Touch of jazz at the Concert Hall

Jul 8 2008

DISTINCTIVE British saxophonist Mark Lockheart visits Perth later this month with BBC Radio Scotland Young Jazz Musician 2008 and The National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland.

Mark appears in concert with talented young saxophonist Joe Wright, recent winner of The BBC Radio Scotland Young Jazz Musician 2008 competition. The pair will perform, alongside The National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland (NYJOS), an innovative programme of contemporary, boundary-pushing music, at Perth Concert Hall on Monday, July 28, as part of the NYJOS’ annual summer tour.

Mark Lockheart’s work often defies categorisation and crosses the boundaries of the jazz, new music and folk worlds. In the run up to the tour he will be working with students from the NYJOS and ensemble directors, Malcolm Edmonstone and Andrew Bain, to create an exciting and original tour repertoire featuring new arrangements and unique improvisations, plus re-workings of some old jazz favourites.

Joe Wright, who has been a member of The National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland since 2005, joins the ensemble for this tour fresh from performances with Tommy Smith’s Youth Jazz Orchestra and his own newly formed trio at the Glasgow International Jazz Festival, where he was also crowned BBC Radio Scotland Young Jazz Musician 2008.

This summer’s star-studded NYJOS ensemble also includes two other finalists from the competition: Kieran McLeod (trombone) and John Lowrie (drums), plus last year’s winner, pianist Alan Benzie.

The National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland - experience the future of Jazz music.

Their Perth concert starts at 7.30pm. Tickets from the box office – 0845 612 6320/www.horsecross.co.uk

One of the NYJOS alto sax players this year is 16-year-old Ruaridh Pattison from Balado, near Kinross, who is making his debut with the orchestra, having attended the jazz training course in 2007.

The NYJOS concert in Perth will be a home-coming for its co-director Malcolm Edmonstone. This son of Perth now lives in leafy Surrey and is in great demand as an educator, with a Professorship at the Guildhall School, where he was once a student, and a faculty position at Middlesex University.

As a pianist and arranger, he maintains long-standing relationships with artists throughout the jazz and commercial music worlds, most notably as musical director for Jacqui Dankworth and musical associate to Laurie Holloway.