From September 12th to 14th, venues across Islay will be awash with jazz sounds for the tenth year celebration of the Black Bottle Islay Jazz Festival.As always, a host of fine musicians from the Scottish jazz scene - one of the most vibrant in the world - will be over, some new and some who have contributed to the great success of the Festival over the years. As always, there will also be special guests from further afield. Coming to Islay for exclusive UK performances is Connecticut-born saxophone star Jimmy Greene. The hard-playing bands of Horace Silver and Freddie Hubbard were where he made his name, but he has also played the bigger stages as a member of Harry Connick jnr’s band. From New York comes the phenomenal Rosetta Trio with an extraordinary style of all-strings acoustic jazz. One of their sets supports vocalist Jen Chapin, daughter of Harry. Continue reading.....Flying in specially for ‘Islay la’ is Swedish piano star Jacob Karlzon. His virtuosity promises to shine in several very different settings. Islay audiences love a great singer, and our own Sheena Swanson will again be appearing in a concert that also features singer Stephen Duffy. He will be known to many as the presenter of BBC Radio Scotland’s ‘Jazz House’. Their programmes will each include some songs made famous by the legendary Billie Holiday. Sheena is also one of the artists in a unique afternoon concert at Bunnahabhain which starts with one musician on stage and ends with ten: see the programme brochure for how this works!

Adding spice at Bunnahabhain will be our award winning Black Bottle Islay Pipe Band. They will be playing in the distillery immediately before the jazz begins making this a truly memorable 10th Anniversary celebration. Sponsors Black Bottle have been with the Festival from day one and are delighted to be backing year ten. As Brand Manager David Allan says 'Islay is a very special place for a Jazz Festival particularly as the island’s whiskies are the heart of our blend. Locals can hear a wide range of great jazz on their home turf, joined by hundreds of jazz fans visiting from around the world. They keep coming and so do we. Slainte!' The Festival is organised by Assembly Direct and Islay Arts Association. The programme is available on the Jazz Festival Website.

This story is published with kind permission of the Ileach local newspaper.

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