All that jazz in Stereo

Jazz Scotland are embarking on a national jazz project in February and March. The bands include American saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, Scottish trumpeter Colin Steele and Scottish and long term US resident, saxophonist Joe Temperley, plus the 14-strong fusion juggernaut Fat-Suit, who perform in their hometown Glasgow on Tuesday, February 17, at Stereo.
By Nuala Naughton
Published 14th Feb 2015, 08:00 BST

After their sell-out show at last year’s Aberdeen Jazz Festival, Fat-Suit have a new album – Jugaad – which has been receiving critical acclaim and their debut Scottish tour.

Inspired by American fusion juggernaut Snarky Puppy, their style really stretches the boundaries between jazz, rock and folk.

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The line up features guitars, violins, keyboards, horns, bass, drums and percussion and while it is certainly a challenge to combine that many individual musicians, Fat-Suit does not fail to deliver their unique sound, the “sound of modern Scotland where nothing is ruled out, everything is possible and the future is something to embrace.”

Critically-acclaimed and Grammy-nominated saxophonist Ravi Coltrane from Long Island, New York, is without a doubt one of the most exciting modern jazz musicians. For this tour, Coltrane is joined by what can only described as his best band ever.

Together with David Virelles (piano), Dezron Douglas (bass) and Jonathan Blake (drums), Ravi Coltrane delivers a mind-blowing performance of New-York-style, high-octane contemporary jazz.

Opening this show is the outstanding Konrad Wiszniewski’s New Focus Quartet.

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Returning with new inspirations and musical visions, the acclaimed Colin Steele Quintet delivers a series of earthy compositions, “beautifully conceived, mellow and melodic” (The Observer). After a self-imposed exile for five years, the band around trumpeter Colin Steele celebrates their comeback with a delicate exponent of jazz-folk fusion, bridging Scottish traditional folk and American contemporary jazz. The quintet features Michael Buckley (saxophone), Dave Milligan (piano), Calum Gourlay (bass) and Stu Ritchie on the drums.

Fiona Alexander, Jazz Scotland Director, said: “We’ve been building towards developing a touring programme for some time, and now we’ve got the chance to ask jazz fans across Scotland if they’ll support a quality touring programme. If we get the kind of response we’ve been getting at some of our Festivals recently, we’re sure we can sustain this as a regular feature on the Scottish jazz scene”

More information about the upcoming concerts can be found on www.jazzscotland.com.

Related topics:American