Two years ago, the Fergus McCreadie Octet was the outstanding gig of the 2022 Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival. So when they commissioned new work from McCreadie for this year’s festival, expectations were running high. McCreadie and the octet didn’t [...]
I first saw e.s.t. when they played their first Edinburgh gig, in a crowded cellar bar. I had only gone because the promoter, an old friend, had insisted – something they’d never done before. I got the last seat, right [...]
Last month saxophonist Phil Bancroftreleased two albums on his new label – and streaming service – Myriad Streams. The first is a reissue of his 2004 quartet CD, Headlong, with international stars Mike Walker on guitar, Reid Anderson (of the Bad Plus) on bass and Thomas Strønen on drums; [...]
The Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival 2024 will take place in the city from 12-21 July, at several venues including the re-opened Jazz Bar. UKJN writers and Edinburgh residents Patrick Hadfield and Mark McKergow pick some events they are looking [...]
For their first full length album in eight years, Empirical have teamed up with Jason Rebello, who plays piano on all but one track, and Alex Hitchcock, tenor on three tracks. Hitchcock has been appearing as a guest on all [...]
Gary Husband is perhaps best known for his work as a sideman, not least in various line ups of John McLaughlin’s 4th Dimension. But he’s also released several records of piano music, leading trios and, more rarely, as a solo [...]
Pianist Adam Dyer‘s debut album is a winning combination of lively post-bop originals, some romantic ballads and a couple of reworked standards. With Eric Ford on drums and Jakub Cywinski on bass, he fronts a trio sensitive enough to let [...]
Marking the centenary of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra and pianist Makoto Ozone became the Royal Scottish National Orchestra’s latest guests in a performance of Tommy Smith‘s re-orchestration of the landmark composition. Gershwin’s was one of the first works to bring together [...]
Brought together by their affection for Sonny Rollins’ piano-less trios, QOW Trio is bursting with exuberant, energetic playing and imagination. Their second album manages to make what might seem a tired format lively and exhilarating: it positively fizzes with excitement. [...]
Every so often a record comes along that shows such skill and control that you just want to sit back and luxuriate in the music, happy to go along wherever the musicians wish to take you. Such is Chris Potter‘s [...]
