Renowned Jazz FM favourite’s Anstruther gig between shows in London, Paris & LA

Falkirk-born Euan Stevenson is a classically trained musician who keeps active in both the classical and jazz worlds. He performs at Anstruther Town Hall on Sunday, June 29 as part of the East Neuk Festival.

He is the co-writer and musical director with the award-winning jazz singer Georgia Cecile and will fit his trio’s Anstruther gig in between concerts in London, Paris and Los Angeles with the Jazz FM favourite.

Stevenson has also arranged music for the English Chamber Orchestra and internationally renowned violinist Pinchas Zukerman, assignments of which his kinsman and former Master of Music at St Andrews University, Cedric Thorpe Davie would surely approve.

“Cedric Thorpe Davie was my grandmother’s cousin,” he said. “He was a very interesting character and an accomplished composer. He studied with the great composers Ralph Vaughan Williams and Zoltan Kodaly and spent time in Finland where he met the top Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.”

Davie wasn’t Stevenson’s grandmother’s only musical relative, however. The film music specialist Muir Matheson, who conducted the score for Brief Encounter and over 1000 other films, was her cousin on the other side of the family.

Having such illustrious forebears could be daunting but Stevenson takes inspiration from these connections.

As well as working with Georgia Cecile, Stevenson and saxophonist Konrad Wiszniewski co-lead New Focus, a group that has appeared at Ronnie Scott’s in London and Celtic Connections in Glasgow in addition to Edinburgh and Glasgow jazz festivals.

In Anstruther, Stevenson will lead his trio with bassist Andy Sharkey and drummer Tom Gordon – another Fife connection from Dunfermline – in a programme of jazz classics by Duke Ellington, Bill Evans and other favourite pianists.

“I enjoy playing my own music but there’s something special about giving audiences tunes they’re familiar with and sensing their recognition,” he says. “Duke Ellington is one of my heroes and it’s amazing to think that his music has now been popular for a hundred years, and yet there’s always something new to discover in it and share it with listeners.”