Saxophonist Paul Towndrow’s Deepening the River celebrates Glasgow’s transformation into an international trading port following the 17th century dredging of the Clyde. Combining a roaring jazz big band with fiddles, bagpipes and Indian percussion, it transported audiences to New Orleans and Mumbai on its Festival 2018 premiere with a fully charged, multi-genre suite. 

Commissioned for Manchester Jazz Festival’s originals series in 2018, harpist Esther Swift’s Light Gatherer sets the words of poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy to music using the moods and rhythms of speech. Contemporary classical, folk, jazz, poetry and improvisation create a mesmerising melange of harps, horns, strings, accordion, piano and percussion.