players.

Up close and personal - Niki King

Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival

22 Jul 2008

For Niki King, intimacy is something to be embraced rather than feared. Claire Sawers lends an ear as the local singer gently explains why she loves getting confessional on stage.

Omar Sosa

Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival

22 Jul 2008

Diverse, dynamic and daring approach inspired by Afro-Cuban folklore. You never know what Omar Sosa will do next. The Cuban-born virtuoso musician has turned his hand to everything from composing and arranging records to producing them, leading bands…

Burt MacDonald with Lol Coxhill

Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival

22 Jul 2008

A reunion with free jazz, lyrical flourishes and popcorn machines. One of Scotland’s most adventurous jazz groups, the Burt MacDonald Quintet are reuniting with Lol Coxhill. A legend of the soprano saxophone, Coxhill has worked with the band on five…

Best of the rest - Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival

Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival

22 Jul 2008

The Big Chris Barber Band. Blues standards, New Orleans classics and tunes from Duke Ellington and Miles Davis are all in the Barber repertoire as he and his band do early jazz like few others. Paul Towndrow Quartet ‘Better drowned than duffers…

Little Feat

Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival

22 Jul 2008

Formed in 1969 by Lowell George, one of Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention, Little Feat were always going to be different from the blues bands of the period. Small in stature, guitarist and lead singer George was a talented firebrand of R&B, country…

Festivals - Capital Gains

5 Jun 2008

Kicking off the capital’s world famous summer festivals in late July, it’s the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival (25 Jul–3 Aug) which is the longest running jazz festival in the UK. Following hot on its heels is relative newbie to Edinburgh’s festival…

Festivals

5 Jun 2008

Until 8 June Leith Festival Various venues, Leith, Edinburgh, prices vary www.leithfestival.com Leith Festival showcases its trademark brew of home-grown talent and big name headliners with over 100 musical acts, 50 comedians and a dozen visual…

Scottish Arts Council funding shift causes controversy

1 May 2008

A redistribution of Scottish Arts Council funding, announced today, has readjusted the balance of financial power within the Scottish arts. Among those to benefit under the new plans are: Arika, who run experimental music festivals Instal and Kill…