27 June 2025Scottish harper plays Lichfield and the Lakes
Scottish harper Karen Marshalsay is among the attractions appearing at Lichfield Festival, which runs in the Staffordshire city from 8-20 July.
Lichfield is feted as one of the UK’s most eclectic multi-arts festivals with world-class artists, new talent, and local voices from music, theatre, dance, comedy and literature converging on venues across the city.
Popular folk act The Unthanks, Spandau Ballet singer Tony Hadley, the world-famous Black Dyke Band, choral group Tenebrae, and jazz singer Jacqui Dankworth with the Carducci Quartet all appear in Lichfield Cathedral.
Also in the Cathedral, renowned bass-baritone Sir Willard White and Brodsky Quartet join forces to present classics from the Great American Songbook and there are Cathedral dates for Strictly Come Dancing dancer-choreographer Neil Jones and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales with exciting young violinist Hana Chang.
Karen Marshalsay presents traditional and original music on all three harps from the Scottish tradition in The Hub @ St Mary’s on Thursday 17th July. The harper, who releases her second album, Eadarainn a' Chruit : Between Us the Harp, soon, also plays Zeffirellis in Ambleside on Friday 18th July.
26 June 2025BBC Radio Scotland Young Jazz Musician 2025 invites applications
Entries are now being accepted for the BBC Radio Scotland Young Jazz Musician 2025.
Now in its third year, the competition’s previous winners, pianist Ben Shankland and guitarist Timmy Allan, have gone on to some acclaim and are now working on the Scottish and UK jazz scenes.
Young musicians living in Scotland who are between the ages of 18 and 27 are invited to apply.
The closing date for applications is Monday 8th September at 4pm. The final will take place at BBC Scotland’s Pacific Quay HQ on Sunday 9th November and will be broadcast on BBC Radio Scotland.
24 June 2025Fans collective releases third Teenage Fanclub tribute compilation
The Teenage Fanclub Fanclub collective returns with a new tribute album, What They Do to Me Volume Three, celebrating the Scottish alt-rock band’s Post-Creation Years, on 4th July.
Following previous successes with compilation projects, the collective’s latest recording explores their heroes’ Lightships and Teenage Fanclub albums as well the band’s collaboration with American singer-guitarist Jad Fair.
In homage to Teenage Fanclub’s legacy and inspiration, the project includes individually recorded contributions from the Western Isles to Southern Britain and the Republic of Ireland and from Berlin and Gothenberg to Michigan and Athens in the USA and Argentina.
All tracks have been expertly mastered by Mark Rolfe at Winnetka Records and the album has been released with the blessing of Gerard Love, Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley and Jad Fair.
The album will be available exclusively on Bandcamp, with all proceeds going to the charity Tiny Changes.
Mark Rolfe said: “These songs mean so much to us. As Teenage Fanclub fans, we’ve always belonged to a secret society — one that truly appreciates the historical significance of such extraordinary songwriters as Blake, Love, and McGinley. We all feel a calling duty to examine and share that feeling.”
20 June 2025Orchestra founder Tommy Smith resigns from the SNJO
Saxophonist Tommy Smith has stepped down from his role as Artistic Director of the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra with effect from 19th June.
Smith, who founded the SNJO in 1995 has also relinquished his place on the SNJO Board and doesn’t expect to work with either the SNJO or its youth wing again.
“After more than three decades at the helm, it was a difficult decision,” said Smith. “I remain deeply proud of the artistic legacy we have built together.”
Through his wide-ranging contacts Smith was able to bring some of the greatest jazz artists to Scotland. Among the collaborators who complimented the orchestra’s soloing and ensemble playing are trumpeter Randy Brecker, vocalists Dame Cleo Laine and Kurt Elling, drummer Peter Erskine, percussionist Trilok Gurtu, saxophonist Benny Golson and guitarists John Scofield and Mike Stern.
“Working with musicians of that calibre helped to shape the orchestra into a world-class ensemble and gave the SNJO a rare international standing while providing homegrown talent with the opportunity to perform at the highest level,” said Smith. “I leave with a heavy heart, but with confidence that the musical and institutional foundations we have laid will serve the SNJO well in the years ahead.”
In addition to founding the SNJO, in 2002 Smith instigated the Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra to provide an outlet for the best young jazz musicians in Scotland. The TSYJO has already been renamed the Scottish National Youth Jazz Orchestra, showing how quickly things move on.
