Folk, Jazz, Etc: Aberdeen's resurrected jazz festival has something to blow its horn about

SOME powerful American, British and Scandinavian players, including a trio of renowned saxophonists, converge on Aberdeen next month to mix it with top local talent as the Granite City's jazz festival is revived after a three-year hiatus.

With a tenor sax encounter between New York player Eric Alexander and London's Dave O'Higgins, another British sax star, Alan Barnes, sitting in with Ken Mathieson's Classic Jazz Orchestra, the formidable Swedish trumpeter Anders Bergcrantz joining Aberdeen saxophonist Garry Gibb and his quartet, plus a visit from one of European jazz's leading pianists, Jacob Karlzon, the sixth Aberdeen Jazz Festival, on 10-14 March, appears to be up and running with a vengeance, after a period during which the event's future seemed in doubt.

The last Aberdeen Jazz Festival proper was in 2007. Afterwards its promoters, Jazz Aberdeen, who had established a regular jazz spot at the popular Blue Lamp venue, planned to make it a biennial event, moving it from its March slot to early September to take advantage of potential audiences drawn by the city's annual Offshore Europe petrochemical industry gathering. The perennial problem of funding reared its ugly head, however, as Neil Gibbons, director of Jazz Aberdeen explains. "We were reasonably well funded by the local council and the Scottish Arts Council, but things were looking a bit fragile and we thought that by holding it during that week in September we would attract some private investment.

"But to be honest it didn't work out terribly well; we were concerned about the future of Jazz Aberdeen and decided to take a break and see what happened."

Following the planned break in 2008, last year saw a less ambitious September event under the label of the Northern Edge Jazz Festival, after Aberdeen Performing Arts, a trust originally formed to help rescue the city's foundering Lemon Tree venue, undertook to complete the season Jazz Aberdeen had started.

For this forthcoming festival, based entirely at the Blue Lamp, Jazz Aberdeen is collaborating with Edinburgh-based jazz promoters Assembly Direct, while a 22 April visit from singer Clare Teal is billed in conjunction with Todd Gordon's Jazz International agency. "It's just great to be putting the festival on again," says Gibbons, who says he's now optimistic about the future of jazz events in Aberdeen and hopes to re-establish a regular Blue Lamp programme later this year.

Being an amateur sax player himself, Gibbons particularly relishes the prospect of the Alexander–O'Higgins event, which promises some hard-driving music, propelled by a rhythm section of Andrew McCormack on piano, Arnie Somogyi on bass and drummer Kristian Leth. The two visiting Swedes, pianist Karlzon and trumpeter Bergcrantz, should also attract much attention, the latter playing in a late night session with local horn player Gibb. Two other concerts celebrate different strands of jazz history, with Ken Mathieson's Classic Jazz Orchestra playing the music of Benny Carter with guest English sax star Alan Barnes as well as some Scottish jazz luminaries, while the recently formed "supergroup" Mercy, Mercy, Mercy is fronted by trumpeter Colin Steele and alto saxist Martin Kershaw, reprising the muscular repertoire of Cannonball and Nat Adderley.

Another Aberdonian who can guarantee a lively gig in his home town is eclectic guitarist Graeme Stephen, who brings his sextet to the festival to close a Scottish Arts Council/National Lottery Tune Up tour (mainly in septet form with fiddler Chris Stout) which kicks off tomorrow at the Sage, Gateshead then on Friday at Edinburgh's Queen's Hall). Drawn from the jazz, folk and classical worlds, with cellist Ben Davis joining Phil Bancroft on sax and Fraser Fifield on sax and whistles, the band will be promoting the newly released album, Vantage Points.

• The Aberdeen Jazz Festival runs from 10-14 March. For further information visit www.jazzscotland.com/jazzaberdeen.