Jazz musician condemns ruling to close music school

A leading jazz musician has condemned a council decision to close a world-renowned music school in Edinburgh to save money.

Tommy Smith, founder of the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, branded the move to close the City of Edinburgh music school as “nuts”, adding it would “cause a downward spiral effect that will last for decades”.

The school, based inside Broughton High in the Comely Bank area of the city, is threatened with closure under City of Edinburgh Council plans to redistribute the school across four sites in the city to save £363,000.

However, the proposals have been condemned by critics who have accused the local authority of “jumping the gun”.

The school has been the launching pad for the careers of a number of Scottish musicians, with Smith, 50, counting Shirley Manson, lead singer of 1990s band Garbage, and Celtic fusion artist Martyn Bennett among it’s fellow alumni.