29 April 2025Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival announces 2025 programme
Guitarists Julian Lage, Martin Taylor & Ulf Wakenius and Nathan Somevi, pianists Joe Webb, Dave Milligan and Paul Harrison, and Peter Johnstone’s International Organ Quartet are among the attractions announced for Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival, which runs from 11th to 20th July.
Joe Webb, who will be returning to Edinburgh to play solo piano at the Queen’s Hall in October, brings his trio to the festival, having made an outstanding appearance with trumpet star Wynton Marsalis in the city last August. Dave Milligan showcases his new band, Chroma, and Paul Harrison will play a concert inspired by Keith Jarrett’s famous Koln Concert.
Pianist Pawel Kaczmarczyk is among a number of Polish musicians who will be visiting the festival and drummer Tom Bancroft leads the Playtime collective and guests in a tribute to saxophonist Henry Threadgill.
15 April 2025Testimony bears witness to Bancroft's solo saxophone mastery
solo saxophone, as the 6th release on his Myriad Streams platform on
Friday 25th April.
Recorded during lockdown in 2021 in a barn on the smallholding he and
his wife, Jude, had recently moved into, Testimony was musically
completely unplanned and spontaneous.
“I was exploring the amazing acoustics of the barn and trying to learn how
to make videos for social media,” says Bancroft. “So, I set up some
cameras and a nice microphone and thought, ‘Let’s see what happens...’”
After pressing the record buttons on his laptop and cameras, Bancroft
played his tenor saxophone for just over thirty minutes.
“I improvised with no intention or plan. To be honest, while I was playing, I
was feeling that the whole thing was a waste of time, that I couldn’t play,
my inner critic was in full flow.”
Suspecting that what he had recorded was worthless, Bancroft almost
deleted the file. But on listening back to it over the subsequent days, he
discovered that he had captured what he now considers the most
profound piece of music of his career to date.
Bancroft, who emerged as part of a generation of jazz musicians in
Scotland that was defined by the trailblazing John Rae Collective, in which
the saxophonist joined trumpeter Colin Steele, pianist Brian Kellock,
guitarist Kevin Mackenzie, bassist Kenny Ellis and drummer John Rae,
has been a force on the UK scene since the late 1980s.
He has led ensembles from trios to orchestras and multimedia projects,
and as well as fronting his acclaimed international quartet, with American
bassist Reid Anderson, Norwegian drummer Thomas Strønen, and
English guitarist Mike Walker. He was a key part of the much-lauded Trio
AAB, with drumming twin Tom and guitarist Kevin Mackenzie. A recent
successful tour saw the launch of Bancroft's new trio, The Beautiful Storm
with guitarist Graeme Stephen and Indian percussionist Gyan Singh, with
whom Bancroft released the enthusiastically received duo album, Birth &
Death.
recent years and Bancroft, in taking on the role of storyteller and exploring
sound worlds of beauty and expression, hopes that Testimony has added
to this genre.
that is very much my own work that captures more than just the notes
formed in the moment and I am proud and excited to release it into the
world.”
14 April 2025Harper Karen Marshalsay plays Lichfield and the Lakes
Scottish harper Karen Marshalsay is among the attractions appearing at Lichfield Festival, which runs in the Staffordshire city from 8-20 July.
Lichfield is feted as one of the UK’s most eclectic multi-arts festivals with world-class artists, new talent, and local voices from music, theatre, dance, comedy and literature converging on venues across the city.
Popular folk act The Unthanks, Spandau Ballet singer Tony Hadley, the world-famous Black Dyke Band, choral group Tenebrae, and jazz singer Jacqui Dankworth with the Carducci Quartet all appear in Lichfield Cathedral.
Also in the Cathedral, renowned bass-baritone Sir Willard White and Brodsky Quartet join forces to present classics from the Great American Songbook and there are Cathedral dates for Strictly Come Dancing dancer-choreographer Neil Jones and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales with exciting young violinist Hana Chang.
Karen Marshalsay presents traditional and original music on all three harps from the Scottish tradition in The Hub @ St Mary’s on Thursday 17th July. The harper, who has just recorded her second album, Eadarainn a' Chruit : Between Us the Harp, also plays Zeffirellis in Ambleside on Friday 18th July.