Why the piano star changed key

Folk & Jazz critic

Thursday 13 September 2012

If the Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra requires emergency trumpet cover on its 10th anniversary tour of the Highlands and Islands this weekend, it need look no further than the young man who will be playing piano.

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rob adams

Peter Johnstone, won the Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year 2012 title in Aberdeen last month for his outstanding piano and composition skills, but his route into jazz was via the trumpet sections of youth big bands.

"I don't know why I hadn't thought of it before but I must have been in fifth year at school and I was listening to the radio one night when Oscar Peterson came on playing a fantastic piano solo," he says. "And I suddenly thought I could translate what I'd been doing on the trumpet on to the piano."The 22-year-old from Milngavie had been studying classical piano since the age of five, and began playing trumpet as a second study when he was eight. He took to it naturally and for quite a long time, even while playing big band jazz, he harboured ambitions of playing classical trumpet professionally. Oscar Peterson put a stop to that. Following his epiphany by radio, Johnstone began travelling through to Edinburgh for jazz piano lessons with Paul Harrison, now jazz piano tutor at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. While playing in the Strathclyde Youth Jazz Orchestra trumpet section, he studied with David Patrick and was then reunited with Harrison after enrolling with the first intake of students on the RCS jazz course.After a few sessions on piano with SYJO's smaller jazz combo, SJYO chief Stewart Forbes suggested that there might be an opening for a young pianist at Bill Kyle's Jazz Bar in Edinburgh. "Bill immediately gave me a booking on Stewart's recommendation and once Bill has you in his contacts book, he's liable to offer all sorts of opportunities."Trio gigs on Saturday afternoons led to the venue's big band on Mondays and the World Premiere Quintet, where five musicians who might not have met before are thrust together on a Saturday night.Johnstone was also playing with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland and joined the Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra. Other gigs included drummer Corrie Dick's quintet and a residency at the Universal Bar in Glasgow with his own trio. "Tommy encourages you to compose right from the start and that's something I've been working on a lot for my trio," says Peter. "I feel comfortable playing with Brodie and John and having won the young jazz musician title, it's good to feel that I'm on the right track musically.More immediately there are five TSYJO concerts this weekend. "Tommy's youth orchestra is an amazing environment," he says. "Almost everybody in the band is studying or about to study at conservatoire level, so the standard is really high."The Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra plays the Macphail Centre, Ullapool, tonight; An Lanntair, Stornoway, tomorrow; Lyth Arts Centre on Saturday; Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, Skye, Sunday; and Plockton High School, Monday.

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Why the piano star changed key

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