Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival is one of the top ten Jazz Festivals in Europe, with over 36,000 sales and 67,000 attendances
The 2016 edition has one of our most diverse lineups ever with over 170 concerts in the ten days from 15-24 July across a range of Edinburgh venues.
Edinburgh’s distinctive approach sees all styles of jazz and blues presented with equal commitment. The Festival aims to present established jazz and blues lovers with a range of concerts to satisfy connoisseur interests, whilst also offering a raft of events that will appeal to non-specialists. We reach out to encompass soul, r’n’b, hip hop, latin, and other related musics.
There are five major concerts at The Festival Theatre, with some of the biggest names from the modern jazz, blues and soul worlds. Our annual concert with Jools Holland and his Orchestra features special guests, Pauline and Gaps from The Selecter; Curtis Stigers returns with his own band after wowing us in our Sinatra special last year; and we also welcome back Scotland’s top soul exiles, The Average White Band, in a bill that also features The James Taylor Quartet. There will be rare Scottish concerts by two musicians who have been giants of world jazz for the last forty years, John McLaughlin and Jan Garbarek.
Scottish jazz will be well represented, as always – there’s nowhere better to catch up with what’s new and what’s best in the current scene. Pianist, Brian Kellock will feature in an Oscar Peterson style group; in duos with ace New York clarinettist, Ken Peplowski, and SNJO leader, Tommy Smith; and in a quartet with saxophonist, Alan Barnes. Ken Mathieson’s Classic Jazz Orchestra has a programme that plays tunes by Bix Beiderbecke. Paul Harrison’s Sugar Work is one of the hottest new bands to emerge, and look out for features for Brian Molley, Fergus McCreadie, Freddie King, Graeme Stephen and Alan Benzie.
This year, we launch a new venue at the City Art Centre, transforming the top floor gallery into a jazz club loft scene. Together with the Spiegeltents in St Andrew Square and George Square, over half of the Festival’s programme takes place in venues specially assembled for the occasion. Other venues include Queen’s Hall, The Festival Theatre Studio, The Jazz Bar and Heriots Rugby Club.
Brian Fallon, Chair of Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival, said “This year’s programme boasts a stellar international line-up with musicians converging on Edinburgh from all over the world to present over 170 concerts, plus the Festival’s two free events– The Mardi Gras and the Edinburgh Festival Carnival – will take place on the 16th and 17th July respectively”.
For more information, tickets and full programme click here: www.edinburghjazzfestival.com
