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Fergus McCreadie Trio to play Lemon Tree in Aberdeen, ahead of Proms and Edinburgh International Festival appearances as part of BBC New Generation Artist programme


By Lewis McBlane

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A LEMON Tree show will be a chance to catch a rising Scottish jazz star at an intimate venue before huge Proms and Edinburgh Festival appearances.

Fergus McCreadie (Right) with his trio, drummer David Henderson (Left) and bassist David Bowden.
Fergus McCreadie (Right) with his trio, drummer David Henderson (Left) and bassist David Bowden.

Fergus McCreadie, who has been selected for the prestigious BBC New Generation Artists scheme, is bringing his Trio to the cosy Aberdeen venue to promote latest album Forest Floor.

As part of the New Generation Artist programme, McCreadie will be shown to a huge audience through performance opportunities in London and across the UK – including at the Proms and the Edinburgh Festival.

This means his days of playing great small venues like the Lemon Tree could be limited.

McCreadie is excited for the chance to get face to face with the Aberdeen public again in a new setting.

He said: “This will be the first time we’ve appeared at the Lemon Tree."

“We’ve always enjoyed playing in Aberdeen, especially at the Blue Lamp, and have found the Aberdeen audiences very receptive.

“I’ve been playing some solo concerts as well as touring with my trio, who will be with me at the Lemon Tree.

"But the idea of playing at the Proms and maybe working with some of the BBC’s own orchestras is also fantastically appealing.”

McCreadie (24), hailing from Dollar in Clackmannanshire, has been winning awards since his mid-teens and will join the BBC’s New Generation Artists scheme in September.

Since the scheme launched in 1999, New Generation Artists have had the chance to play solo recitals, perform with BBC orchestras and appear at major venues and festivals.

Through Radio 3 broadcasts, these rising stars are also heard by listeners across the UK and Europe via the European Broadcasting Union.

Mr McCreadie said: “Being selected as a BBC New Generation Artist is an incredible honour.

“There have only been eight jazz musicians selected since the programme began and the other musicians in this year’s intake are all brilliantly talented classical musicians from all over the world.

“I don’t know exactly what’s planned yet but it’s a really exciting prospect."

McCreadie, who graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s jazz course in 2018, formed his trio with bassist David Bowden and drummer Stephen Henderson in 2016.

The group almost immediately won the Peter Whittingham Jazz Prize and the prize money helped McCreadie record and release first album Turas.

Turas won Album of the Year at both the Scottish Jazz Awards and the Parliamentary Jazz Awards, two of the UK’s most important jazz prizes.

Follow-up Cairn was nominated for the Jazz FM Awards 2021, as was McCreadie himself for Best Jazz Act..

The trio have gone on to tour Northern Europe and appear at events including Oslo and Stockholm jazz festivals, Ronnie Scott’s International Piano Trio Festival in London and Celtic Connections in Glasgow.

McCreadie’s latest album, Forest Floor, was launched with concerts at the Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh and Ronnie Scott’s.


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