Fergus McCreadie

Carnegie Hall, Dunfermline, October 13

Dunfermline is just a few miles from Dollar, where Fergus McCreadie grew up and, although the award-winning pianist is now based in Glasgow, he’ll be hoping his concert at Carnegie Hall involves a relatively uneventful trip.

Already this year he has run into a pilots’ strike in Sweden that resulted in a 12-hour train journey and a frantic dash to arrive with minutes to spare at the venue where his trio was due to play.

Then there was the trio’s gig in Tobermory on a day when the ferries weren’t sailing and the musicians had to wait on the beach at Oban for a rigid inflatable boat to take them to Mull, where they played with borrowed instruments.

Hairiest of all, though, was the dash that took Fergus across Edinburgh during rush hour after an afternoon trio gig at the Fringe to catch a flight to Oslo Jazz Festival where he was due to play at 9pm with one of his other bands, drummer Graham Costello’s STRATA.

“It’s been a crazy time,” says Fergus, whose trio also made a headline appearance at the prestigious Ronnie Scott’s International Piano Trio Festival in London in August following enthusiastically received appearances at the club earlier in the year.

“Going to Mull on the RIB was fun but to get from the Fringe gig to Edinburgh Airport just in time to make the flight to Oslo, I had to call on one of my dad’s friends who has a powerful motorbike and he gave me a lift through the traffic.”

There have been rewards to add to the travel tales, though. In June Fergus’s debut album, Turas, won the Album of the Year title at the Scottish Jazz Awards, following his Best Instrumentalist success at the 2018 awards.

Turas also made the shortlist – final 10 in a field of 290-plus – in the Scottish Album of the Year Award, a rare feat for a jazz album.

Fergus is also currently shortlisted in two categories (Best Album and Best Newcomer) in the Parliamentary Jazz Awards and shortlisted in the Piano section of the British Jazz Awards.

Playing at Carnegie Hall in New York would cap a great year for Fergus but he’s content to wait for that honour.

“The Dunfermline concert was confirmed the same day as Ronnie Scott’s and I thought ‘what?!’ until I read the email from my agent properly,” says Fergus.

“I’ll be playing with David Bowden, the bassist in my trio. We’ve done a few duo gigs before and they’re different from trio gigs, more intimate.

“I’m also going to include a few of my favourite classical piano pieces alongside original compositions which doesn’t happen too often.”

Fergus McCreadie is hoping for an uneventful return to Scotland after a series of mishaps on tours.