Music, Jazz & Blues

Barry Adamson

27 Mar 2008

Barry Adamson is making his pitch. The way the composer, crooner, ex-Magazine and Bad Seeds bassist and now big(ish) band leader tells it regarding his forthcoming eighth album, Back to the Cat, though, sounds like making movies. But then, the absorbed…

Various - Rough Trade Counter Culture 07

14 Feb 2008

EVERYTHING (Rough Trade) If anything can be gleaned from these expansive, annual compilations its this: try as you might you can’t keep up with all the fine new music around unless you actually run a record store. And while you might have…

Angelo Debarre Quartet - Live at Le Quecumbar London

31 Jan 2008

(Lejazztal) JAZZ French guitarist Angelo DeBarre is one of the artists appearing at the inaugural Fife Jazz Festival (see preview, page 79), and is no stranger to Scottish audiences. This set with his current band of UK-based musicians, guitarist…

Arnie Somogyi's Ambulance - Accident and Insurgency

31 Jan 2008

(Linn Records) JAZZ Bassist Arnie Somogyi’s regular line-up is augmented by American trumpet star Eddie Henderson on this new recording for Linn, but he fits right into the carefully cultivated group feel of their music. Somogyi’s declared aim…

Trilok Gurtu

31 Jan 2008

CELTIC CONNECTIONS Trilok Gurtu may have begun his musical life in a family thoroughly steeped in the strict disciplines and formal cohesion of Indian classical music, but his own career has taken him into some of the most diverse world-jazz fusions…

Phil Campbell

4 Jan 2008

Being branded ‘one to watch’ is a curse as much as it is a blessing. While it draws initial attention, the worry is an artist may still be finding his feet under the impatient gaze of Joe Public and their itchy downloading finger. No such worries for…

Dave O’Higgins

13 Dec 2007

A welcome return to Scotland for saxophonist Dave O’Higgins, who first came to notice in the mid-80s with the fusion outfit Roadside Picnic, and has gone on to establish a reputation as one of the leading lights of post-bop tenor in the UK while keeping…

Trianglehead

13 Dec 2007

The Lot, Edinburgh, Wed 14 Nov ‘Fucking technology, eh?’ spits drummer Stu Ritchie by way of an abrupt end to a mid-set melodica-led number, shattering the chummy mood of this launch gig for Trianglehead’s just-released second album, Exit Strategy.

SNJO plays Woody Herman

15 Nov 2007

JAZZ Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Sat 24 Nov; Byre Theatre, St Andrews, Fri 30 Nov; RSAMD, Glasgow, Sat 1 Dec The SNJO have already featured the music of Ellington, Basie and Goodman, so it seems only natural that Tommy Smith and his troops should now…

The Necks

15 Nov 2007

JAZZ The Lot, Edinburgh, Wed 7 Nov Live, the extended improvisations of the Australian trio of pianist Chris Abrahams, drummer Tony Buck and bassist Lloyd Swanson should curl up into an inward-looking heap. Yet, as their recent album, Townsville…

Larry Coryell & Bombay Jazz

18 Oct 2007

JAZZ Tolbooth, Stirling, Sat 20 Oct This is the only Scottish date for a world-jazz quartet featuring the guitar work of Larry Coryell. It’s a rare Scottish outing for the American guitarist, who made his name in the first wave of jazz-rock fusion…

SNJO Plays Gershwin

4 Oct 2007

The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra premiered Tommy Smith’s sensational and much-expanded arrangement for jazz orchestra of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with Brian Kellock as the piano soloist at the 2006 Edinburgh Jazz Festival, and this is a…

Tord Gustavsen Trio

4 Oct 2007

The Norwegian piano trio have emerged as major contributors to the European jazz scene in the last half dozen years. Only the Esbjörn Svensson Trio have made a greater impact, and both groups share not only a strong and distinctive musical identity, but…

Hitlist - The best rock, pop, jazz & folk

20 Sep 2007

• Dean Owens and the Whisky Hearts This masterful Edinburgh songwriter kicks of ten days of shows in Darvel with a full-blooded, full-band show of his beguiling Americana. Darvel Music Festival, Darvel Town Hall, near Kilmarnock, Wed 26 Sep. (Folk…

Maria Schneider Orchestra

20 Sep 2007

JAZZ Sky Blue (ArtistShare) Maria Schneider’s decision to take her CD releases out of the established distribution system and throw her lot in with ArtistShare paid rich dividends when her 2004 recording Concert in the Garden became the first disc…

The-Quartet

20 Sep 2007

JAZZ Illuminated (Helium Records) When you hear an awful lot of jazz CDs that sound broadly similar in terms of instrumental sonority and idioms, it is always refreshing to be hit by something that comes out of leftfield when you slip a new disc into…

