Jim Gilchrist

1 week ago | scotsman.com | Jim Gilchrist

Tradfest: For the Love of Trees, Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh ★★★★Harpist and singer Mary Macmaster’s commission for Edinburgh’s Tradfest was inspired by trees, as “lungs of the earth”, and by our recent realisation of their astonishing interconnectedness. As an arboreal celebration, it also had its timely laments, marking Storm Éowyn’s splintering of Edinburgh’s tallest tree and the current trial of the vandals who downed the much-loved sycamore on Hadrian’s Wall.

1 month ago | scotsman.com | Jim Gilchrist

SNJO & Trilok Gurtu, Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh ★★★★★Trilok Gurtu is as thirled to his bucket as Oor Wullie, except that the renowned Indian percussion virtuoso doesn’t sit on his but fills it with water to create extraordinary sounds, of which more later. In this memorable collaboration, the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, whose director Tommy Smith toured with Gurtu some 30 years ago, joined the percussionist in arrangements of his music by German composer Wolf Kerschek.

Jan 8, 2025 | msn.com | Jim Gilchrist

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Jan 8, 2025 | scotsman.com | Jim Gilchrist

This year’s Celtic Connections festival embraces a hugely eclectic range of music as well as various multi-disciplinary productions, writes Jim GilchristThree decades on from its foundation, Glasgow’s vast and protean roots music festival Celtic Connections – its 300 or so events at 25 venues defying anything like a comprehensive preview – embraces not only a hugely eclectic range of music but also numerous multi-disciplinary productions.

Jan 2, 2025 | scotsman.com | Jim Gilchrist

The thriving Scottish jazz scene is reflected in some great gigs, writes Jim Gilchrist Helena Kay Quartet: Golden Sands Revisited Multi-award-winning saxophonist Helena Kay continues to curate “Jazz Thursdays” at the Queen’s Hall and on 13 February they’ll be reprising their widely praised second album, Golden Sands, in the company of pianist Peter Johnstone, bassist Calum Gourlay and drummer Alyn Cosker.