with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra
featuring Martin Kershaw (Clarinet, alto sax), Paul Towndrow (Alto sax), Tommy Smith (Tenor Sax), Konrad Wiszniewski (Tenor sax), Bill Fleming (Baritone sax), Ryan Quigley (Trumpet), Paul Newton (Trumpet), Tom MacNiven (Trumpet), Linsey McDonald (Trumpet), Chris Greive (Trombones), Michael Campbell (Trombones), Michael Owers (Trombones), Lorna McDonald (Bass trombone), Graeme Scott (Guitar), Brian Kellock (Piano), Calum Gourlay (Acoustic bass), Alyn Cosker (Drums)
- Rhapsody in Blue
About the Music
Re-orchestrated by SNJO director, saxophonist Tommy Smith, this Rhapsody in Blue of the twenty-first century was written to feature Scotland’s world-class jazz pianist Brian Kellock, who played the original Rhapsody as a music student in Edinburgh in 1981.
Familiar themes, including the iconic clarinet glissando and Gershwin’s heartbreaking nostalgic refrain, have been used – respectfully – as source material and reworked into a fifty-two minute epic that flows through exciting up-tempo movements, rhapsodic blues passages, a sensational Cuban fantasia and hard swinging jazz choruses, showcasing SNJO’s magnificent ensemble playing and top class, creative soloing.
The piece was premiered at Edinburgh Jazz Festival 2006, going on to further acclaim at London Jazz Festival, Brecon Jazz Festival and in concerts throughout the UK, and the CD will be launched officially at a special Glasgow Jazz Festival performance at the Old Fruitmarket on Sunday, June 28.