Glasgow Jazz Festival

Glasgow Jazz Festival
The annual Glasgow Jazz Festival which takes place this year between the 19th and 30th June. The main sponsors of this years Jazz Festival are Glasgow City Council and the Scottish Arts Council.
A lot of local Glasgow talent is featured this year and there are a number of big bands appearing. The focus of the Glasgow Jazz Festival is around the City Halls and Old Fruitmarket in the Merchant City while other venues include the 02, the Ramshorn and the Tron.This year Chick Corea headlines the 2009 Festival. Chick is one of the greatest pianists in jazz, and this is his only UK solo show this summer. He is appearing on 30 June at the O2 Glasgow Academy.Artists appearing at this years festival includes BBC Big Band with Art Themen, Carol Kidd, Clare Teal, Laurie Holloway, Todd Gordon Hosted by special guest, Sir Michael Parkinson George Penman, Glasgow Jazz Trio, James Taylor Quartet, Neil Sedaka, Ryan Quigley Big Band with Justin Currieand and the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra presents: Rhapsody in Blue with Brian Kellock and A Tribue to the Music of Buddy Rich featuring Alyn Cosker.
Already a major part of Glasgow’s thriving entertainment scene, the Jazz Festival has seen significant growth each year - attracting jazz lovers from all over the world. Why not join us at the Argyll hotel in Glasgow which is within easy reach of many of the Festival Venues. The SECC is within a 15 minute walk where Neil Sedaka will appear on Friday 26th June.
Join us in Glasgow during this years Glasgow Jazz Festival and take a short city break.

Painter swaps Glasgow for its twin river city in Russia

An artistic love of the River Clyde has led a Scottish artist to paint another great river, the Don in Russia, as she becomes the foreign artist-in-residence for the city of Rostov-on-Don. Cara McKinnon Crawford, a graduate of Glasgow School of Art, is currently embarking on a lengthy and ambitious project to chart the flow of the Clyde in oil paintings, from its source, through Glasgow, to the sea. The nearly 200-painting endeavour, which she hopes will be displayed at a gallery in Glasgow city centre when it is completed, has led the artist to the residency in Glasgow’s twin city in Russia, which is on the banks of a similarly industrial waterway, the Don.

'Squiggly Bridge can be catalyst to transformation of waterfront’

A new pedestrian and cycle crossing spanning the River Clyde officially opened to the public yesterday with a pledge that it will act as a catalyst for investment despite the global recession. The Tradeston Bridge, dubbed the ‘Squiggly’ bridge, has been hailed as a milestone in the ongoing transformation of the Clyde waterfront. The bridge is intended to give Glasgow’s International Financial Services District “a sense of place” and link it with the Tradeston area on the south bank of the Clyde. Steven Purcell, leader of Glasgow City Council, said: “The Tradeston Bridge and the wider scheme to develop new public places will act as a catalyst for future regeneration of the Tradeston area. It is important that the public purse continues to invest in the city’s infrastructure at this difficult time to bolster Glasgow’s economy and pave the way for future development along the Clyde waterfront.” He added: “It’s not just about having another crossing but I think it’s something which looks really good. It’s a real statement about modern Glasgow.”This story also appeared in the Evening Times and The Scotsman

£50m Titian painting to go on show in Glasgow

The Titian masterpiece, Diana and Actaeon, bought with the help of public cash for the National Galleries in Edinburgh, will come to Glasgow. The National Galleries has revealed that following calls by the Evening Times and Glasgow MSP Bill Butler, it is now intending to show the £50m painting in the city. John Leighton, director general at the National Galleries of Scotland, confirmed that Glasgow’s status in cultural terms will make it one of the “premier venues” for the Titian. He said: “The National Galleries of Scotland and the National Gallery, London, are currently drawing up plans for Titian’s great masterpiece Diana and Actaeon to be shown across the United Kingdom. In a Scottish context this will involve a number of our greatest cities and Glasgow will, of course, be one of the premier venues.” The original plan was for the painting to alternate between Edinburgh and London, spending eight month periods in each city until May 2012, when it would begin a five-year rotation starting with London. Now, it is set to come to an as-yet undecided venue in Glasgow, although Kelvingrove is thought to be the obvious front-runner.

