From the burgeoning Scottish jazz scene comes another young talent. With two records under his own name, tenor saxophonist Matt Carmichael has already made a big impression both on the domestic and international jazz scene.
Glasgow-based Matt Carmichael was born in small Conon Bridge in the Scottish Highlands and started playing saxophone at the age of 11. Having won the prestigious Peter Whittingham Development Award in 2019 and being a finalist in the BBC’s Young Jazz Musicians Competition 2020, Matt has established himself as a composer and performer.
The melodic is central to Carmichael’s music and he takes a lot of inspiration from Scottish folk music and the Scottish landscape. The debut album “Where will the river flow” reflects the highlands and the latest album “Marram” is inspired by the dramatic moods of Scotland’s coastline. With the sea as a metaphor for escape from reality, flow and changing emotional states.
Matt Carmichael formed his quartet back in 2016 together with another young Scottish rising star, the pianist Fergus McCreadie. The two met in the Scottish youth jazz band of the NYOS Scottish Jazz Orchestra.
Now Matt Carmichael, this already big name of the future, is coming to Fasching for the first time together with his quartet. Celebration of young Scottish highland jazz that sometimes brings to mind Pat Metheny’s 80/81 with tenors Dewey Redman and Mike Brecker.
Matt Carmichael, tenor saxophone
Fergus McCreadie, piano
Charlie Stewart, violin
Ali Watson, bass
Tom Potter, drums
Support:
Shinken Shobu is an original jazz quintet led by harpist Stina Hellberg Agback. Playfully, but in the deepest seriousness, the group together explores the borderland between written and improvised, jazz and modern art music, acoustic and amplified. In her compositions, Stina Hellberg Agback displays an unusual artistry where a contemporary, improvising harpist and composer expresses her love for strings, communication and the small dynamics.
With her is Eva Lindal on violin, Alberto Pinton on woodwinds, Filip Augustsson on bass and Jon Fält on drums, four full-fledged artists who all in their own personal way share the passion for playful improvisation.
Stina Hellberg Agback has studied jazz and composition at Berklee College of Music, Trinity College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm. With a strong passion for improvisation and collective creation, she sets new paths for her instrument within modern jazz.
The inspiration for the Shinken Shobu project comes from the Japanese martial art iaido, where the term means combat with a sharp sword. Shinken Shobu is a game taken in all seriousness.
Stina Hellberg Agback – harp
Eva Lindal – violin
Alberto Pinton – woodwind
Filip Augustsson – double bass
Jon Fält – drums
