Mike Travis
Photo credit: Marc Marnie SJA were saddened to hear of the passing of jazz drummer and a great deal more, Mike Travis. Neil Cooper has written a lovely appreciation of his contributions to cultural life in The Glasgow Herald
JAZZ NIGHTS – BBC RADIO SCOTLAND
It has come to the attention of the SJA, from a variety of sources, that the BBC Scotland flagship jazz programme, Jazz Nights, is under imminent threat of closure at the end of the current financial year. Although the BBC has yet to officially provide confirmation, the news is being met with a rapidly growing groundswell of protest from within the wider jazz community against what would appear to be
Fionna Duncan (1939 – 2022)
It is with profound heartbreak that the board of the Scottish Jazz Archive bids farewell to the Queen of Scottish Jazz, our dear friend and poster-girl, Fionna Duncan who passed away in the early hours of the 6th of December. Fionna was the very first to be interviewed for the SJA and performed at our inaugural event. Fionna has been at the centre of Scottish jazz life for over 60
Jim Vincent (1940 – 2022)
SJA are sad to hear of the passing of pianist and eminent scientist Jim Vincent. Jim graced us with a remote interview from his home in the USA during the time of Covid-19 restrictions in 2020 in which he talked of his time in Scotland playing with drummer Bill Kyle and others and his association with Platform. At the end of his reminiscences he plays us out with a spellbinding
Tom Finlay (1939 -2021)
Graham Blamire looks back on the life of pianist Tom Finlay
SJA at EJBF – The Living Jazz Continuum
Presented in collaboration with the Scottish Jazz Archive, The Living Jazz Continuum is packed full of musical memories. Join Graham Blamire, Norrie Thomson and a host of Scotland’s traditional jazz players for a musical walk down memory lane. Lennie Herd, Ian Boyter, Stephen Feast, Martin Kershaw, John Burgess, Martin Foster, Mike Daly, Colin Steele and Paddy Darley mix and match into three different bands playing different sets. They are joined
Bill Kemp (1941-2021)
We were deeply saddened to hear of the passing of one of the North East of Scotland’s most celebrated musicians, drummer Bill Kemp, at the age of 80. Neil Drysdale has written a fitting tribute to Bill’s place in the hearts of the Scottish jazz community for The Press & Journal.
Traditional and mainstream jazz bands in and around Edinburgh
SJA Board Member Graham Blamire has put a considerable amount of ink to paper in producing an excellent outline of traditional jazz and mainstream in and around Edinburgh. Click HERE to read In the picture, taken in the mid to late 1940s: Drew Bruce (clt), Bob Fairley (tpt), unknown (drms), Bob Craig (tbn), Bill McGregor (bjo), Chris ‘Ma’ Bruce (pno)
Our friends at Playtime
Playtime: New Adventures in Music has continued its programming of live, socially distanced concerts during the Covid pandemic and have produced a series of online interviews with local and international artists that have joined the house quartet each week. These can be accessed at https://www.playtime-music.com/interval-interviews
Jim Petrie (1937 – 2020)
An appreciation of the remarkable seven-decade contribution to Scotland’s traditional jazz scene by Graham Blamire. Jim Petrie – An appreciation
Dundee Calling
In response to our Scotland-wide request for materials relating to jazz ephemera, these just in from Dundee:
A CALL OUT TO THE SCOTTISH JAZZ COMMUNITY
We’ve been busy interviewing a number of musicians central to the building of Scotland’s jazz scene talking about their careers and the people and places that featured in them. You can browse them by clicking on the ‘interviews’ tab on the main menu. We’re now keen to illustrate and contextualise these interviews with any memorabilia that you might have in the attic, the cellar or under your bed. Below is
Posters and tickets from Edinburgh gigs past
Again courtesy of Edinburgh Jazz Archive, a selection of posters and tickets from gigs gone by in the capital city (when entry cost between 2/6 to 4/-).
From the vaults of the Edinburgh Jazz Archive
Edinburgh Jazz Archive has been on the go for some 10 years in which time an intrepid group of enthusiasts has collected a treasure-trove of memorabilia detailing the capital city’s long and colourful relationship with jazz. Below is a small selection of photographs from the collection which is housed at City of Edinburgh Central Library on George IV Bridge.
Selected Platform posters from the Phil Croal Collection
Below is a small selection of digitised assets made available to Scottish Jazz Archive by Phil Croal. These combined assets, comprising posters, programmes, fliers, photography and audio recordings, document the years from 1973 during which Platform were active as promoters of jazz in Scotland. Click HERE to read an introduction to the activities of Platform currently being compiled by Graham Blamire (the full document is under preparation and will be
SJA Launch – Jazz Stories, November 2017
The intent to establish a Scottish Jazz Archive was publicly floated at an event, Jazz Stories from Scotland, cohosted by the National Library of Scotland and Edinburgh Napier University in November, 2017. Introduced by Roger Spence (Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival), the event welcomed over 100 jazz musicians and fans from around the country and featured a performance by three generations of Scottish jazz musicians alongside presentations of archival photography
Celebrating 40 Year of Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival
During July 2018, Scottish Jazz Archive presented an exhibition of memorabilia at Edinburgh City Library to mark the 40th anniversary of the Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival. Items on display included a full set of programmes dating back to the 1978 prototype festival edition alongside tee-shirts, badges, beer mats and coasters, and other related articles of interest.Click HERE to access a brief historical overview of the festival compiled by Haftor Medbøe