Homecoming Scotland 2009 – Celebrations, Festivals and Events in Scotland 2009 – Glasgow Business (May/June)

The Journal of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce includes a full page article on Homecoming Scotland events in Glasgow. It notes that the city has already hosted a number of successful events and festivals, including Celtic Connections, Inspired and the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival, which have drawn visitors from across the globe. The article also looks ahead to future events in Glasgow, such as Homecoming Live in November, which will be the jewel in the crown of the St Andrew’s Day celebratory weekend.

Scotland Avant-Garde - New York Times T4 section, (16 May)

The New York Times travel magazine, T4, featured an article at the weekend by Peter Terzian focusing on Glasgow’s burgeoning contemporary art scene. Glasgow artists Toby Paterson and David Shrigley are among those mentioned with Paterson commenting that, “there’s something of an unfinished feeling in Glasgow that makes it really intriguing.” Glasgow School of Art is credited with educating some of Britain’s most celebrated artists – including the Turner Prize winners Douglas Gordon and Simon Starling – and the piece concludes that “a kind of modesty and a willingness to be part of a community” is the glue that makes Glasgow’s creative class cohere.

It’s park and slide – The Evening Times (May 18)

Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Park is to be transformed into an Alpine wonderland for boarders and skiers. After the success of last year’s event Braehead’s SnO!zone ski centre will ship 80 tonnes of real snow into the park. The event will also see professional snowboarders demonstrating their skills to a soundtrack provided by top DJ’s. The all day event is free and starts at 11:30 am next Saturday, 23rd May.

Ewan set for Glasgow film – The Evening Times (May 18)

Hollywood film star Ewan McGregor is to team up with fellow Scot, director David Mackenzie, on a new film being shot in Glasgow. McGregor last worked with Mackenzie on Young Adam. Filming on The Last Word starts in Glasgow at the end of August.

Galleries’ 2,200 works in storage – so send some west, urges MSP

Galleries’ 2,200 works in storage – so send some west, urges MSP

– David Maddox, The Scotsman (19 May)More of the National Galleries of Scotland’s paintings should go on show in the west, a Glasgow MSP has demanded after it emerged 2,227 of them are in storage. Glasgow Nationalist MSP Bill Kidd has put down a motion demanding a rethink on Scotland’s art collection after discovering only nine pictures are on display in the west. Mr Kidd has argued that more of the NSG collection should be displayed in Glasgow in an effort to help promote the Commonwealth Games and the link between Scotland’s two biggest cities. He has suggested the McLellan Galleries in Sauchiehall Street could be used as a venue. The NGS director-general John Leighton insisted that they are committed to sharing the national collection.

Brits’ six-medal gymnastic haul – The Evening Times (18 May)

Brits’ six-medal gymnastic haul – The Evening Times (18 May)

British gymnasts took the Commonwealth Gymnastics Grand Prix by storm at the weekend with a six-medal haul. Hundreds of supporters turned out to watch the two-day event at the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow. Liz Cameron, chair of Culture and Sport Glasgow, said: “Once again the Glasgow Grand Prix has been a wonderful success. The gymnasts excelled and are worthy winners of the medals they achieved.”

BAA in airport appeal – Victoria Thomson, The Scotsman, (19 May)

BAA in airport appeal – Victoria Thomson, The Scotsman, (19 May)

Airport operator BAA last night revealed it will appeal the decision by the Competition Commission to make it sell three of its airports, including either Edinburgh or Glasgow. The commission ruled recently that BAA’s ownership of seven UK airports was anti-competitive. It said that Spanish-owned BAA must sell Gatwick and Stanstead as well as one of its Central Belt airports. BAA has decided to sell Gatwick in West Sussex and said last night that the sale process was continuing. But BAA said it was applying to the Competition Appeal Tribunal to review the commission’s report on two grounds. The first centred on “apparent bias” in the commission’s ruling. BAA claimed there was a link between a member of the commission panel and “an organisation interested in acquiring the airports that BAA is required to sell”. It said it would also appeal on the grounds that the commission failed to take into account “the adverse financial impact of introducing competition”. That centred on “the requirement on BAA to sell three airports within two years in the current financial and economic circumstances”.