Seonaid Aitken & Conor Smith present a tribute to Stéphane Grappelli & Ella Fitzgerald
A TRIBUTE TO STÉPHANE GRAPPELLI
Award-winning violinist and BBC broadcaster Seonaid Aitken pays tribute to her French Jazz violin hero Stéphane Grappelli. Having guested with former Grappelli guitarist Martin Taylor MBE, Seonaid now tutors at the Grappelli-Django Camp (The Netherlands). The ‘sizzling violinist’, alongside top Scottish jazz guitarist Conor Smith, will celebrate Grappelli’s career with swingin’ tunes from his solo repertoire - eg. ‘Sweet Georgia Brown’ and ‘Ol’ Man River’ - including material from his Quintette du Hot Club de France and legendary duets with Classical virtuoso Yehudi Menuhin.
“Stupendous gypsy jazz player” THE SCOTSMAN
ELLA FITZGERALD SONGBOOK
In the second half of the concert Seonaid pays homage to her favourite jazz vocalist - the ‘First Lady of Song’ - Ella Fitzgerald. Accompanied by Conor Smith on guitar, Seonaid will explore some of Ella’s iconic recordings from her Songbook series and hit singles for Decca Records. Following her highly acclaimed Ella Fitzgerald big band show in 2017, celebrating the centenary of the great jazz vocalist, Seonaid was awarded ‘Best Vocalist’ twice at the Scottish Jazz Awards and continues to celebrate one of the best singers in the history of jazz.
“Seonaid Aitken’s bright vocals and breezy virtuosity are simply a pleasure to behold” HERALD SCOTLAND