Gig review: National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland with Mike Walker and Iain Dixon

AT THE end of this concert their director Malcolm Edmonstone described the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland's experience of performing with two veteran international musicians as a "band of equals" – the culmination of ten-days of rehearsing and touring – and he was spot-on.

Guitarist Mike Walker has played in several highly regarded fusion groups since the mid-1980s. Saxophonist Iain Dixon has worked with the likes of Michael Brecker, Julian Arguelles and Dave Green, and done session work for Joni Mitchell, Primal Scream, The Spice Girls and Bryan Ferry. The 19 NYJOS members assembled from around the country could easily have been overshadowed by the two guest soloists, but they more than held their own across a feel-good set of trad-jazz original compositions and new arrangements running a satisfyingly broad gamut of moods and tempos.

Walker's smooth Clapton-esque licks on Madhouse and the Whole Thing There – the title track of his debut solo album, which he played with the NYJOS as part of a previous project in 2009 – typified the kind of class that comes with decades of experience. But the flair-playing was evenly shared around, with several young players getting the chance to stand for a solo to warm applause from the Old Fruitmarket audience, among whom were evidently a lot of supportive family members enjoying the fruit of their labours.

Upright/electric bassist Brodie Jarvie, pianist Neil Birse and drummer Corrie Dick in particular looked relaxed and confident on the big stage, though it was perfectly possible to imagine any number of this fast-maturing generation of Scottish jazz hopefuls walking into a senior orchestra or professional ensemble sometime soon.