Fergus McCreadie
Born (1997-07-12) July 12, 1997
Jamestown, Easter Ross, Scotland
GenresJazz, Scottish folk music
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)Piano
LabelsEdition
Member of
  • Corto Alto[1]
  • Graham Costello's Strata[2]
Websitewww.fergusmccreadie.co.uk

Fergus McCreadie (born 12 July 1997, Jamestown, Easter Ross) is a Scottish jazz pianist and composer. His style revolves around a fusion of contemporary jazz with Scottish folk music. He has released three albums as bandleader to date, with all three being listed for the Scottish Album of the Year Award – Turas was shortlisted in 2019, Cairn was longlisted in 2021, and Forest Floor won in 2022. Forest Floor was also nominated for the 2022 Mercury Prize, and won the Scottish Jazz Award for Best Album.

Early life

Fergus McCreadie was born 12 July 1997[3] in Jamestown, Easter Ross, Scotland.[4]

While living in a house in Dollar, Clackmannanshire, 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 studied jazz at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where he met bassist David Bowden and drummer Stephen Henderson, the other two players on McCreadie's three albums.[1]

Career

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

Style and influences

McCreadie is known for combining contemporary jazz with Scottish folk music inspired by his homeland's natural landscape.[7][8] 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." 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]

Accolades

Awards and nominations received by Fergus McCreadie
Year Award Work Status Ref.
2015 Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year Himself Runner-up [9]
2016 Peter Whittingham Jazz Award Won [10]
2019 Scottish Album of the Year Award Turas Shortlisted [11]
2021 Cairn Longlisted [12]
2022 Mercury Prize Forest Floor Shortlisted [13]
Scottish Album of the Year Award Won [14]
Scottish Jazz Award for Best Album Won [15]

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.[10] McCreadie was selected for BBC Radio 3's New Generation Artists, becoming the first non-classical musician chosen for the recognition.[16]

Personal life

McCreadie lives in Glasgow.[1]

Discography

Albums

EPs

  • Sketches (Edition, 2023)

Singles

Fergus McCreadie singles[18]
Year Name Album
2020 "Cairn" Cairn
2021 "An Old Friend"
"Jig"
"Cairn (Live)"
"Jig (Live)"
"An Old Friend (Live)"
2022 "Law Hill"[19] Forest Floor
"Morning Moon"
"The Unfurrowed Field"

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 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. ↑ "Fergus McCreadie: I'm not even dreaming about Mercury Prize win". BBC. 27 July 2022. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  5. ↑ 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.
  6. 1 2 "Sketches | Fergus McCreadie". Bandcamp. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  7. ↑ Spry, Graham (4 April 2022). "Fergus McCreadie - Forest Floor". Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  8. ↑ "Fergus McCreadie: Forest Floor". Jazzwise. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  9. ↑ 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.
  10. 1 2 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.
  11. ↑ Barrie, Douglas (15 August 2019). "Shortlist for 2019 Scottish Album of the Year revealed". The Scotsman. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  12. ↑ Brash, Tallah (16 September 2021). "SAY Award 2021: The Longlist". The Skinny. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  13. ↑ Singh, Surej (26 July 2022). "Mercury Prize 2022 shortlist revealed". NME. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  14. ↑ Brash, Tallah (20 October 2022). "Fergus McCreadie wins the SAY Award 2022". The Skinny. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  15. ↑ "Winners at the 2022 Scottish Jazz Awards". London Jazz News. 9 December 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  16. ↑ Didcock, Barry (1 October 2022). "A Who's Who of Scotland's explosive new jazz talents". The Herald (Glasgow). Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  17. ↑ 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)
  18. ↑ "Fergus McCreadie - Discography". Spotify. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  19. ↑ 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.
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