The Funky Knuckles + The Mark Lettieri Trio. Mark Lettieri (Snarky Puppy) is a guitarist, composer and producer from Fort Worth, Texas; Dallas-based The Funky Knuckles ‘move together musically as a school of fish, never complacent and always stretching the boundaries of improvisation and composition’. Support: Edinburgh Funk/Fusion 6-piece Jambouree. Over 18s only. 7pm Monday 18th April, La Belle Angèle, Hasties Close. Tickets £14 + booking fee from TicketWeb here. This is a co-promotion from Band on The Wall, The Jazz Bar and La Belle Angèle.
Daniel Petrica Ciobanu: the austere beauty of Bach opens a programme which includes Rachmaninov’s mighty Corelli Variations, one of Chopin’s most popular pieces Polonaise in A-flat Major, ‘Héroique’ and Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody, one of the truly great virtuoso showpieces arranged by Horowitz. 1pm, Tuesday 19th April, Venue 2, The Brunton, Ladywell Way, Musselburgh. Tickets: pre-concert soup & sandwich lunch + concert £13, concert only £7 in advance, £8 on the day. Lunch bookings close the day before the concert.
Leith Folk Club: Mount Juliet. ‘The return of the mighty Mount Juliet, aka Hannah & Roy Henderson, means the return of stunning vocals, glorious harmonies and blissful melodies. They describe themselves as a mix of country, Americana and dirty country, but really, what they do is simply masterful songwriting and performance. This will be a true highlight in our year’. With support: Derek and Richard. 7.30pm, Tuesday 19th April, Victoria Park House Hotel, 221 Ferry Road. Tickets cost £8 and may be reserved by completing the online form here or texting the club’s dedicated booking line on 07502 024 852. Reserved tickets must be collected by 7.30pm on the night.
Edinburgh Napier School of Music Lunchtime Concert: students perform music from Russia to America, from Rachmaninov to Charles Ives. 2pm, Wednesday 20th April, Glassroom, Merchiston Campus, Edinburgh Napier University, Colinton Road. Free: all welcome.
The Campbell Normand Trio with John Hunt: the swinging pianist always delivers a hugely enjoyable set, and tonight will be no exception, with rock-solid backing from bassist Ed Kelly and drummer Bill Kyle, and a very special contribution from Swing/Blues vocalist/guitarist extraordinaire (and Tuesday Tea Time regular), John Hunt. 9pm (entry from 8pm), Wednesday 20th April, The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. Admission £5/£4 on the door: please note this venue is strictly cash only.
Greyfriars at 12: Reid School of Music Musicians. 12 noon, Thursday 21st April, Greyfriars Kirk, Greyfriars Place.
Bitches Brew: the accomplished duo of sax player Sue McKenzie and bassist Emma Smith bring in another great night of FOUR female-led ensembles, performing a wide range of music, through jazz, groove, World Music and free-improv, as featured on BBC Radio 3’s Jazz on Three. 
Tonight’s guest performers are Cliona Cassidy (voice) + George Burt (guitar); Drawn to Water – Una MacGlone (double bass), Stuart Brown (drums), Raymond MacDonald (saxophone) and Jer Reid (guitar); Mairi Campbell (voice, piano, viola – ‘Instrumentalist of the year’ at the 2016 Trad music awards) and Syntonic (Sue McKenzie and Emma Smith). 9pm (entry from 8pm), Thursday 21st April, The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. Admission £7/£5 on the door: please note this venue is strictly cash only.
The Rumba Radges: Spanish Rumba with a jazz feel. This international Scottish/German/Spanish 6 piece band will play some brand new songs plus classics by Kiko Veneno, Juanito Makandé and Buenavista Social Club. 9pm, Thursday 21st April, Victoria Bar, 265 Leith Walk.
Lunchtime Concert: Choir Paradox, Denmark. 12.15pm, Friday 22nd April, St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street. Free.
St Mary’s Music School Piano Day. A concert of works by Brahms, Bartok, Rachmaninov, Beethoven and Ginastera played by soloists Fraser Mason, Simon Smith, Roray Kemp, Ellie Shek and James Willshire. The concert will be followed by a Piano Masterclass with Nigel Murray. 11am, Friday 22nd April, Stockbridge Church, Saxe Coburg Street. Free but booking essential – contact St Mary’s Music School on 0131 538 7766.
Northern Streams: a four day festival of music, song and dance from Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Scotland. Tonight Sally Simpson (fiddle) and musician, composer and arranger Markus Räsänen team up in a new duo to explore their love of Nordic and Scottish music. Plus The Quiggs – husband and wife duo Stephen (singer) and Perille (singer/songwriter). 7.30pm, Friday 22nd April, Grassmarket Centre, 86 Candlemaker Row. Tickets £11/£9 online here or by calling 0795 191 8366 or emailing eltmsa@yahoo.co.uk. The Centre’s cafe and bar will be open during the evening – please support them!
T
he Wynntown Marshals + Dropkick + Andy Tucker. Two Edinburgh bands and a very Scottish singer. Each band will play a full-length ‘headline’ set, with Andy Tucker (formerly of The Dead Beat Club) opening the show with a short solo acoustic set. Over 18s only. 7.30pm, Friday 22nd April, The Voodoo Rooms, West Register Street. Tickets £7 + booking fee from Ripping Records here.
