Rob Adams Journalist

Pianist Paul Harrison releases Encontros, a personal celebration of the music of Brazilian composer Egberto Gismonti’s music, on Friday 5^th September.

One of the leading players on the vibrant Scottish jazz scene, Harrison was first attracted to Gismonti’s work after hearing Choro, Gismonti’s homage to the popular, intricate musical style that originated in 19^th century Rio de Janeiro.

“The music got under my skin,” says Harrison, who decided to explore Gismonti’s work and found vast resources of diverse musical riches. “I was particularly taken by the fact that Gismonti offered alternatives to samba and bossa nova, much though I like these styles, and that he was showing that Brazil had so much more music and so many rhythms. Each piece presented a challenge but in a good way and I quickly grew to love the diversity involved.”

Along with Scottish-based Brazilian bassist Mario Lima Caribe and drummer Stu Brown, Harrison formed Trio Magico specifically to play Gismonti compositions. The group became popular, earning return bookings at festivals but while the trio is at the heart of Encontros, the album is more than a Trio Magico recording.

“I wanted to highlight a variety of sounds and textures,” says Harrison. “I was very conscious that I’m not Brazilian and that as a jazz musician I might be expected to present this music in a standard jazz form of melody, solo, melody. But Gismonti’s music isn’t jazz in that sense, so I approached it in a way that – I hope - reflects its interesting structures and its various moods and dramatic qualities.”

Each track on Encontros has its own personality. As well as his colleagues from Trio Magico, Harrison invited Paris-based Brazilian percussionist Edmundo Carneiro, a long-time friend of bassist Mario Caribe who has played with major Brazilian artists including Tania Maria, Ivan Lins and Baden Powell, to add his nous and musical colour.

Harrison also invited Glasgow-based saxophonist Laura Macdonald, an enthusiastic admirer of Brazilian music in particular and South American music in general whom he has known and worked with for many years, to play on three tracks.

“Laura has worked with the Venezuelan pianist Leo Blanco, whose music, like Gismonti’s, has its own idiosyncrasies, and that helped to bring out the richness of the saxophone-piano duo Palhaco and the very delicate Meninas,” says Harrison.

Vocalist Rachel Lightbody added her way of negotiating intricate melodies, which Harrison describes as “untouchable”, and cellist Sua-Le brought another dimension, as did Fraser Fifield, whose low D whistle playing features on the ethereal Bianca.

As well as shining a light on Gismonti’s genius, Encontros is a showcase for Harrison’s skill and sensitivity across a range of music from the exuberant Karate, on which he adds melodica, to the tender, mysterious closing solo piano piece A Fala Da Paixão, which Harrison captured in the brief period before the other musicians arrived.

The album comes with an endorsement from Egberto Gismonti himself, with the Brazilian master noting, "it has humour, has grace, has freedom to play".

Saxophonist Brian Molley’s quartet brings samba and bossa nova to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with Espirito do Brasil, which runs at the Jazz Bar in Chambers Street from Thursday 14^th to Sunday 17^th August at 7pm.

Reimagining the music of Brazil’s favourite songwriter, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Glasgow-based Molley promises to fill the Jazz Bar with sunshine through his group’s own interpretations of Jobim classics including The Girl from Ipanema, Corcovado and Desafinado.

“Tom Jobim, as he’s also known, was an incredibly prolific and brilliantly consistent composer,” says Molley, whose group has played internationally with festival dates from Rochester in New York to Auckland in New Zealand via the Jarasum Jazz Festival in Seoul, South Korea and the RIFF festival in Rajasthan.

“His melodies are uniformly inspiring and while The Girl from Ipanema and How Insensitive are popular with UK audiences through hit versions recorded by Stan Getz and Frank Sinatra, there’s an incredible depth to his catalogue and we love to explore as much of it as a Fringe show’s duration allows.”

Already an experienced musician in jazz, classical and pop circles, Molley formed his quartet in 2012 and released its enthusiastically received first album, Clock, the following year. Subsequent albums have included collaborations with the Indian percussionist Krishna Kishor and with the Rajasthani traditional musicians, the Asin Langa Ensemble.

Espirito do Brasil is one of two shows that Molley's quartet will be peforming during the Fringe. On the afternoons of 16th and 17th August the group also performs And Jazz Came from Scotland, which illustrates the Scottish influence on the creation of this essentially American but now global music.

“I chose the guys in the quartet - pianist Tom Gibbs, double bassist Brodie Laird-Jarvie and drummer Stuart Brown – because they’re among the UK’s top jazz players,” says Molley. “But they are also incredibly versatile and open to playing different styles of music. We always have a great time when we play these Brazilian rhythms, ranging from sizzling samba to mellow bossa nova, and audiences seem to enjoy the music, too.”

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.”