Music, Jazz & Blues

25 things you might not know about Tom Waits

17 Jul 2008

The chance to see Tom Waits, one of the planet’s true music raconteurs, is worth £100 of anyone’s money. But did you know he once worked for the coastguard? If not, Jonny Ensall suggests you read on…

Tom Waits - Live Review

17 Jul 2008

Orpheum Theatre, Phoenix, Arizona, Wed 18 Jun The seldom touring ‘love or hate him’ artist transported his trademark whisky-soaked growl to the desert to kick off only his third tour of the decade. And, judging by his polished performance, one can…

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.

Camille O'Sullivan

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

22 Jul 2008

Sliding onstage in a red corset and heels, sipping a glass of red wine, French-Irish chanteuse Camille O’Sullivan likes keeping her audience on their toes when she performs. She may launch into a tear-stained Edith Piaf cover or an angry Tom Waits…

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…

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…

Music - List picks

17 Jul 2008

Jay-Z Sadly not collaborating with the Butthole Surfers across town on the same evening, Jigga man shows us how it’s done after his triumphant Glasto shindig. SECC, Glasgow, Sun 20 Jul. (Rock & Pop) Butthole Surfers and Desalvo Texas’ most wonderfully…

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…

Satoko Fujii and Natsuki Tamura Group

17 Jul 2008

This collaboration between the Japanese husband and wife team of pianist Satoko Fujii and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura with a quartet culled from Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra was a bijou precursor to a full GIO blow-out with the pair later in the week at…

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…

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…

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…

The Nelson Mandela Birthday Party Tour

17 Jul 2008

For the Nobel Peace Prize-winner’s 90th birthday Scots/African artists will be offering a tribute to the defender of democracy from Scotland’s three major cities over the course of a single weekend. Performances from the Berlin-based Senegalese reggae…

Last Word - Rigmor Gustafsson

17 Jul 2008

Rigmor Gustafsson is one of Sweden’s premiere jazz vocalists and brings her show to Scotland for the first time as part of the jazz festival. Welcome her with open arms and wild strawberries First record you ever bought The first one I can…

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…

Paul Towndrow

17 Jul 2008

Star soloist with the Scottish National Orchestra, Edinburgh-based saxophonist Paul Towndrow brings his quartet to the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival for an evening of upbeat and expressive tunes that will have your toes tapping. The melodic…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Acoustic Ladyland

Are you experienced?

9 Apr 2007

Acoustic Ladyland may have drawn their inspiration from music that first blasted ears four decades ago, but their scorching aural assault has broadened considerably from the quartet’s initial acerbic fusion of Jimi Hendrix, post-Coltrane free jazz and…

Records - Alison Burns

Alison Burns

27 Mar 2007

JAZZ Scottish singer Alison Burns concentrates on a programme of familiar standards for her debut album, including pleasing versions of ‘You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To’, ‘But Not For Me’, ‘Shadow of Your Smile’ and ‘The Way You Look Tonight’, as…

Records - Curios

Curios

27 Mar 2007

JAZZ Pianist and keyboard player Tom Cawley is joined by Sam Burgess on bass and Joshua Blackmore on drums in an exemplary exhibition of contemporary piano trio that sounds a lot fresher and more imaginative than EST on their recent Glasgow outing.

Fraser Fifield Band - Traces of Thrace

17 Jul 2008

It is tempting to assume that the fascinating meeting of musical minds reflected here is in some way down to the on-the-road developments worked out on their Tune Up tour featuring Fifield’s band and the Nedyalko Nedyalkov band from Bulgaria earlier…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

*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 - 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…

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…

Loz Speyer’s Time Zone

The Tolbooth, Stirling, Sat 5 May

23 Apr 2007

JAZZ London-based trumpeter Loz Speyer has been spending a lot of time in Cuba since he last toured Scotland, and that will be reflected in the music he will perform with Time Zone. This short Scottish tour (they also play Montrose and some Highland…

George Burt-Raymond Macdonald Sextet - CD review

George Burt-Raymond Macdonald Sextet

12 Oct 2006

JAZZ Boohoo Fever (Leo Records) This disc comes out of the same performance-plus-recording project at An Tobar in Mull as last year’s A Day for a Reason, centred on the Tobermory clock and the two women closely associated with it, the…

Glasgow International Jazz Festival lineup announced

22 May 2008

Grammy–award winner Buddy Guy will headline this year's Glasgow International Jazz Festival. Guy will be joined on the bill by Birth of the Cool alto sax player Lee Konitz and Mari Wilson, best known for 80s hit 'Just What I've Always Wanted'.

