EFG London Jazz Festival 2019

Luca Manning & Fergus McCreadie

Event Has Passed

Last Show: Monday 18 th November 2019

The Pheasantry (Chelsea)

Luca Manning is an award winning Jazz vocalist from Glasgow, voted as 'Rising Star' in the 2018 Scottish Jazz Awards. Luca Manning is an award-winning Jazz vocalist and songwriter from Glasgow, Scotland. He is inspired by a wide range of artists and musical styles, as well as being firmly rooted in the tradition of jazz. He turned to jazz music almost by accident, after spending his childhood chasing the dream of being a Rockstar and found that the more he immersed himself in the music, the more he fell in love with it. For this duo show, he is joined by another great young talent - pianist Fergus McCreadie, described by The Herald newspaper as "...one of Scotland's finest young pianists".

Now based in London, Luca has just finished his second year on the jazz degree at the Guildhall School of Music. He has already played major London venues such as PizzaExpress Jazz Club and Ronnie Scott’s leading his own ensembles and featuring as a guest with renowned singers such as Liane Carroll and Ian Shaw. He became a member of the London Vocal Project in 2018 and in the same year, became a chairholder with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. 

Luca was honoured to win the rising star award at the 2018 Scottish Jazz Awards and is now anticipating the release of his first album : ‘When The Sun Comes Out’ which features another great young talent Fergus McCreadie, described by the Herald newspaper as “ one of Scotland’s finest young pianists”

Vocalist Luca Manning has recently been enthralling festival audiences across Scotland with his heartfelt and understated lyrical delivery and warm, luminous vocal tone. With musical maturity beyond his years, his clarity and authenticity make jazz compositions new and old sound timeless and fresh. As a gifted improviser as well as singer, he has made his name as an up-and-coming jazz artist performing at the Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee Jazz Festivals – where he opened for Becca Stevens – as well as the 2016 BBC Proms with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland. Now resident in London, Luca is fast making a name for himself, having performed at the Holborn, Soho and Pheasantry PizzaExpress Venues with his own Quintet and Sextet line up as well as being invited, to sing alongside Liane Carroll at her 2017 sold out Ronnie Scott’s Christmas Show.

Fergus McCreadie is one of Scotland’s most exciting young artists. Soon to be a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, he has been featured at the Glasgow, Edinburgh, Fife, Aberdeen and Islay Jazz Festivals repeatedly for the past 4 years. His debut album, Turas, has been praised for “reflecting his engagement with the Scottish landscape and musical tradition while also showing a firm grasp of the jazz piano tradition.” (Jazz In Europe) He is also a member of Graham Costello’s STRATA, described as “groovy yet cerebral” by BBC Radio Scotland, and of the Mark Hendry Octet and the Matthew Carmichael Quartet, both of whom have recently released their debut album. He is a winner of the coveted Peter Wittingham Jazz Award, the Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the year u17s Prize, the Guy Jones Prize and the Joe Temperley Prize from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and the Linda Trahan Memorial Prize from St Andrews University. He has also been featured on BBC Radio Scotland regularly as a leader and as a sideman, and has appeared alongside Bob Mintzer, Mike Stern, Iain Ballamy and Tommy Smith.

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