Showing @ Various venues, Edinburgh, Fri 22 – Sun 31 July
Firing the starting gun and setting the tone for Edinburgh’s festival season: The International Jazz and Blues Festival brings hot jazz, cool soul, and the deep dark blues to various locations around town.
With acts from around the globe performing the festival definitely lives up to the international in its title as well as providing a fantastic showcase for local talent.
Jazz and Blues are American art forms so it comes as no surprise that US artists provide many of the most anticipated shows in the programme. This year’s highlights include Blues Legend Robert Cray bending notes on the electric guitar, sax wunderkind James Carter blowing his audiences away and the current hippest man in jazz, Trombone Shorty rescuing his instrument from marching band limbo and inspiring a whole new generation to go home and play with their slides. Fellow denizens of the New Orleans’ scene in town include clarinettist Evan Christopher who does for woodwind what Mr Shorty does for brass, trumpeter Leroy Jones and the festival is proud to play host to the The Big Easy’s ambassador of music Lillian Boutte.
Other imports from the US include The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble currently taking over the world with their footstomping sound – and blues mastery from The Joe Louis Walker Band and The Sherman Robertson Band.
Sweden might not be a nation you associate with jazz but it’s got a long history of producing interesting and unique acts and this year the festival is giving special focus to these Scandinavian talents, each of whom take jazz down some extraordinary roads to produce some of the best contemporary sounds around.
The superb silky vocal talents of Lina Nyberg are combined with the trio Music Music Music in their own distinct take on Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story whilst alto saxophonist Fredrik Kronkvist and his quartet produce their exceptional modern jazz sound, both funky and complex. Jazz blended with the singer-songwriter tradition comes from Scottish born, Stockholm raised Emily McEwan; and the pop/jazz combo Erika and Josef highlight the flexibility of the musical form.
Another exotic blend comes from Magnus Ostrom, former drummer with EST who mixes the worlds or electronica, rock and jazz and turns them into a heady, intoxicating brew. Jacob Karlson, one of the greatest piano talents in Europe makes the keys sing as he plays with every musical form from folk to funk to create a sound all his own. Finally Zydeco, Blues, Funk, Reggae and everything inbetween that make you get up and shake your groove thang are on offer from the appropriately named Gumbo who cook up a delicious and spicy musical stew.
Of course this is the Edinburgh International Jazz and Blues Festival so there’s no forgetting the plethora of great Scottish jazz talent out there and many of the very best are in attendance this year. As well as local heroes Niki King and Tommy Smith there are supremely gifted instrumentalists and singers from across the country.
For the fourth year running the festival has organised the Scottish Jazz Expo, giving eight Scottish and Scottish-based musicians a chance to shine on the international stage through partnerships and video/recording deals. The artists and groups which make up this year’s Expo are: Tom Gibbs, Angela King, Mario Caribe, Konrad Wiszniewski, Chick Lyall and Rob Hall and Trio AAB the last of whom mix inventive jazz with the Indian violin brothers Ganesh Kumaresh for some international cross fertilisation.
The Edinburgh Festival Jazz Orchestra, a melding of the very best instrumental talents around, has two major concert projects, one a tribute to Woody Herman’s Second Herd band as well as a celebration of the great Miles Davis album Miles Ahead. On top of both these shows members of the orchestra, plus Expo talent, pay homage to the life and work of one of the members of Herman’s Second Herd: the great Stan Getz.
As for the rest of the world, France is here in presence of the wonderful interpreter of classic jazz songbook: Cecile McLorin Salvant. There’s plenty of Latin sounds on show with the Venezuelan singer Lino Rocha and Cuban timbalist Eric Alfonzo, providing Mambo and Salsa sounds with their eight piece band El Salson; as well as Rumba Caliente getting hips swaying to the Cuban beats.
Despite the name, Lokomotive Trio aren’t from Russia but Italy and are specialists in contemporary jazz, mixing traditional and classical tunes to create their unique sound. And Russian Jazz Rockers Pervoe Solnce‘s mixture of trumpet, accordion, cello and trance samples make their show something not to be missed.
So whatever the flavour of jazz or blues you care for – whether it’s traditional, be-bop, new bop, acid, jazz/soul, jazz/funk, jazz rock or a mix of all of the above you’d be hard pressed not to find something for you at this year’s festival. It’s truly both international and local – and to borrow from that old Fast Show sketch it’s truly… Great!