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04 November 2024Acoustic Guitar Duets is next release to feature Irish guitar master Louis Stewart

Following international acclaim for The Dublin Concert by Jim Hall and Louis Stewart, including a rave review from Downbeat magazine, Livia Records releases another guitar duo album featuring Louis Stewart, this time with Martin Taylor.
 
 
Originally released in 1986, Acoustic Guitar Duets showcases the skill and effervescence that the two guitarists produced together on tour after they met while working with the legendary French swing violinist Stephane Grappelli.
 
 
They went on to form two-thirds of the international touring group The Great Guitars in the 1990s after Barney Kessel, one of Stewart's main inspirations, suggested that Stewart replace him when he became ill.
 
 
Acoustic Guitar Duets is released on Friday 8th November.
 

31 October 2024Nominees for the Scottish Jazz Awards 2024 are announced

The nominees for the Scottish Jazz Awards have been announced and voting is now open to the public to decide the winners. The awards will be presented at a ceremony in the Savings Bank in Glasgow on Thursday 28th November.

 

The nominees are:

 

Rising Star Award, sponsored by Musicians' Union

Chun-Wei Kang
Laura Oghagbon
Roan Anderson
Simon Herberholz
Timmy Allan

 

Best Instrumentalist Award, sponsored by ESP Music Rentals

Ben Shankland
Fergus McCreadie
Helena Kay
Norman Willmore
Noushy

 

The Fionna Duncan Best Vocalist Award, sponsored by Whighams Jazz Club

Gaia Jeannot
kitti
Niki King
Rachel Lightbody
Seonaid Aitken

 

Best Band Award, sponsored by S.M. Lighting (Scotland) Ltd

Azamiah
Mama Terra
Matt Carmichael Quintet
Modern Vikings
Secret Path Trio

 

Best Album Award, sponsored by Rightsbridge & EmuBands

Atlantic Road Trip - ONE
corto.alto - Bad With Names
Dan Brown - Nomad
Fergus McCreadie - Stream
Modern Vikings - Tales from the Skald

 

A Critics' Choice Award sponsored by Inhouse Event Productions will also be awarded at the ceremony.

 

Votes can be cast online at https://www.jazzfest.co.uk/awards/

30 October 2024Pianist Zoe Rahman is among the winners at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards

Pianist Zoe Rahman is among the winners at the Parlimentary Jazz Awards, which were announced on Tuesday 29th October in London.

 

Rahman, whose partnership with saxophonist Helena Kay in a concert in Edinburgh recently was a great success, won the Album of the Year title for her octet's The Colour of Sound release.

 

Emma Smith won Vocalist of the Year, saxophonist Emma Rawicz the Instrumentalist of the Year, and trumpeter Ife Ogunjobi won the Newcomer of the Year title. Pianist-composer Nikki Yeoh won the Jazz Education award, harpist Alina Bzhezhinska's HipHarpCollective won the Ensemble of the Year, The Verdict in Brighton took Venue of the Year, and Radio 6 presenter Gilles Peterson won the Media Award.

 

The Services to Jazz Award went to George Nelson's Moment's Notice and there were Special APPJAG Awards for singer Anita Wardell and bassist-educator Paula Gardner.

26 October 2024Hep Records founder Alastair Robertson dies

Alastair Robertson, who championed jazz from both sides of the Atlantic through his Hep Records label, has died at the age of 83.

 

A former art teacher who turned his love of big band jazz into a flourishing business, Alastair founded Hep in 1974 after securing the rights to transcription recordings of some of his favourite bands.

 

He released albums by Fletcher Henderson, Jimmie Lunceford, Andy Kirk, Boyd Raeburn, Sam Donahue and Slim and Slam (singer-guitarist Slim Gaillard and bassist Slam Stewart) before adding a more contemporary side to the label.

 

Turning his hand to record production, Alastair encouraged British musicians including pianist Eddie Thompson, saxophonist Bobby Wellins and trumpeter Jimmy Deuchar and although he particularly enjoyed working with the musicians of his own era, he also released albums by younger players including saxophonists Tommy Smith and Bobby Watson and trumpeter Robert Mazurek, whom he heard during a residency at the Edinburgh Fringe. The pianist Jessica Williams was another musician whom Alastair felt deserved greater attention.

 

One of Alastair’s favourite achievements was the rediscovery of saxophonist Don Lanphere, whose playing Alastair knew from his time with Woody Herman. Lanphere had fallen into drug addiction but with Alastair’s support he returned with half a dozen top quality albums, beginning with the energetic, brilliantly accomplished From Out of Nowhere. Lanphere with Alastair's help, briefly formed a live partnership with British trumpeter Guy Barker.

 

Saxophonists Spike Robinson, Herb Geller and Joe Temperley were other favourites Alastair got behind and he was proud to have the Glaswegian guitarist Jim Mullen and singer, Tina May, who Alastair rated as "the best", on his label. A live album by Irish guitarist Louis Stewart, which was recorded at the Tron in Edinburgh when Alastair seized the opportunity to capture another musician he greatly admired, was another source of pride.

 

A particular memory of Alastair is the enormous gramophone horn that seemed to take up virtually a whole room in his top floor flat in London Street, Edinburgh and on which he used to listen to 78 rpm records, although he was also a stickler for good sound quality on the vinyl albums and later CDs that he supervised.

24 October 2024Drumming legend Steve Gadd plays Glasgow and Edinburgh concerts

Drumming legend Steve Gadd returns to Scotland with his Danish saxophone and organ partners in Blicher Hemmer Gadd to play dates in Glasgow and Edinburgh during November.

 

Celebrating their tenth anniversary, the trio will play at Adelaide Church in Glasgow on Saturday 16th November and The Liquid Rooms in Edinburgh on Sunday 17th as part of a UK tour.

