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…

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…

Hebrides Ensemble - Olivier Messiaen – Chamber Works

3 Jul 2008

CLASSICAL (Linn Records) The Hebrides Ensemble are now firmly established as Scotland’s leading contemporary music group, and their stock is rising well beyond their native turf as well. The enthusiastic acclaim for their recent imaginative Wigmore…

Ulf Wakenius - Love is Real

3 Jul 2008

JAZZ (ACT Records) Swedish guitarist Ulf Wakenius follows his Keith Jarrett project Notes From the Heart with a disc devoted to the music of Esbjörn Svensson. Tragically, its release has coincided with the death of the Swedish pianist – who had been…

Various - A Celebration of the Music of Gordon Duncan

3 Jul 2008

FOLK (Greentrax) The death of maverick piper Gordon Duncan brought a tragic and untimely end to a major talent, but his music continues to resonate well beyond the piping community. His tunes are regularly played by folk artists of all kinds, and this…

Bobby Watson

19 Jun 2008

GLASGOW JAZZ FESTIVAL Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, Sat 28 Jun There was a time when Bobby Watson was a regular visitor to these parts, both in his own right and with the great 29th Street Saxophone Quartet, but it has been a while now since we had the…

Homegrown - Glasgow International Jazz Festival

19 Jun 2008

GLASGOW JAZZ FESTIVAL Various venues, Glasgow, Fri 27–Sun 29 Jun The annual Homegrown showcase at the Glasgow Jazz Festival has expanded considerably since the inaugural event in 2005, which featured a single concert with four bands at the Ramshorn…

SNJO plays Steely Dan

19 Jun 2008

GLASGOW INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, Tue 24 Jun The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra have always covered a wide-ranging repertoire, from swing era staples such as Ellington, Basie and Goodman through to newly commissioned…

Various - Miles from India

19 Jun 2008

JAZZ (Times Square Records) Bob Belden is the producer of the comprehensive Columbia box sets of Miles Davis’ music, an immersion that has given him an authoritative grasp of the trumpeter’s work. Indian music was an area that Miles hardly explored…

5 Reasons To Go See - Theo Travis's Double Talk

5 Jun 2008

1 He’s got a sound in his head Double Talk was put together specifically to explore a sound that Theo had in his head, featuring his saxes and flute alongside the brilliant Mike Outram on guitar, Hammond organ wiz Paul Whittaker and ex-Fairground…

Bill Frisell - History, Mystery

5 Jun 2008

JAZZ (Nonesuch) This is the biggest group that the guitarist has used on record in a while, but the eight-piece ensemble – incorporating a string quartet of violin, viola, cello and bass – has an intimate, chamber music feel that never feels crowded…

Lau - Lau Live

5 Jun 2008

FOLK (Navigator Records) Lau’s combination of traditional roots and an openness to experiment is the hallmark of this scintillating disc, recorded in concert at the Bongo Club, Edinburgh back in December. It seems they have been gigging relentlessly…

Nils Petter Molvaer - Re-Vision

5 Jun 2008

JAZZ (Emarcy) Trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer first made his mark round these parts with the excellent jazz quintet Masqualero in the late 1980s, but became better known as one of the prime begetters of the Norwegian Nu-Jazz phenomenon with the release…

Le Weekend

22 May 2008

JAZZ Tolbooth, Stirling, Fri 23–Sun 25 May With Triptych now but a memory, the eclecticism of Le Weekend is brought into even sharper focus as an important vehicle for music that eludes the attention of more conventional mainstream events. This year’s…

Kevin MacKenzie - Chiasmus

22 May 2008

JAZZ (Laundry Room Music) Guitarist Kevin MacKenzie’s first set of original compositions since he recorded his nine-piece Creative Scotland Award project in 2004 features a fine quartet with saxophonist Julian Argüelles, bassist Aidan O’Donnell and…

Outhouse - Outhouse

22 May 2008

JAZZ (Babel) LOOP collective alumni Outhouse take their name from the garden shed-cum-studio in which they developed their freely improvised approach to contemporary jazz, using compositions as frameworks for free exploration of the musical material.

