THE talent within Scotland’s burgeoning jazz scene was celebrated at the 10th Scottish Jazz Awards.
Winners across six categories, including Best Vocalist, Best Band and Rising Star, were honoured at Glasgow venue The Savings Bank on Thursday night as the event applauded stand-out musical endeavours.
A record-breaking 3300 public votes were cast for the nominees, while the Lifetime Achievement Award was selected by a panel of industry specialists, including press and promoters from across the UK.
The winners of the 10th Scottish Jazz Awards were: Rising Star Award sponsored by Musicians’ Union – Cara Rose; Best Instrumentalist Award sponsored by ESP Music Rentals – Helena Kay; Best Vocalist Award sponsored by Whighams Jazz Club – kitti; Best Band Award sponsored by Inhouse Event Productions – Tenement Jazz Band; Best Album Award sponsored by Birnam CD – Fergus McCreadie, Forest Floor; Lifetime Achievement Award – Alan Steadman.
Also recognised as part of the milestone event, was Scottish jazz royalty Fionna Duncan who died earlier this week. Her musical partner, Brian Kellock led a moving musical tribute to her as part of the night’s proceedings Duncan was often described as a “national treasure”. She started running vocal jazz workshops at Glasgow Jazz Festival in 1996 which went on to become legendary on both the Scottish and wider jazz scene. She was also the host of the Glasgow Jazz Festival’s Late Night Jam Sessions for many years.
This year’s Rising Star winner, 25-year-old Glasgow-based singer Cara Rose, started performing at a young age before going on to study songwriting at Glasgow’s Academy of Music and Sound. She has since amassed more than two million Spotify streams, with her 2022 single Lovin’ being featured on the platform’s New Music Friday playlist in October.
Helena Kay, 2022’s Best Instrumentalist Award winner, is a London-based tenor saxophonist who grew up in Perth. In 2015, she won the Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year, and in 2017 she won the Peter Whittingham Jazz Award. She used the prize money from this prestigious award to record and release her debut album Moon Palace.
Best Vocalist Award winner kitti is a singer from Paisley. She also won Best Vocalist in 2020, as well as winning the Scottish Music Awards Best Female Breakthrough the same year. She supported Georgia Cecile at the Glasgow Jazz Festival this year as well as playing at the Edinburgh and Dundee jazz festivals. She also supported other greats such as Mavis Staples and Van Morrison.
Tenement Jazz Band, this year’s Best Band, are a traditional jazz outfit formed in 2018 in Edinburgh. They have performed at festivals across the UK this year, as well as at Edinburgh Jazz Festival.
Jazz pianist Fergus McCreadie was awarded this year’s prestigious Best Album Award for Forest Floor, which topped the UK Jazz And Blues Chart, was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, and was crowned overall winner at the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award.
Renowned jazz promoter and broadcaster Alan Steadman was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award to coincide with his retirement following an illustrious career supporting and promoting jazz within Scotland. Hailing from Broughty Ferry, Alan is also the voice of the Speaking Clock.
Jill Rodger, director of Glasgow Jazz Festival and producer of the awards, said: “This year’s Scottish Jazz Awards were a milestone moment for the jazz scene as we not only celebrated 10 years of the event but also how far we have come as a genre.
“The awards also celebrate the increasing diversity of the Scottish jazz scene and the boundary-defying musicians who continue to produce groundbreaking material year on year. Scotland’s exceptional jazz scene continues to thrive and I would like to say a huge congratulations to everyone who was nominated, and to all of our winners.”
Alan Morrison, head of music at Creative Scotland added: “The 2022 Scottish Jazz Awards have wrapped up a classic year for the sector in Scotland. Fergus McCreadie’s acclaimed album Forest Floor sets a high benchmark, leading the charge by a generation of exceptionally talented young artists and drawing the eyes and ears of the world to what is happening here on home ground.
“It’s also great to see a strong set of winners who challenge the gender norm in jazz, putting this thriving scene at the forefront of Scotland’s cultural landscape.”