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

*Hitlist

Hitlist

9 Apr 2007

Mark Eitzel The erstwhile American Music Club lynchpin wears his heart on his sleeve and can write a love song that would break your heart clean open on one listen. Not a dry seat in the house guaranteed. Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, Thu 19 Apr.

Tim Berne's Paraphrase

The Lot, Edinburgh, Thu 29 Mar

13 Mar 2007

JAZZ Tim Berne is a leading light on New York’s so-called Downtown jazz scene. This very rare opportunity to catch him live in Scotland sees him in the familiar setting of Paraphrase, a trio with two of his most compatible collaborators, bassist Drew…

Azymuth - preview

Azymuth

28 Feb 2007

JAZZ Seventies Brazilian jazz legends Azymuth return to Edinburgh’s Departure Lounge club night to promote the international release of sublime debut album Azimuth (previously only available in Brazil) by London’s pioneering Far Out label. On its…

Barry Green - album review

Barry Green

27 Feb 2007

JAZZ (TenToTen) Back in the 50s and 60s, jazz label bosses often unveiled a new talent to the public via an album under the ‘Introducing’ title. Clark Tracey has re-established the practice with this debut album from a young English pianist, and…

Evan Christopher

15 Jan 2007

The untimely death of Kenny Davern last month has left a big void in the mainstream jazz clarinet roster, and Evan Christopher is one obvious candidate to fill that gap. He was born and raised in California, but has carved out a growing reputation as a…

Robert Mitchell and Omar Puente - album review

Robert Mitchell and Omar Puente

15 Jan 2007

JAZZ English pianist Robert Mitchell and Cuban violinist Omar Puente have worked together in bigger groups in the past, but this duo throws them into much closer relief. Both emerge with credit from the encounter in a disc that covers a lot of…

Quinn

3 Jan 2007

A beguiling mixture of indie, jazz rhythms and electronica, Quinn are essentially Louise Quinn on guitar and vocals and Bal Cooke on drums and computer. Quinn’s vocals make even the most downbeat trip hop tracks enticing. The duo have just recorded…

Kyle Eastwood - album review

Kyle Eastwood

11 Dec 2006

JAZZ It is hard to avoid the feeling that the bassist has tried to push as many commercially attractive buttons as possible in the course of this disc. The prevailing ambiance is a cool chill-out vibe with a distinct jazz-lite feel, underlined by…

Various - New Orleans Christmas - album review

Various

11 Dec 2006

FESTIVE JAZZ Some festive traditions are truly immovable: gluttony, credit card bills, tension between in-laws, you know the script, but others are there to be monkeyed around with. Hence forth, Mum’s Aled Jones carol CD can be tossed onto the fire…

Hitlist

The best pop, rock, jazz and folk

18 Sep 2006

Jay Z Ignoring his own self-imposed retirement completely by appearing on everyone’s else’s records, the self-professed CEO of hip hop arrives for his first ever Scottish live date. See feature, page 20. SECC, Glasgow, Fri 22 Sep. (Rock & Pop) The…

Islay Jazz Festival

Various venues, Islay, Fri 15-Sun 17 Sep

4 Sep 2006

JAZZ Nine years ago, the announcement that a jazz festival was to be launched on the outwardly unlikely location of the island of Islay in the Inner Hebrides raised a few eyebrows. Many felt it would be a one-year wonder, or might manage to roll on…

Tim Reis - CD review

Tim Reis

4 Sep 2006

JAZZ New York jazzman Tim Reis has been playing saxophone with The Rolling Stones since 1999, and has used that experience as the launching point for jazz arrangements of ten Jagger/Richards tunes, recorded in different times and places with a galaxy…

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…

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 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…

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…

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…

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 - 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…

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…

Quentin Collins

Records

26 Apr 2007

JAZZ Trumpeter Quentin Collins is an emerging name on the London jazz scene, and this debut album suggests that the buzz around his work is well justified. His bright, cutting tone is in a recognisable line of descent from the likes of Freddie…

Scottish Ensemble with Gwilym Simcock

City Halls, Glasgow, Thu 26 Apr; Queen’s Hall, Edi

26 Apr 2007

SEASON FINALE Well known for its innovative programming, the Scottish Ensemble bring their 2006/07 season to a close with a collaboration that straddles the worlds of classical and jazz. Leading young jazz pianist and composer, Gwilym Simcock, joins…

