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Fergus McCreadie

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Fergus McCreadie
Fergus McCreadie performing at Herr Nilsen, Oslo 2023
Born (1997-07-12) July 12, 1997 (age 27)
Jamestown, Easter Ross, Scotland
Alma mater
OccupationMusician
Notable workForest Floor
AwardsFull list
Musical career
OriginDollar, Clackmannanshire
Genres
InstrumentPiano
LabelsEdition
Member of
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata

Fergus McCreadie (born 12 July 1997, Jamestown, Easter Ross) is a Scottish jazz pianist and composer based in Glasgow. His style revolves around a fusion of contemporary jazz with Scottish folk music. He has released four albums as leader of a piano trio and one solo EP to date. His third album, Forest Floor, was shortlisted for the 2022 Mercury Prize, and won the Scottish Album of the Year Award and the Scottish Jazz Award for Best Album.

Early life

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Fergus McCreadie was born 12 July 1997[3] in Jamestown, Easter Ross, Scotland,[4] and grew up in Dollar, Clackmannanshire.[5] McCreadie's first experience playing music was on the bagpipes, though he concedes he "was not good at that at all."[5] He saw a jazz piano performance around age 12, and said it "changed my life. It looked so fun, so free and so creative in the way that everyone interacted with each other."[5] McCreadie's parents paid £20 for a broken-down piano; however, he mostly practiced with a Yamaha electric piano through headphones in his bedroom after noise complaints from a neighbor.[1]

McCreadie attended Dollar Academy as a teen,[6] then studied jazz at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland under Tommy Smith, where he also played in Smith's Youth Jazz Orchestra.[1][7] At the conservatoire, he met bassist David Bowden and drummer Stephen Henderson, the other two players in McCreadie's trio.[1] He graduated from the conservatoire in 2018.[4]

Career

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On 6 November 2023, McCreadie announced a 5-track solo piano EP titled Sketches, which was released by Edition Records on 26 November.[8][9] The project was recorded on 21 August at Solas Sound in Glasgow, with Gus Stirrat as recording and mixing engineer.[9]

In January 2024, McCreadie announced his fourth album Stream, which was released on 3 May by Edition.[10][11]

Style and influences

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McCreadie is known for combining contemporary jazz with Scottish folk music inspired by his homeland's natural landscape.[12][13] McCreadie describes this genre crossover by saying "jazz is kind of a folk music in itself. It has a lot of the characteristics, and it's grown up in a lot of the same ways."[1] McCreadie says he is most inspired by American jazz pianist Keith Jarrett, and notes his music taste as also including Glenn Gould, Martha Argerich, Oscar Peterson, McCoy Tyner, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh, and Mick O'Brien.[1]

In a concert review from 2024, The Skinny's Zoë White described McCreadie as sitting forward facing his audience and speaking candidly about his music in between songs.[14] White noted the "endearing contrast between his down-to-earth anecdotes about hill walks, mountain streams and Scottish weather, and the hypnotic beauty of the music itself."[14]

Accolades

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Awards and nominations received by Fergus McCreadie
Year Award Work Status Ref.
2015 Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year Himself Runner-up [15]
2016 Peter Whittingham Jazz Award Won [16]
2019 Scottish Album of the Year Award Turas Shortlisted [17]
2021 Cairn Longlisted [18]
2022 Mercury Prize Forest Floor Shortlisted [19]
Scottish Album of the Year Award Won [20]
Scottish Jazz Award for Best Album Won [21]
2023 Scottish Jazz Award for Best Band Fergus McCreadie Trio Nominated [22][23]

McCreadie has also won the Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year's under-17 category in 2013 and 2014, the Linda Trahan Memorial Prize University of St Andrews, and the Guy Barker Award at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.[16] McCreadie was selected for BBC Radio 3's New Generation Artists, becoming the first non-classical musician chosen for the recognition.[24]

Personal life

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McCreadie lives in Glasgow.[1]

Discography

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Albums

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EPs

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  • Sketches (Edition, 2023)

