corto.alto + Stephen Henderson – April 9th

corto.alto

Due to perform alongside the incredible Soweto Kinch last night, Glasgow band corto.alto have been a favourite collaborator of the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival recently, and it’s easy to see why. This exuberant young Glasgow band is led by trombonist Liam Shorthall, who is member of the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, Graham Costello’s STRATA, and Fat-Suit, to name but a few of his acclaimed works.

The 7-piece collective fuses Afrobeat, Hip-Hop, and Soul into an irresistible, light nu-jazz groove, with an impressive line-up:
Cameron T Duncan (trumpet), Mateusz Sobieski (sax), Dan Brown (keys), James MacKay (guitar). Mark Hendry (bass), and Peru Eizagirre (drums).

Though fairly new, their music has made an immediate impact, with hit song ‘Better’, with lyrics written by exceptional Glasgow vocalist Kitti, racking up over 100,000 hits on Spotify so far. Their debut album (available from Bandcamp) ‘Live from 435’ is released in 3 volumes, and features a number of guest artists joining the collective, such as Matt Carmichael and Norman Willmore.

STEPHEN HENDERSON’S MODERN VIKINGS

Named ‘One to Watch’ by Jazzwise in 2018, drummer Stephen Henderson has performed with the best young artists in Scottish jazz, including award-winning bands Fergus McCredie Trio, Square One and Mezcla. Now, Stephen is ready to launch his first solo project titled Modern Vikings, featuring Scottish heavy hitters Fergus McCredie (drums), Konrad Wiszniewski (saxophone), and David Bowden (bass). Inspired by Scottish and Scandinavian folk, the music has strong global rhythmic elements and places an emphasis on improvisation and band interplay.

We will have to wait until after the lockdown to hear how this new music comes together but considering the exceptional line-up and we are very excited for it. In the meantime you can check out Stephen’s work with Mezcla’s brand new album ‘Shoot the Moon’ on Bandcamp, or Fergus McCredie Trio’s ‘Turas’, which won the coveted Album of the Year title at the Parliamentary and Scottish Jazz Awards 2019, and was shortlisted for the cross-genre Scottish Album of the Year Award 2019.

DONATE

You can continue to support us and the professional musicians who are struggling right now, by donating what you might usually spend on an entry fee or a drink, or any other amount that you wish. Professional musicians and all hospitality/event staff are facing an incredibly difficult time, having seen months of steady work disappear over-night. Any donations would be extremely appreciated to help us to continue to pay our staff through our closure and support our local event staff community in any way that we can.



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