Glasgow Jazz Festival celebrated its 25th anniversary in venues across the city last weekend.
Intimate jazz bars to prominent concert halls were filled with the nuances of jazz, soul and blues performed by some of the top musicians in the business such as Courtney Pine, Ramsey Lewis and Leon Russell.
With such a vast array of events to choose from – almost five hundred performers flocked to the city to play twenty-four venues over five days – there was plenty of variety on offer. I went for an intimate jazz bar experience in the Rio Café with vocalist Ian Shaw on Saturday night, followed by some dinner jazz in the renowned Rogano restaurant on Sunday, and ending with the stellar Courtney Pine in Glasgow’s iconic Old Fruitmarket on the festival’s final night.
The Rio Café hosts regular jazz sessions throughout the year in its 1950s-style diner, so this venue pulled out all the stops for the festival. The atmosphere was cool and classy, with dressed-up doormen greeting guests and ushering ticket-holders to a romantic candlelit, draped table – set up especially for the event.
Twice winner of the BBC’s Jazz Awards for Best Singer, Ian Shaw, took to the small stage, using only a keyboard and his powerful voice to give an informal, comical, emotive and memorable night’s entertainment. Having played the Glasgow Jazz Festival before, there was a sense of familiarity in the air as he bantered with the homely crowd and honoured requests shouted out by local punters. It comes as no surprise that his career began in the comedy circuit as he had the audience shrieking with laughter at his hilarious jazzy cover versions of popular songs – his rendition of Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights was a particular favourite.
Sunday night was a ritzier affair with a pre-show dinner at the stylish Rogano – Glasgow’s oldest restaurant, renowned for fine fish and seafood and a genteel 1930s ambience. A jazz duo played in the basement café as we tucked into our elegant seafood meal, that came with a complimentary starter or (as in our case) dessert, for jazz festival ticket-holders.
Then it was on to the Old Fruitmarket to see headline act, Courtney Pine. After hearing about his informal and awe-inspiring performance at The Temple nightclub in Glasgow many moons ago, I had high expectations of the saxophone star. It took me a while to get warmed up to the rowdy, unbridled style of jazz during this particular set, but after a few songs I was beginning to see what all the hype was about – although personally, I do prefer a more soft, romantic jazzy sound.
Pine is undoubtedly impressive on his bass clarinet, which has replaced his sax in this new project, Europa. The album is a collection of the sounds and flavours that the British musician has picked up during his travels around Europe. A charismatic character, regaling the audience with stories in between tunes, Pine never lets you forget what a fine job the other members of his seven-strong band are doing. Hand-picked by the man himself, they are a charmingly eclectic bunch of talent – ranging from a classically trained pianist to a Cuban violinist, all of them giving spellbinding solos throughout the set and provoking an approving fist tap from their front man on stage. When all their contrasting sounds come together in an electrifying climax, you can’t help but get caught up in the musical melee. The group’s contagious enthusiasm for jazz is what Glasgow’s jazz festival is all about.
One of the blonde backing singers stepped up and stole the show for a while – crooning the awe-inspiring solo of The Great Gig in the Sky. She was closely followed by the band’s characterful sax player who grooved around on stage and gave one of the most memorable solos of the night on Money.