Weather Report jazz pianist dies

14 Sep 2007

Jazz pianist Joe Zawinul, founder of 1970s group Weather Report, has died suffering from skin cancer. The 75-year-old who was credited for bringing the electric piano to mainstream jazz, passed away at his home in Vienna. Austrian president Heinz…

Charlie Hunter Trio

6 Sep 2007

JAZZ Guitarist Charlie Hunter changes tack with this trio outing, which moves even further into rock territory than its more funk-oriented recent predecessors, and consequently, further from Hunter’s earlier and more overtly ‘jazz’ work as well. The…

Islay Jazz Festival

6 Sep 2007

JAZZ The Islay Jazz Festival seemed a risky proposition when it was first launched back in 1999, but it took off in no uncertain terms. Guitarist Martin Taylor declared it ‘the best wee jazz festival in Scotland’ after the inaugural event, and there…

Raymond Macdonald & Günter ‘Baby’ Sommer

6 Sep 2007

JAZZ More recorded documentation from the undoubted leader of the Glasgow school of free improvisation, saxophonist Raymond MacDonald. Hard on the heels of the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra’s latest opus, Falkirk (FMR), comes this collaboration with…

Charles Mingus Sextet

Blue Note Records

23 Aug 2007

There is no shortage of live Mingus music available on record, officially sanctioned and otherwise, but this previously completely unknown concert recording from Cornell University in March, 1964, is a genuine discovery. The gig took place shortly…

Valery Ponomarev

23 Aug 2007

Trumpeter Valery Ponomarev has been making regular visits to Scotland since the early 90s, usually at the behest of drummer and Jazz Bar owner Bill Kyle. I am among the many journalists and thousands of fans who have pinned him back and demanded to hear…

Camille O’Sullivan

16 Aug 2007

5 words to describe your show Dark, edible, vulnerable, cheeky, flammable. 4 things that would be on your dream rider Nick Cave, Marmite, a winning lotto ticket, a handsome, pretty masseur. 3 things you’d like to get out of your visit to…

Fettes Jazz Festival

16 Aug 2007

The jazz weekend under canvas in the grounds of Fettes College has become a bit of a staple of the otherwise rather thin jazz representation in the Fringe, and all the more so with absence of a jazz programme at The Lot this year. That has left Bill…

Jan Akkerman

16 Aug 2007

Dutch guitarist Jan Akkerman is not an easy guy to pin down in terms of style. He made his initial reputation in the fondly remembered Dutch prog-rock outfit Focus, where he and Thijs van Leer formed the creative core of the band. After splitting from…

Dick Lee Septet

9 Aug 2007

Clarinetist Dick Lee is a regular at this venue, and leads his seven-piece expansion of Swing 2007, featuring a four-horn frontline in which he is joined by Anne Evans, Duncan Nairn and Martin Foster, a combination that gives him access to a wide…

Mark Soskin

One Hopeful Day

9 Aug 2007

JAZZ Pianist Mark Soskin has long seemed one of those musicians destined to be pretty much the perennial sideman, turning in high-class performances for a range of other leaders, from Sonny Rollins downwards. It is good, then, to see him get another…

Nikki King & Marcus Ford

9 Aug 2007

Singer Niki King has covered a lot of ground in stylistic terms, but her work with guitarist Marcus Ford has been the strand most deeply rooted in a mainstream jazz approach. This gig is part of their current promotion of a new duo album bearing the…

Tony Monaco Trio

9 Aug 2007

Ohio-born Hammond organ star Tony Monaco started out on accordion as a kid, but was converted to the B3 when a heard a Jimmy Smith album as a youngster. It sparked a passion that ultimately took him onto the international festival circuit, while his…

BBC Big Band Play Atomic Basie

1 Aug 2007

Basie fans will need no nudging to spot the reference in the title of this Jazz Festival celebration of the great pianist and bandleader’s music. The Atomic Mr Basie was first issued in 1957, and remains one of the touchstone recordings in the…

Hitlist - The best rock, pop, jazz & folk

17 Jul 2007

• A Band Called Quinn, Maxi Geil! and Playcolt Glasgow’s very own up and coming indie kids Quinn are joined by Brooklyn’s finest arch-camp art-rockers Maxi Geil and Playcolt, who are playing in Scotland for the first time. Classic Grand, Glasgow, Tue 24…

Bobby Hutcherson

Album

16 Jul 2007

JAZZ BOBBY HUTCHERSON For Sentimental Reasons (Kind of Blue) Vibes maestro Bobby Hutcherson was one of the key innovators in the post-bop experiments of the mid-60s for the Blue Note label, but he focuses on a more conventionally…

Miroslav Vitous

Album

16 Jul 2007

JAZZ MIROSLAV VITOUS Universal Syncopations II (ECM Records) Miroslav Vitous’ Universal Syncopations marked his return to the ECM label, and was widely praised on its release in 2003. The bassist has chosen to extend and develop the…

