Kenny Mathieson

Arlo Guthrie

Folk runs in this family

12 Aug 2010

Following the same career as a famous parent can be a double-edged sword – a name can open doors, but it can also be a lot to live up to. Arlo Guthrie, son of folk legend Woody Guthrie, has carved out his own successful niche over four decades, but also…

NeWt play Led Zeppelin at the Jazz Bar

Hyper-imaginative and unconvential jazz trio

30 Jul 2010

What Is It? A hyper-imaginative and unconventional jazz trio formed by Australian trombonist Chris Greive, Aberdonian guitarist Graeme Stephens and American drummer Chris Wallace, all Edinburgh residents. Who are these guys? Three of the best…

Malinky

Facing up to change

20 Aug 2009

Malinky have been around on the Scottish folk scene for over a decade now, and went through a scenario that many young bands face – the loss of a particularly prominent member to a solo career. The band initially got together to allow singer Karine…

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…

Women in Harmony

Out of the Kitchen

14 Aug 2009

Women in Harmony is a self-described ‘girly trio’ consisting of three well-established Scottish singers and instrumentalists, Karine Polwart, Annie Grace and Corrina Hewat. The trio grew out of an informal get-together in Corrina’s kitchen back in…

Valery Ponomarev Quintet

Sharing A Global Language

13 Aug 2009

JAZZ It’s late August, it’s The Jazz Bar, so it must be time for Valery Ponomarev. The hard-hitting Russian has been coming to Scotland on a regular basis since the early 90s, and this Fringe residence for Bill Kyle has become something of a staple…

Eric Bogle & John Munro

Bidding a Fond Farewell

13 Aug 2009

FOLK In this Year of Homecoming, Scots-born singer and songwriter Eric Bogle is in the midst of a farewell to his homeland, having announced his intention to give up the touring game after this current excursion with fellow expat John Munro. Bogle…

Music from the Penguin Cafe

Revisiting a musical phenomenon

6 Aug 2009

The death of Simon Jeffes in 1997 seemed to bring an end to the intriguing story of the Penguin Café Orchestra. Jeffes had founded the group in the early 70s as a vehicle for his musical concept, which – as he told me when I interviewed him in 1994…

Kind of Blue - Colin Steele Quintet

6 Aug 2009

The year 1959 was something of a landmark in the annals of modern jazz, and yielded a number of classic jazz recordings, including Dave Brubeck’s Time Out, Charles Mingus’s Ah Um! and John Coltrane’s Giant Steps. Pre-eminent among them, though, is the…

Blazin' Fiddles

New face among the fiddles

6 Aug 2009

Blazin’ Fiddles first appeared on the Scottish folk scene for a series of concerts at the old Highland Festival a decade ago. They were supposedly only getting together as a one-off project, but proved such a success that they became a fixture. Duncan…

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…

Shooglenifty at the Fringe - Keep on Shooglin’

29 Jul 2009

When Shooglenifty burst onto the Scottish folk scene in the early 90s playing their radical new take on traditional music-meets-club culture (quickly dubbed ‘acid croft’), their impact was enormous. According to co-founder Garry Finlayson, there was no…

Edinburgh Jazz Festival Orchestra

Burns meets big band jazz

29 Jul 2009

The second of the Edinburgh Jazz Festival Orchestra’s two concerts turns from familiar ground with Duke Ellington into rather more uncharted waters. Robert Burns has been even more ubiquitous than usual in the course of this 250th anniversary year, but…

Continental shift at the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival

This year sees a fresh influx of New European Jazz

13 Jul 2009

While American jazz remains a central plank of the Edinburgh International Jazz and Blues Festival programme, its European counterpart is still well-represented. The Festival is an opportunity to both welcome back seasoned artists (or in the case of…

Scottish Jazz Expo at the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival

A showcase of new bands and fresh collaborations

13 Jul 2009

Like the Homegrown weekend at the Glasgow Jazz Festival, the Scottish Jazz Expo is aimed at raising the profile of our country's musicians. This year’s programme includes an impressive range of the most exciting developments here, alongside projects…

Fettes Jazz Festival

Swingin’ in the Marquee

21 Aug 2008

The fourth Fettes Jazz Festival offers another attractive weekend festival housed in a marquee in the grounds of Fettes College, with a programme that combines top local talent with some exciting guests. The familiar format features an opening session…

Five reasons to go and see: Tam White & The Dexters

21 Aug 2008

They’re an Edinburgh Institution - the mere mention of the name brings a warm glow to the hearts of Edinburgh music fans of a certain vintage. The band’s legendary residencies at the Preservation Hall and Platform 1 (both now gone as music venues) back…

Misterioso

Exploring Monk’s elusive mindscape

14 Aug 2008

The often chaotic, always creative and ultimately silent life and times of one of the greatest of all modern jazz giants, pianist Thelonious Monk, is celebrated in this amalgam of music, theatre and video projection from the London-based Theatralia…

Valery Ponomarev Quintet

Carrying the jazz message

7 Aug 2008

Reminders of the legacy of the great Art Blakey and the hard bop academy that was his Jazz Messengers show no signs of abating. Alto saxophonist Bobby Watson headlined a show at the Glasgow Jazz Festival last month, his first in Scotland since 1994, and…

Sinatra-Basie Sessions Revisited

7 Aug 2008

Singer (and now concert promoter) Todd Gordon is no stranger to the music of Frank Sinatra, and has often turned to themed shows built around songs and arrangements associated with the great man. For this outing with the Marcus Pope Big Band (first…

Barb Jungr sings Nina Simone

Barb’s hymn to Nina

31 Jul 2008

Barb Jungr has turned to the music of Nina Simone for her latest project, following the release of her Just Like a Woman album (a title that also neatly evokes her earlier Dylan project) with this live show dedicated to the woman whose voice and musical…

Anderson/Smith/Cosker

Nordic cool meets Scottish heat

31 Jul 2008

Saxophonist Tommy Smith’s current relationship with the Norwegian bass maestro Arild Andersen dates from 2005, when they got together as a duo at the Islay Jazz Festival. It was by no means their first encounter, however – Andersen was one of Tommy’s…

Stu Brown's Raymond Scott Project

Reviving a forgotten genius

31 Jul 2008

Drummer Stu Brown regards American pianist Raymond Scott as one of the great unrecognised musical geniuses of the 20th century, and has dedicated this project to performing the unique and often zany music of the man whose compositions earned him a cult…

Fettes Jazz Festival

16 Aug 2007

The jazz weekend under canvas in the grounds of Fettes College has become a bit of a staple of the otherwise rather thin jazz representation in the Fringe, and all the more so with absence of a jazz programme at The Lot this year. That has left Bill…