Edinburgh News: music
Recommend a Fringe 2012 Show
The Fringe is upon us. The hordes are flooding in. Promoters and venue managers have been working through the night to get their venues set up.
EJBF 2012: Paul Kirby East-West; Haftor Medboe and Anneke Kampman
In amongst the crowd-pleasing hurly-burly and boogie-woogie brought to Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival audiences courtesy of Jools Holland, Curtis Stigers and Kyle Eastwood in terms of mainstream jazz, it was good to come across a few smaller gigs which show that modern jazz still has a few tricks up its sleeves.
Rumba Caliente, EJBF 2012, Review
The Latin Quarter descended on the Queens Hall last night for Rumba Caliente’s tour de force performance.
Havana Swing, EJBF 2012, Review
George Square’s Spiegel Tent rang to the tones of manouche last night as the Havana Swing Band welcomed fans of gypsy jazz from everywhere.
Lazy Lester, EJBF 2012, Review
The Spiegel Tent in George Square was honoured to have the one and only Lazy Lester in residence last night as part of the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival<
Aga Zaryan, EJBF 2012, Review
George Square’s Salon Elegance became an ocean of smoothness as Polish-born Aga Zaryan took to the stage last night as part of the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival.
Dennis the Menace Coming to Edinburgh Military Tattoo
An iconic Scottish cloth, a famous spirit, and a troublesome cartoon character will all make an appearance at the 62nd Edinburgh Military Tattoo (3-25
Dr John and the Lower 911, EFT, Review
Edinburgh's Festival Theatre played home to the deep southern drawl of Dr John and The Lower 911 on Saturday as part of the Capital's Jazz and Blues festival.
Starlight Express, Edinburgh Playhouse, Review
After the success of hit shows, Cats, Evita and Jesus Christ Superstar, the idea for Starlight Express began in 1975 when Andrew Lloyd Webber first thought of a musical based on the “Thomas the Tank Engine” books. But without full permission from the author, Rev. Awdry, the project was stuck in a siding.
July Folk Fest Fun at Scottish Storytelling Centre
“After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.” -- Philip Pullman
Aleksei Kiseliov Returns to London Concert Review
On a warm and dry summer’s evening in the garden of The Actors’ Church by the Piazza in Covent Garden in central London the audience gathered for preliminary Pimms or Champagne before t
Porgy & Bess, EFT, Review
High expectations were met and more. This all too short Edinburgh run consisting of 3 performances of ‘Porgy and Bess’ by Cape Town Opera was a theatrical treat not to be missed.
Scottish Ensemble with Catrin Finch's Pedal Harp Review
We were treated to the first performance of Savourna Stevenson’s three-movement Concerto for Harp.
White Nights, Glasgow Chamber Choir, Review
There are parts of northern Europe where the sun never sets in mid-summer and these are called White Nights.
Tantallon Castle Light Show Highlight of 3rd Lammermuir Festival
A music and light show set against the mighty stone walls of Tantallon Castle is one of the highlights of the third Lammermuir Festival in East Lothian this September.
The cliff-edge castle, described by Historic Scotland as "absolutely the best 14th-century castle architecture anywhere in Scotland", is set against an impressive natural landscape that looks out across the Firth of Forth to Bass Rock.
Edinburgh Fringe Programme 2012 Grows By 6%
This year's Edinburgh Fringe promises “more artists performing more work, in more venues, than ever before”.
Following a 6% increase on last year’s programme, visitors to the biggest performing arts festival in the world will have a staggering 2,695 Fringe shows to choose from in August (see Fringe stats).
Jake Cogan Review
The concept of a house concert was a new one to me but a check on the web site house-concerts-42.posterous.com shows that it’s a new and thriving phenomenon described as a “Secret gig location in Edinburgh showcasing the best musicians from Scotland and the world in an intimate venue.”
Scottish Opera: Tosca Review
The curtain rose and we were within the basilica church in Rome I used to walk past on my way from the Anglican Centre to meetings at the Vatican. The dark red interior stonework and a slightly lighter paving looked comforting, and the mildly dotty sactristan pottering about perfectly normal. And so the story of the political prisoner who has just escaped from Castel Sant’Angelo and his friend the painter developed. The choir and then the clergy process behind, the onlookers are asperged. All very real.
L’Ascension: Conservatoire’s Chamber Choir Review
It is not often we in Edinburgh get the chance to hear the scholars of the Royal Conservatoire’s in full voice. I was delighted that Michael Bawtree suggested I should come to their concert the day following Ascension Day. Anglicans are far more accustomed to being in church on that Thursday which falls forty days after Easter than do Presbyterians.
Renovated Assembly Rooms Providing New hub for Edinburgh’s Fringe
A cold, wet evening in May (aye, May) is not the best atmosphere for being at the wrong venue for a launch. My excuse? There was a hint somewhere in an email about seeing renovations and anyway, what do I know about building schedules? Answer: hee haw. We are so used in Edinburgh to the disruption of barriers closed streets and roads, that whether or not scaffolding has gone down is barely noted any more. Luckily, I was in the Guides so used my initiative and soon came across some likely folk on the way to the launch in St Andrew Square. (Note to self: always read the small print.)
Gloria: Edinburgh Royal Choral Union Review
Every chair was taken in the historic Greyfriars Kirk. The audience was facing the organ loft and looked towards the raised seating for a joint choir of one hundred and seventy seven singers. It was a programme of religious settings based on the Gloria, the Anglican and Roman Catholic praise to God. The four we were to hear were composed within the last century and a half, and each sung in Latin.
