25 September 2023Dundee jazz musicians stage R.N.L.I. charity concert
Jazz musicians in Dundee have arranged a second fund-raising concert for the R.N.L.I. to take place in the Woodlands Hotel in Broughty Ferry on Saturday 21st October.
The concert follows the success of a similar event in February this year which raised over £1400 and will feature local musicians, Steve and Sheila Gaughan, the East Coast Jazzmen, Havana Swing and the Sunnysiders. The music will range from New Orleans-style jazz to Rheinhardt & Grappelli0influenced swing and jazz standards from the Great American Songbook.
Entrance is by donation of £10, or more. Doors open at 7pm and the concert begins at 7:30pm. There will be a jam session, which is open to all, to close the evening.
A CD stall will sell pre-loved jazz albums and a raffle will add to the concert proceeds, which will all go to the R.N.L.I. Members of the Broughty Ferry Lifeboat crew will be in attendance.
23 September 2023Legendary trumpeter Woody Shaw's debut album re-issued
Blackstone Legacy, the 1971 debut album by trumpeter Woody Shaw, has been reissued on vinyl by Los Angeles-based Craft Recordings and Jazz Dispensary.
Featuring Shaw leading a top flight session with saxophonist Gary Bartz, drummer Lenny White, bassist Ron Carter, multi-reeds master Bernie Maupin, electric bassist Clint Houston and pianist George Cables, Blackstone Legacy honoured Shaw’s bebop roots while also embracing the avant-garde.
In a career that was cut short when Shaw died, aged forty-five, in 1989, the New Jersey-rasied musician worked alongside such greats as Horace Silver, McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea, Andrew Hill, Max Roach and Art Blakey and was part of the band that recorded Weather Report co-founder Joe Zawinul’s 1970 album, Zawinul.
Blackstone Legacy launched a new era for Shaw, who would go on to release more than two dozen albums as a leader, including the GRAMMY®-nominated Rosewood in 1978.
The album has been remastered from the original analogue tapes and pressed on audiophile-quality 180-gram vinyl. It comes in a gatefold sleeve complete with the respected jazz writer Nat Hentoff’s original liner notes, which include commentary by Shaw.
15 September 2023Glasgow Americana announces its 2023 line-up
The Glasgow Americana festival returns with performers from the US, Canada, Ireland, England and Scotland appearing in venues across the city from the October 4th to 8th.
Nashville-based singer-songwriters Rod Picott and Jesse Terry play the Glad Café and the Rum Shack on Sunday 8th and Thursday 5th respectively and Canadian troubadour Lynn Hanson plays the CCA on Saturday 7th.
Representatives of the Scottish scene include Roseanne Reid, who shares the opening night bill with English singer-songwriter Robert Vincent at Websters Theatre, Kim Edgar, who plays the Glad Café on Friday 6th, and the Coaltown Daisies, who play the CCA on Saturday 7th.
The festival, which is helped by Creative Scotland funding, has been bringing Americana acts to Glasgow since 2007 and its founder, Kevin Morris said, "It has been such a challenging time for live music and it has been exciting putting together a festival with such a strong and diverse line-up. I am so proud that this festival has developed into a significant five days for many artists and gig goers – the positive feedback I receive and the enthusiasm we all share for Americana music is inspiring.”
11 August 2023Crowdfunding campaign aims to honour jazz singer Barbara Morrison
The Friends of Jazz at UCLA are crowdfunding to establish a scholarship in memory of jazz singer Barbara Morrison, who died aged seventy-two in 2022.
A popular visitor to Scotland, Barbara appeared at Edinburgh and Islay jazz festivals, as well as giving workshops, and she was presented with a Herald Angel for excellence during Edinburgh’s festival season for her intimate concerts at the Outhouse during the Fringe in 2009.
The crowdfunding campaign aims to create an endowed scholarship to fund the artistic development of student vocalists at UCLA as a lasting tribute to this great artist who was so generous with her knowledge and advice.
A former member of Ray Charles’ Raylettes, Barabara also worked with Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Joe Sample, Eddie Cleanhead Vinson, Nancy Wilson, Etta James and many other luminaries and toured internationally with the Philip Morris Superband.
21 July 2023Glass artist's war memorial goes on display in Scottish Parliament
The award-winning, internationally acclaimed glass artist Alison Kinnaird's installation War Memorial has gone on display in the public area of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.
Inspired by hearing the names of battles being fought in Ukraine, and thinking of all the names of wars and conflicts throughout the world and throughout history, Alison has created a poignant reminded of the human cost of war.
“No area seems untouched, and no lessons seem to be learned,” says Alison, whose glass works have been exhibited around the world. “Glass seemed the perfect medium in which to represent the fragility of life in time of war.”
All viewers of the piece are likely to find names relevant to their own country.
“The child in the centre is symbolic of the fact that war does not just affect the military,” says Alison, who is also a master of the Scottish small harp and led the revival in interest in the clarsach with her album The Harp Key in 1978. “But there’s also the fact that there is a child within each individual soldier.”
War Memorial will be on display in the Scottish Parliament for the next six months. Meanwhile, Alison's open studio Edinburgh Festival Fringe solo exhibition, Art in Glass, will be available for public viewing in Shillinghilli, Temple, EH23 4SH from August 1 – 31, 10am to 5pm. Look for the signs to Fringe Venue 244.