Records - Billy Cobham

Billy Cobham, Colin Towns HR Big Band

9 Apr 2007

JAZZ Sub-titled ‘A Celebration of the Mahavishnu Orchestra’, this project takes on the improbable challenge of recasting the music of John McLaughlin’s seminal electric fusion outfit for a big band, and succeeds triumphantly. The process involves…

Moishe's Bagel

Bongo Club, Edinburgh, Sat 7 Apr

27 Mar 2007

JAZZ As pianist Phil Alexander explained on the eve of the release of their second album , Salt, the band have relaxed into their trademark blend of jazz-influenced Klezmer and Balkan music since forming back in 2003. ‘Having started largely…

Tsyjo with Joe Locke - preview

Tsyjo with Joe Locke

28 Feb 2007

JAZZ Tommy Smith launched his Youth Jazz Orchestra as a means of developing the most promising young talents in Scotland, and a number of players from the band have already graduated to the senior Scottish National Jazz Orchestra. TSYJO gig regularly…

Tubby Hayes - album review

Tubby Hayes

27 Feb 2007

JAZZ (Art of Life) This would go down as an important release on historic grounds alone, but it also happens to be a classy slice of mid-60s British jazz. Although long known about, and available in part in bootleg versions, this is the first…

Miles Davis - album review

MILES DAVIS

13 Feb 2007

JAZZ (Rhino) A single disc selection from the final phase of the trumpeter’s career, drawing on the music he released after his switch from Columbia in 1985. It is billed as the Very Best of Miles Davis, but is well short of meeting that claim.

Preston Redd - album review

PRESTON REED

13 Feb 2007

JAZZ (Outer Bridge Records) Guitarist Preston Reed continues to elude precise genre classification in his his distinctive style of solo guitar music, but this ballad-oriented set is the closest he has come to a straight jazz outing. In his insert…

Jazz from Sweden

Various venues, Scotland-wide, Thu 8 Feb-Mon 19 Ma

29 Jan 2007

JAZZ The Swedes are finally coming, and if this five-week extravaganza of Swedish jazz is a little later than originally envisaged, it promises to be a memorable one. Assembly Direct and the Stockholm-based Rikskonserter first started to plot an…

Joe Zawinul - album review

Joe Zawinul

29 Jan 2007

JAZZ A feast for Weather Report devotees, and a treat for anyone who just likes top quality big band playing. Joe Zawinul celebrated the 25th anniversary of the break-up of Weather Report in glorious style in this concert with the excellent WDR Big…

National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland - album review

National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland

29 Jan 2007

JAZZ The National Youth Orchestra of Scotland’s associated Jazz Orchestra has been around now for a decade, and issued a CD featuring the music of pianist Nikki Yeoh seven years ago. This second disc features two suites by Scottish composers at…

Tom Bancroft Six Pack, The

The Tom Bancroft Six Pack

15 Jan 2007

Hailed as one of the leading lights of the burgeoning Scottish jazz scene, drummer and composer Tom Bancroft has had more musical identities than the artists formerly known as Prince. Having scored gigantic hits as leader of Orchestra Interrupto and the…

Viktoria Tolstoy - album review

Viktoria Tolstoy

3 Jan 2007

JAZZ The Swedish singer’s sophisticated take on contemporary pop-inflected jazz has already paid dividends on her previous releases for ACT, made in association with Esbjörn Svensson. This time round, she has plundered her record collection for songs…

Jim Mullen Organ Trio - album review

Jim Mullen Organ Trio

11 Dec 2006

JAZZ The organ trio is one of jazz’s canonic formats, but can easily slip into clichéd recycling of standard soul-jazz licks. No such danger in this band. The Glaswegian guitarist and his collaborators, Hammond organist Mike Gorman and drummer Matt…

Soweto Kinch - album review

Soweto Kinch

27 Nov 2006

JAZZ Saxophonist Soweto Kinch has already picked up several awards and a lot of attention in his brief career. The Birmingham-born saxman-cum-rapper has never seemed short on ambition, and this latest project is no exception. Subtitled Tales of the…

Spanky Wilson and The Quantic Soul Orchestra

27 Nov 2006

Future jazzists The Quantic Soul Orchestra are joined by one of the sweetest soul voices around. On the scene since the 60s Ms Spanky Wilson has recorded with everyone that matters from the legendary Marvin Gaye to the equally legendary Sammy Davis Jr.

Tommy Smith and Arild Andersen

27 Nov 2006

This collaboration between Scotland’s leading jazz saxophonist and one of the great names in Norwegian jazz, bassist Arild Andersen (pictured), first saw the light of day at the Islay Jazz Festival a couple of years ago, and gets a further airing here.