Winners announced at the Scottish Jazz Awards 2022

The exceptional talent within Scotland’s burgeoning jazz scene was celebrated last night at the 10th Scottish Jazz Awards during a ceremony presented by Seonaid Aitken.

Winners across six categories, including Best Vocalist, Best Band and Rising Star, were honoured at Glasgow venue The Savings Bank as the event applauded stand out musical endeavours.

More than 3,300 public votes were cast for the nominees, while the Lifetime Achievement Award was selected by a panel of industry specialists, including press and promoters from across the UK.

It’s been an exciting year for the Scottish jazz community. This year’s Rising Star winner, singer Cara Rose, started performing at a young age before going on to ​​study songwriting at Glasgow’s Academy of Music and Sound. She has since amassed over two million Spotify streams and released her 2022 single Lovin’.

Best Vocalist Award winner kitti has played at Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee Jazz Festivals this year as well as supporting legendary acts such as Mavis Staples and Van Morrison, and previous Best Vocalist winner Georgia Cecile. She recently released her new single down-low.

Helena Kay, 2022’s Best Instrumentalist Award winner, is a London-based tenor saxophonist who grew up in Perth. In 2015 they won the Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year, and their KIM Trio recently released their new record Golden Sands.

Tenement Jazz Band, this year’s Best Band winner, are a traditional jazz outfit formed in 2018 in Edinburgh. This year theyve delighted audiences at festivals and concerts across the UK, as well as performing to a sold out crowd for Edinburgh Jazz Festival.

Jazz pianist Fergus McCreadie was awarded this year’s prestigious Best Album Award for Forest Floor, which topped the UK Jazz and Blues Chart, and was also shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize. This groundbreaking album was also crowned overall winner at the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award.

Renowned jazz promoter and broadcaster Alan Steadman was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award to coincide with his retirement this year following an illustrious career supporting and promoting jazz within Scotland. Hailing from Broughty Ferry, Alan is also the voice of the Speaking Clock. He was presented with the award by previous recipient Ken Mathieson, and joins previous winners Richard Michael, Martin Taylor, Fionna Duncan, Carol Kidd, Bobby Wellins, Tam White and Ronnie Rae in the Scottish Jazz Hall of Fame.

Winners at the 10th Scottish Jazz Awards are:

Rising Star Award sponsored by Musicians’ Union - Cara Rose

Best Vocalist Award sponsored by Whighams Jazz Club - kitti

Best Band Award sponsored by Inhouse Event Productions - Tenement Jazz Band

Best Instrumentalist Award sponsored by ESP Music Rentals - Helena Kay

Best Album Award sponsored by Birnam CD - Fergus McCreadie - Forest Floor

Lifetime Achievement Award - Alan Steadman

This article has been viewed 6250 times