Music, Kenny Mathieson

Alan Skidmore's Ubizo - 50 Journeys

2 Oct 2008

JAZZ Another foray into the fusion of Coltrane-influenced jazz with a vibrant African vibe that saxophonist Alan Skidmore has previously explored with Ubizo, but with a stronger slant toward the world music pole than on their two earlier discs. The…

David Sanborn - Here & Gone

2 Oct 2008

JAZZ Saxophonist David Sanborn takes on the staple blues and R&B repertoire in a disc that many will doubtless see as just another commercial gambit from a very successful musician. The stacking up of guest artists – Derek Trucks on ‘Brother Ray’…

Charles Lloyd - Dream Weaver - The Atlantic Years 1966-69

18 Sep 2008

JAZZ Saxophonist Charles Lloyd is now a respected elder statesman in jazz circles, but in the late 60s his group with pianist Keith Jarrett and drummer Jack DeJohnette was making inroads into the rock audience with appearances at venues like the…

Inner Space Music - Five Animal Dances

18 Sep 2008

JAZZ The name most likely to catch the eye on this release is probably drummer Seb Rochford, although the disc was actually recorded back in 2004, and Tim Giles seems to have taken his place in the band’s more recent live dates. Nonetheless, he makes…

The Duplets - Tree of Strings

18 Sep 2008

FOLK The harp is enjoying something of a resurgence at the moment, with new young players like Ailie Robertson, Rachel Hair and The Duplets pairing of Freya Thomsen and Gillian Fleetwood all focusing on the oldest of the Scottish folk instruments.

Islay Jazz Festival

4 Sep 2008

If the idea of a successful jazz festival on Islay once seemed more than a touch outlandish, the actuality has been quite the opposite. The Islay Jazz Festival celebrates its 10th anniversary this year with a line-up that typifies the programming policy…

Gina Rae and Sandy Wright - On Main Street

4 Sep 2008

Edinburgh singer Gina Rae has proved herself adept in straight jazz idioms, but this album also reflects the pop-inflected side of her work. Sandy Wright’s acoustic guitar accompaniments provide a spare, uncomplicated support for her light, supple…

Haftor Medboe Group - New: Happy

4 Sep 2008

The current line-up of Haftor Medbøe’s group is the strongest yet. The guitarist’s accomplished soloing is supported by powerful contributions from two of the leading horn players on the Scottish scene, saxophonist Konrad Wiszniewski and trombonist…

New Jazz Orchestra - Camden ‘70

4 Sep 2008

New Jazz Orchestra - Camden ‘70 (Dusk Fire Records) Neil Ardley was well on the way to being a forgotten figure in British jazz, but reissues of some of his work in the past couple of years have gone some way to redressing the balance. It should be…

Fettes Jazz Festival

Swingin’ in the Marquee

21 Aug 2008

The fourth Fettes Jazz Festival offers another attractive weekend festival housed in a marquee in the grounds of Fettes College, with a programme that combines top local talent with some exciting guests. The familiar format features an opening session…

Five reasons to go and see: Tam White & The Dexters

21 Aug 2008

They’re an Edinburgh Institution - the mere mention of the name brings a warm glow to the hearts of Edinburgh music fans of a certain vintage. The band’s legendary residencies at the Preservation Hall and Platform 1 (both now gone as music venues) back…

Jeana Leslie & Siobhan Miller - In a Bleeze

21 Aug 2008

Singer Siobhan Miller from Penicuik and fiddler and singer Jeana Leslie from Orkney met while students at the RSAMD, and gave notice that we should expect something special when they won the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Award for 2008. They excel in the vocal…

Ryan Quigley - Laphroaig-ian Slip

21 Aug 2008

Ryan Quigley is a familiar figure on the Scottish jazz scene, not least through his long tenure in the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra. The trumpeter’s love of the classic hard bop and post-bop styles of the 50s and 60s is always apparent in this…

Chris Biscoe Quartet - Gone in The Air: The Music of Eric Dolphy

14 Aug 2008

JAZZ (Trio Records) Eric Dolphy is a figure more often acknowledged than actually engaged with. As Brian Morton points out in his notes for this fine disc, the relative neglect of Dolphy’s compositions leaves them an open field for exploration - and…

Misterioso

Exploring Monk’s elusive mindscape

14 Aug 2008

The often chaotic, always creative and ultimately silent life and times of one of the greatest of all modern jazz giants, pianist Thelonious Monk, is celebrated in this amalgam of music, theatre and video projection from the London-based Theatralia…

Skelpaig - …aye?

14 Aug 2008

FOLK (Skelpaig Music) Skelpaig have been working on Highland time whilst putting this lively and accomplished debut album of purely instrumental tunes together, but their laid-back approach to deadlines is not reflected in the vibrancy of the music…

Travis & Fripp - Thread

14 Aug 2008

JAZZ (Panegyric) The jazz strap-line on top of this review may prove misleading if you are coming at the recording from an acquaintance with Theo Travis’s more mainstream work with his various quartets over the years. The saxophonist also has a…

Ailie Robertson - First Things First

7 Aug 2008

FOLK (Lorimer Records) Edinburgh harpist Ailie Robertson has picked up an armload of prizes at successive National Mods, but that should not lead you to expect a very traditional approach to what is arguably the most traditional of all Scottish folk…

Sinatra-Basie Sessions Revisited

7 Aug 2008

Singer (and now concert promoter) Todd Gordon is no stranger to the music of Frank Sinatra, and has often turned to themed shows built around songs and arrangements associated with the great man. For this outing with the Marcus Pope Big Band (first…

Valery Ponomarev Quintet

Carrying the jazz message

7 Aug 2008

Reminders of the legacy of the great Art Blakey and the hard bop academy that was his Jazz Messengers show no signs of abating. Alto saxophonist Bobby Watson headlined a show at the Glasgow Jazz Festival last month, his first in Scotland since 1994, and…

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…

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…

Duncan Chisholm - Farrar

31 Jul 2008

FOLK (Copperfish Records) Duncan Chisholm is a busy man, what with Wolfstone, his duo with Ivan Drever, and his involvement in a number of other people’s bands to keep him fully occupied. Every now and again, though, he fulfills his promise to do…

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…

Tim Kliphuis - Counterpoint Swing

31 Jul 2008

JAZZ (Lowland Records) Dutch violinist Tim Kliphuis has been a regular visitor to Scotland in recent times (he’s back again at the Edinburgh Jazz Festival), and the trio on this new CD is very much a product of those visits. Kliphuis first linked up…