Talking Jazz

Dr Johnson may have had a knack for the felicitous phrase, but his observation that "the noblest prospect which a Scotchman ever sees is the high road that leads him to England" couldn't be more wrong. When it comes to music, the noblest prospect an Englishman ever sees is of Johnson's "Scotchman" arriving over the border, especially if he's about to make his way to a jazz club.

This is not just because Scotland produces many fine musicians, although for many years you wouldn't necessarily have known that as a great majority were eclipsed by the star of the Blue Note-signed Tommy Smith. If Scottish musicians were good but essentially no different to English ones there would be no special need to seek them out - their not possessing any of the credibility automatically granted to musicians from Southern hemisphere countries, for instance, who through a mixture of cultural cringe and reverse racism are often said to purvey a more "authentic" sense of rhythm, (although when it comes to hitting a ride cymbal, I don't see that it makes any odds if you come from Cape Town or Catford).

But there is a difference in the Edinburgh-based jazz scene that makes a visit south by, say, the Scottish Guitar Quartet (currently touring England) welcome. The pool being relatively small, many musicians cross genres, playing in folk and jazz bands. That doesn't mean you'll find a bagpiper wheezing his way through "Autumn Leaves", thank goodness, but rather that there's a gentle infusion of a different musical tradition in Scottish jazz.

The greatest way this manifests itself is in a freshness of approach. Take the saxophonist John Burgess, or the trumpet of Colin Steele, or the pianist Dave Milligan, all of whom are the equal of any London player. What they have that marks them out is a delight in melody and a glass-like clarity of sound. It may be fanciful to suggest that the clear air and open landscapes of their home country have left their souls less eroded by cynicism than those who daily wipe away the capital's grime, but that's certainly what comes across in the music.

Jazz has long been a vehicle to convey anger, sensuality or just sheer hard-swinging excitement. Scottish jazz has something else. As I observed in a review of Colin Steele's band a few months ago, it is the sound of hope. Some say we have too many Scots in our national life. Jazz is an area where a few more would be very welcome.