© Derek Clark
Mercury
Prize nominees Fergus McCreadie and corto.alto join a stellar cast of
musician-composers on tour with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra for Nu-Age
Sounds ll – Planet World with gigs in Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow from January 31 to February 2.
Following the resounding success of the inaugural Nu-Age Sounds tour in
March 2024, the SNJO has again commissioned new music from eight of Scottish
jazz’s most exciting young representatives.
Pianist McCreadie and corto.alto (aka multi-instrumentalist-producer Liam Shortall), along with singer kitti, saxophonists Helena Kay and Matt Carmichael, trombonist Anoushka Nanguy, bassist Ewan Hastie and grooving powerhouse KARMA, will combine thrilling new jazz sounds with science fiction to highlight the transformative power of live orchestral jazz.
“The artists in our line-up are all award-winners,” says SNJO
founder-director, saxophonist Tommy Smith, who has played a major role in
creating Scotland’s currently thriving, internationally admired young jazz
scene through the jazz course he established at the Royal Conservatoire of
Scotland. “Planet World allows them to be super-creative as composers and to
trigger their own creativity and that of the orchestra’s players in the heat of
a live performance.”
In addition to McCreadie and corto.alto’s Mercury Prize recognition,
Ewan Hastie is a BBC Young Jazz Musician winner, Helena Kay is a former Young
Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year and Matt Carmichael won the Best Band title
with his quintet at the Scottish Jazz Awards 2024. Anoushka Nanguy has won the
Rising Star title at the Scottish Jazz Awards, kitti has twice won the Best
Singer title at the same awards, and pianist Peter Johnstone, who features in
KARMA, is also a former Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year.
As with Nu-Age Sounds 2024, this latest edition combines orchestral jazz
with visual commentaries in a stunning sound and light spectacle that will make
a special live gig experience.
“What makes this second Nu-Age Sounds tour particularly exciting is the
way our composers have responded to a specific brief,” says Smith. “The
narrative of Planet World calls for each composer to convey the character of a
planet and its inhabitants as the universe becomes in danger of imploding. Jazz
musicians are renowned for applying their imaginations in spontaneous
situations. Planet World allows them to be super-creative as composers and to
trigger their own creativity and that of the orchestra’s players in the heat of
a live performance.”
Nu-Age Sounds ll – Planet World tours to the Usher Hall, Edinburgh on Friday Jan. 31; Dundee Rep on Saturday Feb. 1 and the Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow on Sunday Feb. 2.
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