Virus music

Lockdown struck a bum note for young jazz pianist Fergus Mccreadie and his pals but Rob Adams discovers the trio are finding new ways to get tunes out to their growing fanbase

I t had all been going so well for Fergus Mccreadie, the awardwinning pianist from Dollar in Clackmannanshire. Having ended 2019 by collecting the Parliamentary Jazz Awards’ Album of the Year prize for his first album, Turas, to complete a prestigious double with the 2019 Scottish Jazz Awards’ best album title, Fergus began 2020 in high spirits.

A nine-date UK tour with his trio earlier this year continued the momentum that had seen the group headline at the jazz Mecca, Ronnie Scott’s International Piano Trio Festival last August. The tour included the trio’s debut at London’s iconic 606 Club and wildly successful concerts in Southampton and Sheffield as it crisscrossed the country.

Then, days after the tour’s final concert on March 5, everything stopped due to Covid-19.

Contracts had just been signed for the trio’s first American date, as part of the coveted Made in the UK representation to Rochester Jazz Festival in New York, and its appearance at the major Love Supreme festival in Sussex, alongside such popular attractions as the Isley Brothers, Sister Sledge and Candi Staton. Both gigs have now been – Fergus hopes – postponed rather than cancelled, as have all the trio’s concerts well into the summer.

“It’s devastating,” says the 22-year-old graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s much-admired and very productive jazz course.

“But then, it’s the same for everyone and you can’t let yourself feel victimised because for thousands and thousands of people, and their families, around the world this pandemic has been indescribably awful.

“We’ve lost a lot of work and some important concerts but that all pales into insignificance in the grand scheme of things.”

In the days before strict social distancing was enforced and nonessential travel was outlawed, Fergus was able to live stream concerts with the trio (from drummer, Stephen Henderson’s house in Ayrshire) and with jazz singer Luca Manning, with whom he released an album last summer, When the Sun Comes Out, from his own flat in Glasgow.

“I’m glad we were able to do these particular live streams,” he says. “In a way they were strange experiences because although we were able to see from comments on Facebook that people were listening, we obviously couldn’t see or hear the audience. But they were great from the point of view of being able to play together.

“We thought we’d played well and we enjoyed it, so it was a good way to wind down group activity for the time being.”

Fergus has been far from inactive in lockdown. Before the trio hit the road in February they had recorded the followup to Turas, using the same studio in Hastings as they had for the first album. Turas was self-released, its recording and manufacture financed by the trio’s winning of the Peter Whittingham Jazz Prize, an annual competition that recognises young developing talent from across the UK.

Even as the positive reviews came in for Turas, however, he’d begun to look for a record company to take on the trio’s second album. They played a showcase concert in the Cockpit in London, hoping to draw label representatives, and with similar thoughts, Fergus entered the BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year competition.

He reached the final, which took place at the Southbank Centre in London. Although he didn’t win, his performance was enthusiastically received and he returned north with the praise of the judges, who included the legendary Caribbean pianist Monty Alexander, ringing in his ears.

“Monty Alexander was really encouraging,” says Fergus. “He liked the way I incorporate my Scottish roots into the jazz tradition and told me to keep doing that. Having gained the approval of a master musician, I felt confident enough to pursue a record deal.”

His confidence wasn’t misplaced. One of the leading European jazz labels, Edition, who have recently released albums by top jazz musicians including former Miles Davis bassist Dave Holland, singer Kurt Elling and saxophonist Chris Potter, has signed Fergus to a multiple album deal.

“So that’s one good thing to come out of the current situation,” he says.

Another good thing to come out of this strange period for musicians who normally travel freely has been the release of the Fergus Mccreadie Trio Live at Black Mountain, an EP (although it’s as long as, if not longer than, many full-length albums from the vinyl age).

We’ve lost a lot of work and some important concerts but that all pales into insignificance in the grand scheme of things