Session A9 - Bottlenecks and Arm-Breakers

8 May 2008

FOLK (RAJ Records) Session A9 are not the only four-fiddle ‘supergroup’ on the Scottish folk scene, but like both Blazin’ Fiddles and Fiddlers’ Bid, they have evolved their own distinctive approach to the format. That sense of individuality is down to…

Capercaillie - Roses and Tears

24 Apr 2008

FOLK (Vertical Records) Capercaillie have done very nicely with their particular fusion of traditional music with more contemporary influences, and it is hardly likely that they are going to suddenly throw all that aside in pursuit of some radical new…

Enrico Rava & Stefano Bollani

24 Apr 2008

JAZZ Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Tue 29 Apr With Assembly Direct planning no new activity at The Lot until after the Edinburgh Festival (a direct result of last year’s changes to the Scottish Arts Council’s distribution of jazz funding, although…

Jonathan Harvey - Body Mandala

24 Apr 2008

CONTEMPORARY (NMC) Jonathan Harvey was Composer in Association with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra from 2005-7, and was a central figure in the recent IRCAM weekend in Glasgow. This CD includes two compositions written in his Glasgow residency…

Neil Cowley Trio - Loud . . . Louder . . . Stop

24 Apr 2008

JAZZ (Cake Music) Pianist Neil Cowley and his cohorts, bassist Richard Sadler and drummer Evan Jenkins, appear in Scotland this month as part of the last Triptych festival, and rate among the hipper items on the current UK jazz scene. Lauded for…

Heidi Talbot - In Love and Light

10 Apr 2008

FOLK (Navigator Records) It seems folk singers just ain’t content with being plain old folk singers these days. Admittedly, the boundaries between folk and the singer-songwriter game have long been fairly blurred anyway, but more and more of the…

London & Glasgow Improvisers Orchestras - Separately & Together

10 Apr 2008

JAZZ (Emanem Records) For reasons both practical and aesthetic large ensembles have been the exception rather than the rule in the world of free improvisation. Both the London and the rather younger Glasgow Improvisers Orchestras have happily flown in…

The Teak Project

10 Apr 2008

JAZZ (First Hand Records) The Teak Project is a collaboration between sitar player Jonathan Mayer (son of Indo-jazz fusion pioneer John Mayer), guitarist Justin Quinn and tabla player Neil Craig. They describe the project as a collaboration of…

Arthurs.Høiby.Ritchie - Explications

27 Mar 2008

JAZZ (Not Applicable) The Ritchie in this triumvirate is Scottish drummer Stu, and his work with the likes of Colin Steele and the excellent Trianglehead will mean he needs no further introduction in these parts. Anyone who has followed the more…

Box Club - Box Club

27 Mar 2008

FOLK (BoxClubRecords) The accordion is an instrument that still has an image problem in some quarters. Box Club are out to counter that perception by presenting the venerable instrument in much more contemporary trappings, including a slick visual…

John Taylor and Gwilym Simcock

27 Mar 2008

JAZZ Strathclyde Suite, Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Thu 3 Apr; Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Fri 4 Apr This concert marks a new venture in jazz promotion in Scotland. Singer Todd Gordon reckons he has spotted a gap in the current market for promotions at…

Kronos Quartet & Wu Man - The Cusp of Magic

13 Mar 2008

CONTEMPORARY (Nonesuch) The music of Terry Riley has run through the repertoire of the acclaimed contemporary music specialists the Kronos Quartet like a thread. No surprise, then, that they should have chosen to mark the composer’s 70th birthday with…

Robert Glasper

13 Mar 2008

JAZZ The Lot, Edinburgh, Thu 27 Mar Blue Note recording artist Robert Glasper has made one of the more successful attempts to merge the influences of jazz with contemporary urban forms, and particularly hip hop. While such experiments often end up…

Ron Blake - Shayari

13 Mar 2008

JAZZ (Mack Avenue Records) American saxophonist Ron Blake is most likely to be familiar to UK-based listeners through his work with trumpeter Roy Hargrove and bassist Christian McBride. His third album as a leader finds him in generally pensive mood…

Ross Ainslie & Jarlath Henderson - Partners In Crime

13 Mar 2008

FOLK (Vertical Records) While many piping recordings are primarily of interest to the piping community, this disc follows the lead of Ross Ainslie’s late teacher, Gordon Duncan, in aiming at a more diverse audience. The players are two of the…

Bugge Wesseltoft - IM

28 Feb 2008

JAZZ (Jazzland) The slow, minimal single notes shrouded in a delicate shimmering echo on ‘deIMAGER’ is an extreme example, but the general mood of the music on the Norwegian pianist’s latest outing is notably understated and reflective, with the…

Christian Scott - Anthem

28 Feb 2008

JAZZ (Concord Jazz) Under the direction of its founder, the late Carl Jefferson, the Concord Jazz label was a haven for straight-ahead mainstream swing. Its new corporate identity within the Universal group has seen the label branching out in more…

David Patrick's Bohemians

28 Feb 2008

JAZZ The Lot, Edinburgh, Wed 5 Mar; Tolbooth, Stirling, Fri 7 Mar Edinburgh-based pianist David Patrick has been putting together some fascinating combinations in recent times. In the wake of collaborations with two of the best saxophonists on the UK…