 

Gadd, who is renowned for his trademark contributions to Steely Dan’s Aja, Paul Simon’s Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover and Chick Corea’s Three Quartets, among many other magical examples, got together with four-time Danish Grammy-winning saxophonist Michael Blicher and Hammond organist Dan Hemmer to play the direct and grooving soul jazz that all three enjoy.

 

Their previous visits to Scotland have produced memorable concerts of brilliant musicianship and passionate delivery.

04 October 2024New Focus make the Classical Connection in Dunfermline

Leading Scottish jazz musicians, pianist Euan Stevenson and saxophonist Konrad Wiszniewski are among the attractions announced for the Music on Sundays programme in Dunfermline between October and March.

 

Working under the name New Focus, Stevenson and Wiszniewski have released two albums and appeared in concert and at festivals across the UK. Their presentation, The Classical Connection, which they bring to Dunfermline on 17th November at 3pm, has been enthusiastically received at Perth Festival of the Arts and Lichfield Arts Festival.

 

Praised for its entertaining approach and the excellence of the duo’s musicianship, The Classical Connection illustrates the common ground shared by classical composers and jazz musicians and features music by Liszt, Debussy, Gershwin, Bill Evans and Duke Ellington as well as New Focus originals.

 

Also appearing in the series are the Lantivet Duo, who combine classical and folk music on violin and piano, on 20th October. Violin and harpsichord duo, Benjamin Shute and Anastasia Abu Bakar play on 8th December followed by Trio Écossaise on 19th January. The Sinfonia Chamber Players appear on 16th February and the Triquetra Brass Trio on 16th March.

 

All concerts take place at Viewfield Baptist Church in Dunfermline.

28 September 2024Cork-born pianist John Donegan’s Irish Sextet releases its third album

Pianist John Donegan releases the third album by his Irish Sextet, We Will Meet Again, Sometime on Jayde Records on Friday 18th October.

 

The sextet, whose previous albums have enjoyed enthusiastic receptions on both sides of the Atlantic, is joined on four tracks by guitarist Hugh Buckley, whose contributions include a feature in dedication to Ireland's late guitar master, Louis Stewart.

 

Family, friends and geographical features have been the inspiration for Donegan’s compositions over a series of recordings featuring various line-ups and these three touchstones emerge again on Donegan’s latest release with his super-talented Irish group.

 

The family aspect is underscored by the presence of Hugh Buckley who joins his cousins, saxophone-playing siblings Michael and Richie on the album.

 

Friendship is celebrated by A Ballad for Louis, which Donegan composed following Louis Stewart’s death in 2016 and has been waiting for the right moment to record it.

 

“Hugh did a lovely job on that track,” says Donegan. "All the guys had their parts in advance of the rehearsals that took place the day before recording, so they all came prepared and Hugh captured A Ballad for Louis in one take.”

 

The Irish Sextet represents the cream of Irish jazz. Alongside Michael (alto and soprano saxophones and flute) and Richie Buckley (tenor saxophone) in the front line is Linley Hamilton on trumpet and flugelhorn. Bassist Dan Bodwell and drummer John Daly provide, with Donegan, the assured, spring-heeled rhythms that allow the frontline to flourish and excite.

 

“It’s great to be able to write arrangements that you know the players are going to deliver,” says Donegan. “But it’s also great to know that these guys will bring superbly imaginative improvising and add character to the tunes.”

 

In a change of format from the Irish Sextet’s previous albums, We Will Meet Again, Sometime features the musicians in a variety of settings. The sextet features on four tracks, including the bossa-styled Little Miss Cleo, written for Donegan’s youngest grandchild, as does the septet with Hugh Buckley guesting. Two quartet pieces, I’m Just Nearby featuring Michael Buckley’s masterly flute playing, and the title track, with Richie Buckley on tenor saxophone. There are also two solo piano pieces, La Vita e Bella, which has strong gospel music influences, and By the Waters of Glencar, the latest in Donegan’s celebrations of Ireland’s musical tradition and locations.

 

The album title, We Will Meet Again, Sometime, reflects the uncertainty musicians can feel as freelances coming together in bands that by their very nature are not full-time enterprises.

 

“You want things to continue, of course,” says Donegan. “But you can’t be sure that they will and I wrote that piece to express thanks to all the guys and to say, let’s hope we can do this again because this is a great bunch of musicians and I’m so happy with the character and commitment they bring to the music.”

21 September 2024Saxophonist Tommy Smith releases album of duets with John Taylor

Saxophonist Tommy Smith has released Love Unrequited, a reflective album of duets recorded with the late great pianist John Taylor, through the internet music company, Bandcamp.

 

Recorded in New York in 2003, during the sessions that produced Smith’s Evolution album, with Taylor, saxophonist Joe Lovano, guitarist John Scofield, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Bill Stewart, Love Unrequited features largely longtime favourite tunes of Smith’s.

 

Billy Strayhorn's A Flower is a Lovesome Thing is a melody that Smith has played and returned to for over 30 years in various settings, including several duos and the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra. Jimmy Rowles' The Peacocks still often features in Smith’s duo gigs with pianist Peter Johnstone.

 

Smith's connection to Taylor dates back to 1988 when the saxophonist led a quartet featuring Taylor, Norwegian double bass master Arild Andersen and drummer John Marshall.

 

Taylor died in 2015, leaving a discography that includes albums with saxophonists Ronnie Scott, Alan Skidmore and John Surman, drummer Peter Erskine's trio and his own group Azimuth, whose song The Tunnel gained unexpected media attention when it was sampled by Canadian rapper Drake.

 

Smith says of Taylor: “He was an inspirational light that has gone out into the universe and a musician with the purest, most exquisite piano sound. I miss him profoundly and cherish the warm memory he has left behind."

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