Annual jazz festival brings world's top musicians to Aberdeen

Some of the world’s top musicians are performing in Aberdeen.

The city’s annual Jazz Festival celebrates a range of diverse musical styles over a ten-day period, and this year there is a focus on bringing music to the heart of the community .

Jazz Scotland community engagement worker Melodie Fraser told STV News: “It’s really important we get music out to people who wouldn’t usually get a chance to hear it or wouldn’t think it was for them.

“I think once people hear live music they think ‘oh that’s great, I wish I could do this more’, so this is a way of saying ‘come to the festival, it’s your festival it’s not something for other people.'”

The huge variety of musical styles on offer ranges from blues to big bands and from swing to soul.

Highlights include a solo performance by internationally-acclaimed guitarist Martin Taylor.

His show at the Lemon Tree venue promises to be an unmissable opportunity for guitar enthusiasts to experience the jazz giant up close.

Another of the festival’s highlights is the “Doric Suite”, which will be performed by the Aberdeen Jazz Festival Orchestra a specially formed ensemble where classic big band instrumentation meets the skirl of traditional fiddles.

Under the guidance of Richard Michael, the ensemble will perform his ‘Doric Suite,’ inspired by the countryside around Inverurie.

The “Doric Suite” performance, inspired by the countryside around Inverurie, will bring together numerous community music groups from across the city.

Local musician Sola Okunuga says he’s thrilled to be taking part in this year’s festival

He told STV News: “It’s an awesome privilege to open the Jazz Festival this year. It is so exciting playing to people and having a wonderful time.

“The thing I love about the festival is that it brings a lot of people together from different areas, helping to explore the different types of music you have and connecting with a lot of people.”