More info on the Islay Jazz Festival

This year’s Black Bottle Islay Jazz Festival, running from 14 to 16 September, will have the widest range of music yet in its nine year history. 18 concerts - in a dozen different venues - will feature top international players including as always many of the leading figures in Scottish jazz. A first for Islay is the 8-piece hip-hop group ‘Live Sciences’. Not pure jazz, maybe, but they are a top club act whose mix of beats, funk, turntables and rap, should excite younger ears and dancing feet. More traditional tastes might welcome the terrific assemblage of the Scottish Jazz All Stars which includes veterans of the Clyde Valley Stompers and the Clansmen. Input from Scotland’s vibrant folk and traditional music scene comes with brilliant Shetland fiddler Chris Stout and the dazzling clarsach of Catriona McKay. Anyone in the audience of 100 who saw them as part of Fiddlers Bid recently will be captivated by their talents interplaying with jazz piano. Folk and traditional music influence from Eastern Europe figures too, is just one of the exciting parts that make up the jazz kletzmer music of Moishe’s Bagel. They are slotted to fill the Bunnahabhain filling hall. International visitors are headed by American Ken Peplowski. As one of the world’s top clarinettists and saxophonists he will feature in three different settings.

Other points of the compass bring in groups led by bright lights from Iceland, Australia and Sweden, a country that, like Scotland, produces way more great jazz than its size suggests. Crossing the Atlantic from her music studies at Berklee, and making her Festival debut is the 19 year old Scottish saxophone prodigy Leah Gough-Cooper. The Festival promises its hundreds of visitors many inspirational Islay experiences while locals have great opportunities to find jazz on their doorsteps. Commenting on the growth of the Festival Marco Di Ciacca of Black Bottle says 'Black Bottle is delighted to once again be sponsoring the Islay Jazz Festival. It has proven to be a huge success on the international jazz scene allowing enthusiasts to 'discover the heart of Islay' on the island so renowned for its whisky heritage.' The Festival is promoted by jazz specialists Assembly Direct and the Islay Arts Association.