It isn’t just London enjoying a rebirth and remoulding of its jazz scene, nor is it London-based acts such as Moses Boyd, The Comet Is Coming, Nubya Garcia and Sons Of Kemet who are making all the running in terms of exposure and acclaim.

Scotland, in particular Glasgow, is seeing a similar renaissance. Something in the air? Whatever the reason it’s part of what Jazzwise magazine is calling “an explosion of new talent” from north of the Border. As influential, Grammy Award-winning American jazz-funk collective Snarky Puppy head to Glasgow for a much-anticipated gig, here are a few of the leading lights of the homegrown nu-jazz scene …

Fergus McCreadie

Nominated for both the 2022 Mercury Music Prize and the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award for his Clackmannanshire-inspired third album Forest Floor, McCreadie is now being hailed as one of the brightest talents in UK jazz. The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland-trained pianist leads a trio which features David Bowden (double bass) and Steven Henderson (drums), and further recognition came his way when he became the first non-classical musician to be chosen as a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist, one of two Scots on the seven strong international list. We’ll find out on October 18 when the re-scheduled Mercury Music Prize ceremony takes place whether or not he can take UK music’s top accolade. Why in the hell not?

What they say: “Fergus McCreadie’s alchemical touch effortlessly connects jazz to folk” (Jazzwise)

 

Fat-Suit

Blending jazz, rock, funk and Scottish traditional music, this sprawling collective formed a decade ago around a core of friends from Strathclyde University’s Applied Music course and were to some degree a sort of Snarky Puppy tribute act in their early days. Since then they have become a sonic powerhouse equally at home in the Celtic Connections programme or on stage at jazz festivals such as the prestigious Love Supreme. Their fourth album, Waifs & Strays, was released in 2019 and was recorded live in Glasgow’s Drygate Brewery. Its predecessor, Atlas, picked up the 2017 Scottish Jazz Album of the Year award.

What they say: “This is the sound of next generation jazz, where highly informed and extremely open-minded players curate new music for a new century” (Jazz Plus)

 

Nimbus Sextet

Formed around the core of Edinburgh University friends Joe Nichols (keys), Alex Palmer (drums) and Mischa Stevens (bass) and now a six-piece thanks to the addition of Euan Allardice (trumpet), Michael Butcher (saxophone) and Honza Kourminsky (guitar), the Glasgow-based band are signed to the celebrated Acid Jazz label. Debut album Dreams Fulfilled dropped in 2020, and second album Forward Thinker was released in May featuring collaborations with Nubiyan Twist’s Jonny Enser, trombonist Nathanial Cross (whose credits include work with Solange, Stormzy, Macy Gray and Moses Boyd) and veteran American sticks man Steve Forman, who has drummed for David Bowie, Pink Floyd and the Beach Boys.

What they say: “Joe Nichols sets Nimbus Sextet firmly apart from their UK jazz peers. This is a band capable of diversely off kilter composition and sometimes, something more sublime” (Uncut Magazine)

 

Corto.alto

Centred on trombonist Liam Shortall, this effervescent collective has collaborated with acclaimed composer and alto saxophone maestro Soweto Kinch and released a five volume set of ‘as live’ recordings made in Shortall’s Sauchiehall Street flat. As with all the players on the Scottish nu-jazz scene he collaborates widely and generously – Fergus McCreadie, Graham Costello and Nubiyan Twist’s Tom Excell all appear on Corto-alto’s Not For Now EP – and his compositions and recordings draw as much influence from drum and bass, 1990s hip-hop and the work of Los Angeles-based experimentalist Flying Lotus as they do jazz. Catch them at SWG3 Studio Warehouse on October 8.

What they say: “Shortall’s ensemble combines virtuoso musicianship with fresh jazz compositions informed by a lifelong passion for hip hop” (Reviewsphere)

 

Georgia Cécile

Winner of the Best Album gong at the 2021 Scottish Jazz Awards for her debut Only The Lover Sings and very much in the tradition of the Great American Songbook, Glasgow-based vocalist Georgia Cécile is fast on the way to become one of Scotland’s most exciting exports. Shoutouts from the likes of Jamie Cullum help. So do her a support slot with Gregory Porter – she opened for him during a sell-out four night stint at the Albert Hall – and this year’s showcase slot at the prestigious South By South West music festival in Austin, Texas. The granddaughter of a jazz pianist and niece to a jazz singer, she’s a graduate of Napier University’s well-regarded music course, which is where she met regular collaborator and co-writer, pianist Euan Stevenson.

What they say: “Almost became a lawyer, but fortunately for jazz the lure of music proved too strong” (Jazzwise)

 

Graham Costello’s STRATA

Stellar might be a better name for the sextet formed around the young drummer, another graduate of Glasgow’s world-beating Royal Conservatoire of Scotland jazz programme though one who cut his teeth playing in psych-rock bands – STRATA bandmates include Fergus McCreadie and Liam Shortall, who join Harry Weir (tenor saxophone), Mark Hendry (bass) and Joe Williamson (guitar) in the line-up. Obelisk, the band’s 2019 debut album for ambitious, London-based indie label Gearbox Records, was nominated for the SAY Award. A follow-up, Second Lives, was released last year.

What they say: “Essentially viewing jazz through the prism of a noise musician, his new album Second Lives is a tour de force, an astonishing piece of work that obeys no rules aside from its own” (Clash Magazine)

 

Rebecca Vasmant

A broadcaster, DJ and producer who also runs her own ensemble group, Vasmant’s heavily jazz-flavoured With Love From Glasgow is currently sitting on the SAY Award longlist and draws on helpmates from across the Glasgow jazz scene, including STRATA’s Harry Weir, sometime Fat-Suit vocalist Emilie Boyd, accomplished bassist Brodie Jarvie and Gillian Katungi, a musician, vocalist, spoken word artist who records as Paix.

What they say: “Has all the credentials to be a jazz messenger” (London Jazz News)

 

Kitti

Real name Katie Doyle, Glasgow-based Kitti occupies the Amy Winehouse end of the jazz vocal spectrum. However she’s also a regular at the city’s Blue Arrow Jazz Club, supported another rising star, George Cécile, at June’s Glasgow Jazz Festival and you can find her lending her vocal talents to Corto.alto’s Better, from their Live At 435 series. Her latest single, Down-low, was released last month and follows May’s How Long?

What they say: “Glasgow’s Amy Winehouse” (Glasgow Times)