A wee dram and a wee jam make

IS IT the peat reek in the air that imparts something to the jazz, or the single malt whisky that inspires its players, or, conversely, does the music itself – spontaneous, uninhibited and with a kick of its own – impart an elusive je ne sais quoi to some of Scotland’s greatest single malt whiskies? Whatever the intangible but potent symbiotic relationship between maturing single malt and well seasoned music-making, it makes the Islay Jazz Festival a unique event.

The 13th festival, sponsored for a second year by one of the island’s eight famed distilleries, Lagavulin, takes place this weekend, presenting Scottish and international contemporary jazz musicians of the highest calibre in such improbable sounding venues as distillery sheds, village halls, a Gaelic college and a bird reserve visitor centre.

This year’s joyful collision between cosmopolitan music and Inner Hebridean splendour brings two major Swedish names to the island: singing star Viktoria Tolstoy (and, yes, she’s the great-great-granddaughter of the epic Russian novelist), with her silky interpretations of jazz standards as well as pop and folk covers, and pianist Jacob Karlzon, who accompanies her and also appears with his own trio, following his powerful performance at the recent Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival.

More familiar names include the inventively muscular quadruple horns of Brass Jaw, the ever exuberant Brian Kellock Trio, with pianist Kellock also appearing with saxophonist Konrad Wiszniewski’s quartet, while the long-standing partnership of guitarist Graeme Stephen and saxophonist-bagpiper Fraser Fifield generates folk-infused fusion. Add to this a dash of soul from Subie Coleman and her band, and blues from guitarist Otis Grand and home-grown bluesman Sandy Tweeddale and his trio.

A long-time regular at the festival is the ubiquitous double-bassist Mario Caribé. who, as well as cropping up ... well, just about everywhere, has created two new bands for the weekend – the Boteco Trio, playing the music of his native Brazil with Stuart Brown on Brazilian percussion and Brian Molley on horns, and the Mario Caribé Jazz Crusaders Timemachine, recreating the funk, soul and pop-informed 1960s and 1970s jazz of the Crusaders with help from John Burgess on sax, Chris Grieve on trombone, guitarist Neil Warden and Paul Harrison on keyboards. Another new line-up from an Islay veteran sees drummer Tom Bancroft, whose long-standing Trio AAB recently triumphed at the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival, in collaboration with Indian musicians they met earlier this year at the Delhi Jazz Festival. Bancroft will introduce his new Trio Red, with English pianist Tom Cawley and Norwegian bassist Mats Eilertsen (the trio also plays Edinburgh’s Jazz Bar tonight).

Bancroft, who also appears in trio with guitarist Kevin Mackenzie and bassist Caribe, speaks for many when he says of the Islay event: “It’s unique, and it captures all the beautiful things about Scotland – the landscape and the whisky and the vibe. I love the way that everybody, the audience and a lot of the musicians, gets the ferry on the Friday and comes back again together on the Monday.”

Or as Stuart Todd, chairman of the Islay Arts Association which co-promotes the festival with Assembly Direct, puts it: “People are smitten with the combination of nature and art, and the sense of community which is central to the experience of living in Islay and which can be shared, even on a weekend visit.”

For those who can’t make it, the BBC is recording it for later broadcast on Radio 3’s Jazz Line-Up and Radio Scotland’s Jazz House. Ticket holders, however, are being offered the chance to buy a limited edition Lagavulin bottling from a single bodega sherry cask filled in 1993 – which might be music enough for some ears, with or without the aid of a jazz band.

l The Lagavulin Islay Jazz Festival, 16-18 September, www.islayjazzfestival.co.uk