Play through the night, learn in the morning

John Escreet wouldn�t be the first student to be caught in a bar by the tutor he�s due to see in a few hours. But when that tutor happens to be Kenny Barron you wouldn�t want to sleep in for fear of missing something.

John Escreet wouldn't be the first student to be caught in a bar by the tutor he's due to see in a few hours. But when that tutor happens to be Kenny Barron, one of the great jazz pianists of our time who lists gigs and record dates with Dizzy Gillespie and Stan Getz on his long, impressive CV, you wouldn't want to sleep in for fear of missing something.

Doncaster-born Escreet, who brings his New York-based band to Scotland for the first time next week, spent a year studying with Barron at the Manhattan School of Music, and despite the all-night jazz attractions of the city that never sleeps, he never missed a nine o'clock session with the master.

"Kenny was really cool as well as a real pro," he says. "He's been around and is well aware of what goes on. I'd see him often in the jazz bars and one time, it was getting on for three on the morning of a tutorial when we bumped into each other. He said, I'll be seeing you soon', with this friendly but firm tone that let me know he'd be on time. It was only later that I realised he lived out in Brooklyn, so he'd have to get up an hour before me to get into Manhattan for nine, and sure enough, there he was, bright, alert and ready to play fantastic piano."

Moving in these circles is quite a stretch from banging away on a toy keyboard as a toddler. Even at the age of four, though, when he begged his parents for piano lessons, Escreet had the sort of determination that can make the difference on the most competitive jazz scene in the world.

His early studies took the traditional route: simple tunes and exercises that led to taking the classical grade exams. Then, at the age of 10, he had an epiphany. The Doncaster Youth Jazz Orchestra, which has produced talents such as trombonist Dennis Rollins and trumpeter Jay Phelps, played a concert at Escreet's school and he was immediately fascinated. He began learning to improvise and joined the orchestra a year later.

By this time he'd taken up saxophone and his parents, who are, he says, completely non-musical and were baffled as to where his interest in music came from. The young John learned cornet, French horn and violin to a high standard before settling on classical piano and saxophone as his main studies at Chetham's, the specialist music school in Cheshire where he boarded from the age of 14.

Weekends at home were spent rehearsing and playing concerts with the Doncaster Youth Jazz Orchestra, which through twin-town arrangements visited France and Germany and also played in New Orleans in 2000, giving John an early taste of the touring that's now integral to his career. At Chetham's he also had a great example to follow in Gwilym Simcock, who's now one of the leading young pianists in British jazz and considered a creative genius by Chick Corea, no less.

"Gwilym wasn't quite the Gwilym Simcock then that he is now, of course," says Escreet. "But he was in his last year at Chetham's when I was in my first year, and it was the same when I went on to the Royal Academy in London. So I could see from how he progressed that it might be possible, at least, to go on and do OK in jazz."

At the Royal Academy Escreet studied mainly with Liam Noble but also had some lessons with the brilliant John Taylor and soon began to make himself known on the jazz circuit. On a trip to New York, one gig, at the Fat Cat club, stood out. It was, he remembers, crammed with young people his own age and the idea began to form that he'd like to try to make it there, where not only were there lots of young people playing and listening to jazz, but it was possible also to go to see musicians who had played on classic albums - players such as Jimmy Cobb, Roy Haynes and Paul Motian - at close quarters most nights.

American musicians playing in London, notably drummer Ari Hoenig and saxophonist Will Vinson, heard Escreet and suggested that he should try his luck,which led to a scholarship on the two-year masters jazz course at the Manhattan School of Music in 2006. "Actually, moving to New York was daunting at first," says the 24-year-old Escreet. "I never felt depressed exactly but I was aware that I'd left quite a lot of work behind in London and I was back at school, which I hadn't really planned once I'd been through the Royal Academy. So I did wonder at times if I'd made the right decision."

Consolation, were it required, came in being able to tap into Kenny Barron's knowledge on that first year at Manhattan and then another marvellous pianist, Jason Moran, who has an apparently endless range of interests, readily offered help the following year.

"With Kenny, we'd just play piano duets most of the time and he'd pass on knowledge through playing the music," says Escreet. "Jason is a lot closer to my own age - he's still in his early 30s - and he'd actually studied at Manhattan himself. He didn't always approve of the things that were happening at the school and would just tell me, Take what you can from this experience'.

"He's not my teacher any more but I can still call him for advice if I need to and he wrote the liner notes for my CD which is due out in time for the Scottish dates."

The band Escreet is bringing to Scotland reflects the New York scene's status as something akin to a jazz supermarket. Escreet has fairly quickly got to the stage where he can call up almost whoever he wants to offer them work, as well as being called on to join other people's bands.

"I started thinking about this band about a year ago when I had this idea in my head of how I wanted it to sound and it's kind of been built from the rhythm department upwards," he says. "I played with the drummer, Tyshawn Sorey, and immediately felt he was what I wanted, and then I've been fortunate enough to play with saxophonist David Binney, who's been to Scotland a couple of times, and we fit together pretty well.

"The other guys, Ambrose Akinmusire on trumpet and Zack Lober on bass, are also outstanding musicians but typical of the standard that's almost on tap in New York. The quality keeps you on your toes and makes you work really hard, but it's really inspiring at the same time."