Stars of Scottish jazz and blues performers sign up for festival weekender

There’s a weekend of vibrant jazz and blues on the way to lift your spirits over the coming dark winter nights, all courtesy of the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival

Colin Steele and Brian Kellock

A weekend celebration of Scottish jazz and blues next month is set to feature some of Scotland’s best jazz and blues musicians. Taking place from third to the sixth of December, the Scottish Jazz & Blues Weekend will bring four exclusive gigs to an online screen near you. The four day event will be the festival’s first foray into pay-per-view with each concert costing £10.

Starting on Thursday, December 3, at 8pm, a double bill featuring some giants of the Scottish blues scene kicks off the Weekend. The bill will find Jed Potts & The Hillman Hunters performing Live at the Car Cave, with new music recorded in lockdown. Also heavyweight blues rock star Alan Nimmo, the powerhouse singer and guitarist behind King King joins Gerry Jablonski and the Electric Band for the first time.

On Friday, December 4, again at 8pm, some of the best musicians coming out of Scotland's vibrant jazz scene will present an exciting double bill.

Mezcla and Blue Boar Brass

Known for their unique brand of jazz fusion, Mezcla’s set includes music from their Scottish Album of the Year Award longlisted debut Shoot the Moon as well as some new tracks written in lockdown.

Led by saxophonist Harry Weir, Blue Boar Brass, the second outfit on the bill, are a brand-new brass band with a twist and have been described as ‘a dynamic quintet playing with huge drive and attack’.

Saturday, December 5, at 8pm, boasts another double bill, this time from two bands who excel at fusing modern jazz and folk.

David Milligan recently released his new album Momento to huge acclaim, and he will perform some tracks exclusively for the weekender.

His trio will be followed by Stephen Henderson’s Modern Vikings. Drummer Henderson leads an all-star line up of Konrad Wiszniewski, Fergus McCreadie, David Bowden and Graeme Stephen in an exciting set inspired by Scottish and Scandinavian folk music.

Rounding off the winter weekend on Sunday at 6pm are two Scottish musicians paying homage to two of the greatest jazz legends of the 20th Century; Colin Steele and Brian Kellock perform the music of Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington in a special intimate performance recorded just for Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival at Edinburgh’s EP54.

Each session will fuse high quality artistic programming with top notch production values, recorded by a team of expert videographers and sound engineers, following social distancing measures at all times.

Chair of Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival, Councillor Jason Rust says, “Since our online festival in July, the EJBF team have been working hard incredibly hard to get back to what we do best - presenting professional gigs with the outstanding musicians that our audiences love. I’m delighted that we’ve been able to work with a team of exceptional videographers and sound engineers to bring you four incredible gigs, all recorded just for EJBF audiences, and I hope you enjoy watching along with us.”

Tickets for the weekend are on sale here

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