Ali Afflecks’ Copper Cats: vintage New Orleans jazz and blues from award-winning vocalist Alison Affleck and her cheeky mix of renowned local musicians, with Stewart Forbes (sax), Cameron Jay (trumpet), Ross Milligan (guitar), Danielle Price (tuba) and Davide Rinaldi (drums). Ali’s passionate handling of the lyrics (‘stunningly expressive’ San Diego Tribune) coupled with a light-hearted, mischievous stage presence offers up a fresh interpretation of early jazz and blues whilst remaining faithful to the meaning behind the songs. 9pm (entry from 8pm), Friday 22nd April, The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. Admission £7/£5 on the door: please note this venue is strictly cash only.
Glowrogues: this 7-piece Manchester based jazz, funk and hip-hop band is founded by multi-instrumentalist and composer Jim Molyneux and draws inspiration from the likes of The Cinematic Orchestra, Snarky Puppy and The Robert Glasper Experiment. It’s made up of exceptional players from both Manchester and Birmingham’s jazz scenes, featuring members of cinematic folk septet The Old Dance School, energetic Mancunian jazz juggernaut Beats & Pieces Big Band and members of experimental jazz fusion trio Apes Grapes. Plus Funk DJ. 12 midnight-3am (entry from 11.30pm, band 12.45am), Friday 22nd April, The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. Admission £5/£4 on the door: please note this venue is strictly cash only.
Northern Streams: a four day festival of music, song and dance from Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Scotland. Today there are workshops in Scottish Songs, Swedish Tunes & Accompaniment, Danish Songs, Norwegian Tunes & Accompaniment, Playing for Dancing and Scandinavian Dances, followed by a sharing session. Workshops take place 10am-6.30pm (click here for details). In the evening there will be a concert with Ingunn Bjørgo (accordion) and Åasmund Reistad (guitar) followed by a ceilidh with The Northern Streams Ceilidh Band led by Sandy Brechin. Saturday 23rd April, Grassmarket Centre, 86 Candlemaker Row. The Centre’s café and bar will be open – please support them! Workshops cost £7.50/£5.50 each; concert/ceilidh tickets £11/£9 – book online here or by calling 0795 191 8366 or emailing eltmsa@yahoo.co.uk.
Sounds on Saturday: Choral Classics with St Giles’ Cathedral Choir. Vaughan Williams, Mozart, Byrd, Stanford, Bainton, Holst, Britten, Grayston Ives and Handel. Peter Backhouse (organ), Michael Harris (Director). 5.30pm, Saturday 23rd April, St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street. Admission by programme (£5) on the door. In aid of the Cathedral Choir’s USA tour 2017.
Edinburgh Society of Musicians: pianists Mark Spalding and Iain Matheson play Machaut, Frescobaldi, Purcell, Kurtag, Stockhausen and Cardew. 7.30pm, Saturday 23rd April, Edinburgh Society of Musicians, 3 Belford Road. Admission free.
The Bad Touch + Gangs + Harry & The Hendersons: a new Alt-Sleaze Edinburgh Five-Piece + two bands from Glasgow. 7.30pm, Saturday 23rd April, The Voodoo Rooms, West Register Street. Tickets £10 + booking fee from Ripping Records here.
Nothing Ever Happens Here and Above A Sleeping City Present Rhythm Machine: Summerhall’s first monthly music & art party night. Inspired by the Art Party format of Andy Warhol’s Factory & the unifying musical ethos of Larry Levan’s Paradise Garage, Rhythm Machine puts live art & installation work side by side with transcendental dance music. Featuring the musical explorations of DJ Yves & Miyamoto San in the Main Room & The Bugatti Suite’s towering Ferrero Rocher Empire in the Green Room. For over 18s only. 11pm-3am, Saturday 23rd April, Summerhall, 1 Summerhall. Tickets £5.
Northern Streams: a four day festival of music, song and dance from Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Scotland. Today’s afternoon session offers a chance to play and/or sing together – or come along and listen – in the relaxed setting of the Grassmarket Café. 1.30-3.30pm, Sunday 1st May, Grassmarket Centre, 86 Candlemaker Row. The Centre’s café and bar will be open – please support them!
St Giles’ at Six: Anna Rea (soprano), Michael Devlin (clarinet) and Stuart Hope (piano) perform Mozart, Liszt, Mendelssohn and Schubert. 6pm, Sunday 24th April, St Giles’ Cathedral, High Street. Admission free; retiring collection.
Jacob Fischer – Leif Jorgensen Swing Four: an afternoon of top-notch Swing Jazz from two accomplished Danish stars, Copenhagen-based, award-winning ‘Django’ guitarist Jacob Fischer, and clarinettist Leif Juul Jorgensen
(now resident in Scotland). Fischer has played all over Europe with countless top US and European jazz names, and on some 200 CDs across Scandinavia. Highly experienced clarinettist Leif Juul Jorgensen has also played with many touring US top jazz names, and fronts the Danish Jazz Quartet. They’re backed by locals Ed Kelly (bass) and Bill Kyle (drums). ‘An afternoon of totally enjoyable and tuneful top-level swing music – bring the family!’ 3-5.30pm, Sunday 24th April, The Jazz Bar, Chambers Street. Admission £5/£4 on the door: please note this venue is strictly cash only.
Rock & Roll Ping Pong with DJ Ding & DJ Dong: a free, monthly Sunday-night social with balls on! Fine beers, fine company, free-play, silly ping pong games, and music from every genre to play along to courtesy of the in-house soundtrackmeisters. Plus an optional, strictly amateur tournament (£1 to enter, winner takes all). 7-11pm, Sunday 24th April, The Bongo Club, Cowgate. The Bongo Club is a nightclub, live venue and all-round artistic hub owned by local arts charity Out of the Blue, which has an established track record as a catalyst for creativity in Edinburgh. ‘Putting the sounds of the underground and imaginative aspirations before the mighty dollar’.
