Langtoun Jazz Festival: organisers hail great weekend of live music

Langtoun Jazz ran from Friday to Sunday, and enjoyed a great weekend. The programme brought shows to the Old Kirk and St Bryce Kirk in the town centre plus Hayfield Community Centre.

Grace Black, founder and treasurer, was pleased how it all went after a couple of tough years to get up and running again after lockdown, and she thanked audience members for giving so generously at a fundraising concert ion aid of Kirkcaldy Foodbank.

“As a whole, the festival went terrifically well” she said. “Despite the good weather and lots of other things going on we had really good audiences and lots of new faces It means we are in a position to plan a programme of concerts in the Autumn and think about what we want to do in 2024.”

The programme offered something for all music fans - not just jazz lovers. The festival opened with a concert at the Old Kirk by the Matt Carmichael Quintet, the saxophonist and composer who has performed at Celtic Connections, Ronnie Scott’s, and Love Supreme Festival.Saturday evening saw a trio of young musicians from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland take centre stage, Ben Shankland, an Edinburgh-born pianist and composer, was joined by Kirkcaldy-born Ewan Hastie – winner of the BBC Young Jazz Musician 2022- on bass, and Chun-Wei Kang on drums.

Saturday afternoon in St Bryce Kirk, showcased the young talent in Fife Youth Jazz Orchestra, and a range of standard and more contemporary numbers from Inverkeithing Community Big Band - the show also acted as a fundraiser for Kirkcaldy Food Bank, with the audience giving generously.

Sunday afternoon offered the chance to dust off the dancing shoes with the Louisiana Fairytale Riverboat Jazz Band repeating their very popular performance of last December at Hayfield Community Centre.

The festival wraps with an Old Kirk double bill of top-quality Scottish bands, Figiro Quartet delivered some light jazz and swing with covers ranging from Nina Simone to The Beatles and from Édith Piaf to Jessie J, while Jazz Main are one of the most acclaimed, renowned, and respected groups performing in Scotland