Moving Hearts - Live in Dublin

28 Feb 2008

FOLK (RubyWorks) Reunions can often be disappointing affairs, but the occasional return to action of this mighty Irish band have been notable exceptions. This album was recorded on home ground last year, and if their pioneering fusion of folk with…

Catriona Macdonald - Over the Moon

14 Feb 2008

FOLK (Peerie Angel) This is fiddler Catriona Macdonald’s first solo release since 2000, and allows us to hear her away from immediate juxtaposition with collaborators on the same instrument in her regular bands, Scotland’s Blazin’ Fiddles and String…

Judith Weir - The Welcome Arrival of Rain

14 Feb 2008

CONTEMPORARY (NMC Records) Scottish composer Judith Weir has enjoyed a prominent profile recently, with the world premiere of a new work from the SCO in December, and a whole weekend devoted to her music at the Barbican last month, much of it…

Pat Metheny - Day Trip

14 Feb 2008

JAZZ (Nonesuch) Trio has been a recurring format in the work of guitarist Pat Metheny, and has invariably induced a creative response to the open textures and responsive interplay of his collaborators. Despite digressions into spikier and more…

Portico Quartet and Basquiat Strings

14 Feb 2008

JAZZ Voodoo Lounge, Edinburgh, Tue 19 Feb The Portico Quartet have been grabbing a lot of attention since the release of their debut album last year. Part of the buzz has definitely centred on the unusual instrument at the heart of their distinctive…

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…

Blazin' Fiddles - Live

31 Jan 2008

(Blazin’ Fiddles) FOLK The Scottish fiddle supergroup are caught in full flight in this gig in Glenuig last summer, and in a way that has never quite been replicated in their studio recordings. Even the band feel they have not done themselves…

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…

Celtic Connections

17 Jan 2008

Music isn’t what it used to be. This is something we have to be thankful for as the constant evolution, recycling and re-fashioning of music means there’s always someone out there trying to do things a bit differently. While there’s been much carping…

Pharoah Sanders

17 Jan 2008

JAZZ The Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, Tue 29 Jan The chance to hear jazz patriarch Pharoah Sanders in a small venue doesn’t come around often, and should be a memorable experience. He first came to wide notice when his acerbic, free-blowing saxophone…

Jamil Sheriff Octet - Backchat

17 Jan 2008

JAZZ (Jazz Services) This disc marks the launch of the new Recording Support Scheme begun last year by the UK’s jazz umbrella organisation, Jazz Services, and gets the scheme off to an auspicious start. Pianist Jamil Sheriff hails from Bolton, and…

Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra - Exploration

17 Jan 2008

JAZZ (Spartacus Records) There is ample evidence here that the flow of talent on the Scottish jazz scene continues unabated. Saxophonist Tommy Smith launched this big band at his own expense in 2002 to help foster the cream of Scotland’s emerging…

Opening Concert: Common Ground

4 Jan 2008

CELTIC CONNECTIONS Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Wed 16 Jan Celtic Connections will launch this year with what artistic consultant Donald Shaw likens to a giant session. Common Ground will be led on stage by John McCusker, and will feature a host of…

Aonghas Grant - The Hills of Glengarry

4 Jan 2008

FOLK (Shoogle Records) Left-handed fiddle maestro Aonghas Grant can’t be accused of saturating the market with recordings – this disc is his first since the 1977, and that album was his only previous effort. Nonetheless, he has built a…

Catriona McKay - Starfish

4 Jan 2008

FOLK (Glimster Records) Fresh from her triumph in winning the Instrumentalist of the Year award at the Scots Trad Music Awards in early December, harpist Catriona McKay’s debut solo album confirms her high standing among those in the harp world know.

Gwilym Simcock - Perception

4 Jan 2008

JAZZ Perception (Basho Records) Simcock’s flowing pianism and fertile musical imagination are constantly to the fore in a selection of his own impressive compositions on this much-anticipated and highly accomplished debut album, rounded out by…

Islands

4 Jan 2008

CELTIC CONNECTIONS Strathclyde Suite, Glasgow, Thu 17 Jan The irony of this Celtic Connections presentation of Luke Daniels and Donald Grant’s Islands is that Grant will not be there to take part. The Highland-born violinist has a very active…

Theo Travis - Double Talk

4 Jan 2008

JAZZ (33 Jazz) Theo Travis has a well-established love affair with the much-maligned genre of prog rock that continues to bear fruit in his own band as well as in Soft Machine Legacy, where he replaced the late Elton Dean. The saxophonist (who is also…

