Blues

Ali McGregor – Jazz Cigarette

A sexy soulful rendition of songs that inspire

30 Jul 2010

It’s a fine woman who can wrap her vocal chords round Ella, Billie and, er, Britney, with suitable pizzazz. This is sexy soulfulness at its finest, with a harp thrown in. Having warmed up with stints in La Clique and Variety-Nite, here she keeps it real…

Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival 2010 begins

China Moses, Niki King and Hypnotic Brass Ensemble among highlights

22 Jul 2010

The ten-day fest kicks off again, and among our recommendations, we would include China Moses, an American singer based in Paris, with a soul background and a near obsession for the troubled diva, Dinah Washington; Niki King, Scotland’s own smoky-voiced…

Porgy and Bess takes centre stage at Edinburgh International Festival

Opéra de Lyon's production of Gershwins' crossover classic

16 Jul 2010

As operas go, it’s fair to say that Porgy and Bess blew in like a hurricane. When George and Ira Gershwin’s self-styled ‘American folk opera’ featuring a libretto by DuBose and Dorothy Heyward appeared on the New York stage in 1935, its cast of…

Preston Reed

Under the hammer

20 Aug 2009

Guitarist Preston Reed is a dazzling exponent of the guitar technique broadly known as ‘hammering-on’, a percussive method of playing on the neck that looks as impressive as it sounds. You can get a flavour from his CDs, but there is no substitute for…

Tam White and the Sermon Orchestra

Preaching a funky lesson

20 Aug 2009

Tam White is Scotland’s best-known blues voice, but he has a lot more than a 12-bar in his locker. His baptism as a pop singer in the 60s eventually led to the jazz-tinged blues of The Dexters, and on to settings that ranged from a celebrated duo with…

Barbara Morrison

Ebullient and expressive jazz singer

29 Jul 2009

Los Angeles-based singer Barbara Morrison has been a popular visitor to Scotland in recent years, and settles in to a Fringe residency via a couple of outings within the Jazz Festival programme. Raised in Michigan, she has an ebullient, wise-cracking…

Lost boy - a tribute to Chet Baker

A play, talk, film documentary and recital commemorate the jazz pin-up

13 Jul 2009

On 16 June 1952, Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker and Chet Baker played together in a small restaurant club in Inglewood, California. Baker was fresh out of the army and played trumpet to both Parker and Sonny Criss’ mercurial, blues-drenched alto sax. Within…

Best of the Rest - Jazz and Blues

Highlights of the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival

13 Jul 2009

Jazz on a Summer's Day, Eric Burdon and The Animals, The Hot Club of Cowtown, Martin Taylor/Sylvain Luc, Niki King, Baptiste Trotignon and Jools Holland and His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra

The Black Diamond Express

23 Aug 2007

Like the fastest train of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, The Black Diamond Express is, at full compliment, a nine-piece soaked in poetry, myth and bourbon. Led by the enigmatic Jack of Diamonds its combination of slide, acoustic and electric guitars over…

Seasick Steve

9 Aug 2007

Every now and then pop culture throws something into the public consciousness based solely on quality. It may not be fashionable, it’s not part of a new movement, it doesn’t fit into any scene, it’s just good. This year’s phenomenal anomaly is…

Benny Golson Quartet, Al Foster Quintent, Jeff 'Tain' Watts Quartet

19 Jul 2007

Edinburgh International Jazz and Blues Festival Roll with it Jazz goes back to its roots in the Festival’s ‘American Icons’ strand, as Kenny Mathieson discovers