Singles

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Fergus McCreadie singles[26]
Year Name Album
2020 "Cairn" Cairn
2021 "An Old Friend"
"Jig"
"Cairn (Live)"
"Jig (Live)"
"An Old Friend (Live)"
2022 "Law Hill"[27] Forest Floor
"Morning Moon"
"The Unfurrowed Field"
2024 "Stony Gate" Stream
"Snowcap"[28]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Morris, Hugh (26 July 2022). "Fergus McCreadie Interview: "Jazz is kind of a folk music in itself"". Jazzwise. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  2. ^ "Graham Costello's Strata – Second Lives". London Jazz News. 24 April 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  3. ^ "Fergus McCreadie". All About Jazz. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Fergus McCreadie". Edition Records. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  5. ^ a b c "Fergus McCreadie: I'm not even dreaming about Mercury Prize win". BBC Online. 27 July 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  6. ^ "Dollar pupil is piano virtuoso". Alloa Advertiser. 16 January 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  7. ^ Adams, Rob (14 April 2018). "Young pianist's journey takes him to a four-night run". Jazz in Europe. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  8. ^ Edition Records [@editionrecords] (6 November 2023). "Fergus McCreadie announces Sketches, the captivating 5-track digital solo piano EP that showcases Fergus McCreadie's authentic and raw solo piano artistry, drawing inspiration from Keith Jarrett and featuring "Glade" from Forest Floor, weaving a mesmerising tapestry of emotions. Released, digitally on 24th Nov". Retrieved 13 November 2023 – via Instagram.
  9. ^ a b "Sketches | Fergus McCreadie". Bandcamp. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  10. ^ Flynn, Mike (22 January 2024). "New albums from Potter/Mehldau/Patitucci/Blade, Mark Lockheart and more for Edition Records early 2024 releases". Jazzwise. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  11. ^ "So excited to bring you the new album Stream, our fourth as a trio and the third for @editionrecords". Facebook. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  12. ^ Spry, Graham (4 April 2022). "Fergus McCreadie - Forest Floor". Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  13. ^ "Fergus McCreadie: Forest Floor". Jazzwise. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  14. ^ a b White, Zoë (23 April 2024). "Fergus McCreadie Trio @ The Queen's Hall, Edinburgh, 19 Apr". The Skinny. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  15. ^ Adams, Rob (25 June 2015). "Glasgow Jazz Festival review: Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year 2015 at the Rio Club". The Herald (Glasgow). Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  16. ^ a b Bruce, Keith (20 December 2016). "Arts News: Join the Burdies; Peter Whittingham Jazz Award 2016; The Battlefield Band; The Ceilidh Place". The Herald (Glasgow). Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  17. ^ Barrie, Douglas (15 August 2019). "Shortlist for 2019 Scottish Album of the Year revealed". The Scotsman. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  18. ^ Brash, Tallah (16 September 2021). "SAY Award 2021: The Longlist". The Skinny. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  19. ^ Singh, Surej (26 July 2022). "Mercury Prize 2022 shortlist revealed". NME. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  20. ^ Brash, Tallah (20 October 2022). "Fergus McCreadie wins the SAY Award 2022". The Skinny. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  21. ^ "Winners at the 2022 Scottish Jazz Awards". London Jazz News. 9 December 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  22. ^ "Nominees unveiled for 2023 Scottish Jazz Awards as public vote opens". Jazzwise. 13 November 2023. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
  23. ^ Flynn, Mike (8 December 2023). "Winners of 2023 Scottish Jazz Awards announced at Glasgow ceremony". Jazzwise. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
  24. ^ Didcock, Barry (1 October 2022). "A Who's Who of Scotland's explosive new jazz talents". The Herald (Glasgow). Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  25. ^ Lea, Nick. "Fergus McCreadie Trio - Turas". JazzViews. Archived from the original on 25 February 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  26. ^ "Fergus McCreadie - Discography". Spotify. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  27. ^ Flynn, Mike (28 March 2022). "Video of the Day: pianist Fergus McCreadie shares "Law Hill" from new album Forest Floor". Jazzwise. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  28. ^ McCreadie, Fergus [@fergusmccreadie] (15 March 2024). "New single is out today!! "Snowcap" available wherever you like to stream music. I hope you enjoy 🏔". Retrieved 17 March 2024 – via Instagram.
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