Aberdeen’s biggest live music Festival, Aberdeen Jazz Festival, is working through the Covid restrictions to support musicians and audiences by splitting the Festival in to two parts in 2021.
In its traditional March slot the Festival will be an exclusively online event.
Then, as soon as restrictions are lifted, they aim to be back with live activity and another strong online element.
The March 25-28 programme maintains the classic programming approach that has gained the Festival a national and international reputation: high quality nationally recognized musicians; international stars, special musical combinations; world premieres and unique events.
Star saxophonist, Tommy Smith presents a special night of music by Chick Corea to mark the pianist’s passing last month; superstar guitarist Mike Stern has put together a special concert for Aberdeen Jazz Festival, recorded in New York; Scottish guitarist, Graeme Stephen teams up with fiddler, Aidan O’Rourke, for a one-off jazz-folk crossover summit; Singer, Ali Affleck also fronts a Festival special, celebrating traditional and swing jazz, with pianist, Brian Kellock and trumpeter, Enrico Tomasso. The Festival reaches a climax with the heavy duty sounds of the band that many regard as the most exciting unit on the current Scottish Jazz scene, Aku!
Five concerts recorded under Covid rules offer real excitement for Aberdeen Jazz Festival audiences who have been starved of live jazz for a year now.
Four of the recordings are from the Festival’s renowned home base at The Blue Lamp, and one is a specially commissioned recording for the Festival from New York.
Neil Gibbons, Aberdeen Jazz Festival Artistic Director said:
We are so pleased to be able to present this first series of concerts and reconnect with our audiences and with the musicians and technicians who have made this happen. Thanks to our funders* continuing to back us in these hard times, we’re able to give jazz musicians and jazz audiences a real fillip at the end of March, and look forward to a much bigger second phase once conditions allow.
The concert details are set out below:
Thursday 25 March, 2021, 7.30pm
GRAEME STEPHEN TRIO
Ft. AIDAN O’ROURKE and STEPHEN HENDERSON
Friday 26 March, 2021, 7.30pm
MIKE STERN BAND ft. LENI STERN
With a special introduction by Graeme Stephen
Recorded live in New York for Aberdeen Jazz Festival
Saturday 27 March, 2021, 7.30pm
TOMMY SMITH & PETE JOHNSTONE play CHICK COREA
Recorded live at the Blue Lamp
Sunday 28 March, 2021, 7.30pm
ALI AFFLECK, BRIAN KELLOCK, AND ENRICO TOMMASO
Recorded live at the Blue Lamp
Sunday 28 March, 2021, 7.30pm
AKU
Recorded live at the Blue Lamp, Aberdeen
* Aberdeen Jazz Festival is funded by City of Aberdeen Council and Creative Scotland.