Unlike the cyclonic nature of love espoused by Harold Arlen in the title track of Luca Manning’s debut album When The Sun Comes Out, the quality of his voice, selections and support from Fergus McCreadie on piano and Laura MacDonald on saxophone are brimming with “peaches, cream and honey”.

But you would expect nothing less from the Glasgow-born but London-based singer who, though still a student at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, has made quite a name for himself not only on the UK jazz scene but also among artists such as the peerless Liane Carroll who in 2017 invited him to perform at her annual festive bash at Ronnie Scott’s.

Fergus McCreadie

As a result, both he and McCreadie have won and been nominated for numerous awards. Most recently, the prestigious Parliamentary Awards in which they go head-to-head in the Newcomer category. Though testament to McCreadie’s composition skills, his trio’s own debut album Turas has been shortlisted for Jazz Album of the Year.

If the opening tracks share the trademark tone and tempo of jazz standards – beginning with the first of two self-penned numbers Our Journey, followed by breezy renditions of If I Knew Then and Who What Why Where When – they are but a springboard to more eclectic choices performed with daring, playfulness and joy. With the trio intertwining around a spirit of love and belonging which is mirrored in the radiant artwork of Irenie Blaze-Cameron: a rising sun overlooking a golden pond before which the speck of a man stands in awe.

All ten tracks are beautifully performed and share a confessional intimacy which is bolstered by Manning’s soulful vocals, quick-fire vocalese and acrobatic scatting. His other self-penned number Rise, an eight-and-a-half minute soundscape of hope and determination punctuated by the impassioned refrain “This is our chance to rise” – which they seize with vigour and virtuosity.

Laura MacDonald

Though the track which makes your ears prick up the most is the pensive Stones Of Brodgar, composed by McCreadie with lyrics by Fergus Hall, which opens with a tribal, almost spiritual, chant before an extended piano solo pitter-patters like one of the many storms which for thousands of years have tested the stoicism of the titular Oracdian standing stones.

An assured debut performed with great depth, maturity and subtlety, rounded off with a heartfelt rendition of Loch Lomond which is about as far removed from the lager-fuelled bellowing of the Tartan Army as the men’s national team is from qualifying for a major championship. Perhaps if the players embodied the same grace and guile as Manning, McCreadie and MacDonald – a defensive back-line if ever you’ve heard one – supporters would (in the words of The Proclaimers) be on their way from misery to happiness today.

When The Sun Comes Out was released on 17 October and is available to download from a variety of sources including Amazon and Bandcamp, however it receives its official launch on 18 November at The Pheasantry in Chelsea as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival. Scottish fans, though, can catch Manning and McCreadie closer to home when on 24 October they will be performing Chet Baker’s eponymous album of 1959 as part of The Blue Arrow’s 60th anniversary of “the year that changed jazz”. If the sun comes out, go!

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Peter Callaghan
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