E.S.T. - Live in Hamburg

13 Dec 2007

JAZZ (ACT) This double CD from an ecstatically received set in Hamburg on the Tuesday Wonderland tour in 2006 provides an authentic record of the band on a good night. When they are on song, E.S.T. (the Esbjörn Svensson Trio) are arguably the most…

Trianglehead - Exit Strategy

13 Dec 2007

JAZZ (Trianglehead) The Edinburgh-based Trianglehead are one of the most adventurous jazz units to have emerged on the Scottish scene in recent times, and their second CD confirms that they have lost none of that exploratory spirit. The core…

Calum Martin - The Megantic Outlaw: A Gaelic Legend

29 Nov 2007

FOLK The Megantic Outlaw: A Gaelic Legend (Ridge Records) Calum Martin is better known for leading the Lewis Gaelic Psalm Singers these days, but this CD goes back to 1983, when the original version of his Gaelic-rock opus was issued. The songs were…

Delta Saxophone Quartet - Dedicated to You . . . But You Weren’t Listening

29 Nov 2007

CONTEMPORARY Dedicated to You . . . But You Weren’t Listening (Moonjune) The Delta Saxophone Quartet have been around since 1984, but this project involves the group engaging with the music of an even earlier band, Soft Machine. Their approach to…

Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra

29 Nov 2007

Glasgow’s large free improvisation ensemble has already racked up a number of significant collaborations with major figures on the international improv scene, and score another coup here with the premiere of a Scottish Arts Council-funded project to…

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…

Chihiro Yamanaka

15 Nov 2007

JAZZ Lach Doch Mal (Emarcy) This young Japanese pianist makes her Scottish debut this issue at The Lot, and follows in the wake of Hiromi in being snapped up by a major label. Like many of our own young jazz musicians, she has studied both in London…

Portico Quartet

15 Nov 2007

JAZZ Knee-Deep in the North Sea (Babel Vortex) The first release on the new label jointly run by Oliver Weindling’s The Babel Label and the London jazz club The Vortex features the debut album from a young group attracting a lot of attention at the…

William Parker & Billy Bang

15 Nov 2007

A rare chance to catch two of the great masters on the American free jazz scene as bassist William Parker and violinist Billy Bang team up for a spontaneous and exploratory meeting of musical minds. The Lot, Edinburgh, Wed 21 Nov.

Gordon Duncan - album review

Jazz

1 Nov 2007

Admirers of the late piper will spot the echo of his debut album Just For Seumas in this collection of previously unissued cuts, broadcast sessions and limited release rarities. Gordon did not live to complete a fourth studio album for Greentrax, but…

Herbie Hancock - album review

Jazz

1 Nov 2007

Herbie Hancock is by no means the first jazz artist to devote his attention to a disc of music by Joni Mitchell, and the singer herself has often turned to both jazz musicians and idioms in her work. Hancock’s reputation and some big-name guests will…

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…

Lockerbie Jazz Festival

18 Oct 2007

The Lockerbie festival is establishing a good reputation on the Scottish jazz circuit, and boasts another strong traditional-to-mainstream line-up this year, headed by the likes of saxophonists Jesse Davis and Tommy Smith, pianist Brian Kellock…

Old Blind Dogs

18 Oct 2007

FOLK Four on the Floor (Vertical Records) Old Blind Dogs celebrated their 15th anniversary with a concert in Findhorn in April that featured the current quartet with several former members, including singers Ian F Benzie and Jim Malcolm. The…

Pat Metheny

18 Oct 2007

JAZZ Secret Story (Nonesuch) When Secret Story first came out in 1992, it marked something of a departure in the guitarist’s work. Reaction to it may well depend on what it is about that work that attracts you – the smooth fusioneer or the…

Daimh - album review

4 Oct 2007

The addition of Lewis-born Gaelic singer Calum Alex MacMillan to their well-established instrumental line-up has added a new dimension to the music of Dàimh, a band with roots in the West Highlands, but a personnel that includes an American (fiddler…

Stan Tracey Orchestra

Jazz

4 Oct 2007

Stan Tracey turned 80 this year, and is still going strong. Everyone does it now, but the pianist was a pioneer in setting up his own record label, Steam, in the 1970s. ReSteamed is dedicated to re-releasing classic but long unavailable recordings…

Dàimh

20 Sep 2007

FOLK Crossing Point (Greentrax) The addition of Lewis-born Gaelic singer Calum Alex MacMillan to their well-established instrumental line-up has added a new dimension to the music of Dàimh, a band with roots in the West Highlands, but a personnel that…

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…

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…

Martin Simpson

6 Sep 2007

FOLK Like Christy Moore, Martin Simpson has an unconventional and idiosyncratic voice that is not technically great, but knocks spots of most of the competition in expressiveness and know-how. He has the priceless ability to make any song he sings…