Martin Taylor

16 Jul 2007

JAZZ MARTIN TAYLOR The Hub, Edinburgh, Sat 28 Jul Guitarist Martin Taylor led his recently-formed (and punningly-titled) Freternity band at the Glasgow Jazz Festival last month, but his concert at the Edinburgh Jazz Festival will feature…

*Hitlist

3 Jul 2007

• T in the Park 80,000 folks have over 100 reasons on stage to get down this weekend, from Arctic Monkeys to Wu-Tang Clan (pictured) and all in between. See full running order . Balado, Fri 6-Sun 8 Jul. (Rock & Pop) • The Skids After Green Day and…

Elastic Axis

3 Jul 2007

JAZZ Elastic Axis got together last year in Dublin, but the five members of the band are scattered far and wide. The core of the group are the three Roth brothers, Alex (guitar), Nick (saxes) and Simon (bass), with Colm O’Hara on trombone and Peter…

Records - Fraud

3 Jul 2007

JAZZ Fraud are making considerable waves on the more experimental end of the London jazz scene at the moment, and have clearly won some influential backers, as this debut album was nominated for album of the year at the BBC Jazz Awards even before it…

Records - Kurt Elling

3 Jul 2007

JAZZ Kurt Elling has stood out in the current plethora of jazz singers on both sides of the Atlantic. Hailed as a natural successor to Mark Murphy, Elling has developed as an individual and distinctive stylist, and his debut recording for Concord…

Records - Thoumire & Milligan

3 Jul 2007

FOLK Folk meets jazz and cuts a very acceptable deal in the music of concertina player Simon Thoumire and pianist David Milligan. The pair bring a diverse range of stylistic options to their music. The combination of instruments is an unusual but…

SNJO plays Coltrane

3 Jul 2007

JAZZ John Coltrane is the most iconic of modern jazz giants, and it was inevitable that the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra would get round to honouring the master. Tommy Smith chose the 40th anniversary of his death, and celebrated Trane’s own…

Paul Towndrow Sextet

Album

18 Jun 2007

JAZZ Alto saxophonist Paul Towndrow and his new Sextet recorded this album in adverse circumstances, but there is nothing here that would give away the fact that it was made under unusual time constraints. Towndrow’s brand of inventive contemporary…

Tony Scott

Album

18 Jun 2007

JAZZ When clarinettist Tony Scott spent some time in Edinburgh one summer in the late 80s, his role as an important contributor to the emergence of both bebop and an early proto-version of free jazz in New York had all but been forgotten. His…

Randy Weston’s African Rhythms Trio

18 Jun 2007

GLASGOW JAZZ FESTIVAL What’s in a name? Often not a lot, but in the case of this trio led by master pianist Randy Weston, the connection with African rhythms is fundamental to his music. His uncompromising attitude to the African roots of both his…

SNJO plays Coltrane

18 Jun 2007

GLASGOW JAZZ FESTIVAL The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra turn their attention to the music of one of the greatest of all jazz masters, saxophonist John Coltrane. This year marks the 40th anniversary of Coltrane’s death, a coincidence which struck…

Pat Metheny & Brad Mehldau

18 Jun 2007

GLASGOW JAZZ FESTIVAL The collaboration between guitarist Pat Metheny and pianist Brad Mehldau was one of the hottest jazz developments of last year, and the initial duo album they released figured prominently in many best of the year lists. The…

Erik Truffaz

Album

21 May 2007

JAZZ French trumpeter Erik Truffaz’ new album takes its name from the crazily surreal architecture and shifting wintry landscape of the remote Russian city of Arkhangelsk, and succeeds in working up some intriguing musical geometry of its own.

Abram Wilson

Album

21 May 2007

JAZZ The New Orleans-born, London-based trumpeter and singer has been winning a lot of admirers, both for his work with Jazz Jamaica and in his own bands. This second album for Dune, subtitled Ferris Wheel to the Modern Day Delta, follows the example…

Kenny Werner

Album

7 May 2007

JAZZ Pianist Kenny Werner forsakes the comfort and familiarity of his customary trio setting for a more ambitious conceptual approach to his music on this recording, his first for Blue Note. A row of lawn chairs upturned by the wind near his home…

Led Bib

Album

7 May 2007

JAZZ Another burst of rock-influenced musical mayhem from the experimental fringes of the London jazz scene. Led Bib are probably not for jazz purists - their energised, in-your-face music explores the kind of edgy, raucous musical direction…

Mark O'Keeffe

Records

26 Apr 2007

CONTEMPORARY JAZZ The Edinburgh-based label is doing its fair share to support contemporary Scottish composition. The Edinburgh Quartet’s fine recent disc of new Scottish string quartets, The Cold Dancer, is followed by this solo outing from the BBC…