One of the themes of the Scottish Jazz Weekend seemed to be celebrating the younger generation, and after the Ewan Hastie Trio the night before came the Mackenzie, Ewins, Wright Trio to open the concert on Saturday lunchtime. They explained that they had been playing together for several years, which was hard to fathom since they are still at school. But any thoughts of patronising tokenism were blown away by both the musicianship and writing of this trio.
Comprising William Ewins on bass (he was a finalist in BBC Radio Scotland Young Jazz Musician of the Year the following day), Finlay Mackenzie on drums and Douglas Wright on piano, they played with style, finesse, and, it must be said, maturity. Each of them contributed compositions. They listened intently to each other and bounced ideas around. These three are definitely ones to look out for in the coming years.
The main act though was the Paul Towndrow Trio. Featuring Pete Johnstone on organ and with the almost ubiquitous Stephen Henderson sitting in on drums, this was a tour de force. Playing alto and low whistle, Towndrow evoked the Scottish landscape and culture: at one point, with his alto imitating the Highland pipes, it seemed like this is what Charlie Parker would have sounded like had he played the bagpipes. The tunes, all from Towndrow’s latest album Outwith The Circle (apart from the closing number, Eddie Harris’s ‘Ignominy’), flowed freely.
Johnstone, well known from several previous groups (not least various Tommy Smith collaborations) was powerful and impassioned on organ. Henderson was clearly in the swing of things, having warmed up the night before. His playing was accomplished and subtle, but powerful enough to match the growing organ. Several times Towndrow stepped back, leaving Johnstone and Henderson to duet, resulting in some of the best moments of a hugely impressive set.
The Saturday night show had been due to feature Norman Willmore‘s new project, but he was indisposed. Instead, Laura Jurd stepped into the breach, leading a group of Scottish musicians in music from her 2022 record, The Big Friendly Album. Drummer Corrie Dick, who had himself recently brought a band featuring Willmore to Edinburgh, was familiar with the material, but this was new territory for the other three musicians. They acquitted themselves excellently.
Playing both cornet and piano, as she does on the album, Jurd led much of the concert from the piano chair, swivelling around to play cornet. The compositions have a certain naivety: they are full of charming simplicity, creating a positively feel-good atmosphere. This really was friendly, happy music.
The Big Friendly Album features several brass players and many guests. This cut-back version added Matt Carmichael (saxophone) and James McKay (guitar) to the front line, with Brodie Jarvie on double bass, but no less impressive for that. Carmichael’s own music is redolent of folk music and his solos worked perfectly within the structure of Jurd’s tunes. McKay added a depth of texture as well as some blistering solos himself.
Jurd herself seemed on fine form. Her piano playing had a simple innocence that just seemed to nudge the tunes along; her cornet playing brought a clarity and precision to the music. The result left everyone smiling.
Patrick Hadfield lives in Edinburgh, occasionally takes photographs, and sometimes blogs at On the Beat. He is @patrickhadfield@mastodon.scot on Mastodon.
