A north-east jazz event has announced it will “split” into two parts in order to work through Covid-19 restrictions.
Organisers of the Aberdeen Jazz Festival said they will put on an “exclusively online event” in its traditional March timeslot – while planning live concerts and additional online performances once restrictions begin to lift.
The festival promises to showcase “high quality” international and national names in the jazz scene, while also promoting a variety of other events.
During the March 25-28 programme, top saxophonist, Tommy Smith will presents a special night of music by Chick Corea to mark the pianist’s passing last month, while superstar guitarist Mike Stern has put together a special concert for Aberdeen Jazz Festival, recorded in New York.
Scottish guitarist Graeme Stephen teams up with fiddler, Aidan O’Rourke, for a one-off jazz-folk crossover summit, with singer Ali Affleck also fronting a Festival special celebrating traditional and swing jazz with pianist Brian Kellock and trumpeter Enrico Tomasso.
The festival finale will see a performance by Scottish Jazz outfit, Aku!
Four of the recordings for Aberdeen Jazz Festival also come from its renowned home base at The Blue Lamp.
The festival had to suspend a week of events last year following the outbreak of Covid-19.
The event was just one victim of the coronavirus crisis which also saw the Tivoli Theatre and Aberdeen Arts Centre both announce they would close their doors.
Neil Gibbons, Aberdeen Jazz Festival artistic director, said: “We are so pleased to be able to present this first series of concerts and reconnect with our audiences and with the musicians and technicians who have made this happen.
“Thanks to our funders* continuing to back us in these hard times, we’re able to give jazz musicians and jazz audiences a real fillip at the end of March, and look forward to a much bigger second phase once conditions allow.”
Tickets are £10 per concert, but the festival are encouraging audiences to buy a Festival pass, which will give access to all five concerts for £20.
Tickets will go on sale on Monday, March 15 at 10am.