Richard Michael’s concert for the Langtoun Jazz Festival in Kirkcaldy this weekend is the first gig the award-winning pianist has played to a live audience in more than 15 months.
Like musicians everywhere, all Richard’s live engagements were wiped out by Covid-19. He’s made the best of his time, though, finding new ways of sharing his knowledge of and enthusiasm for jazz.
“If you’d told me two years ago that I’d become an audio-video editor, I’d have laughed,” says Richard, who not only has a long-established reputation as a pianist but has directed the Fife Youth Jazz Orchestra for 45 years and is hugely respected in jazz education.
“But just as you need to keep adding new material to your musical repertoire to stay fresh, you have to extend yourself and embrace the technology. Otherwise, you get left behind.”
During the long weeks when meeting people from other households was not allowed, Richard at first feared that FYJO might be finished.
The band’s normal weekly rehearsals in Lochgelly were impossible but Zoom facilitated online sessions. Moreover, the orchestra went international and before the summer break there were 60-plus musicians from as far away as Romania taking part.
“I could only accommodate 49 on my computer screen, so I had to get another screen and work between the two,” says Richard who is assisted by FYJO’s team of section tutors.
“Not only that, we added a session for under-8s and had eighteen kids all grooving on the second and fourth beats of the bar and learning that most crucial of lessons, that there are no mistakes in jazz. Because if you play a wrong note, you can make it the right note with the next one you play.”
As well as working online with FYJO, Richard created a series of videos for use in schools, with his idiosyncratic way of counting the beats earning him the nickname “the Gruntin’ Granddad” from a class in Aberdeenshire.
He also had the first of a series of books – Jazz Piano for Kids – issued by the mighty Hal Leonard (the world’s largest source of music publications) and increased his presence on radio.
Known as the Jazz Jargon Buster on BBC Radio Scotland’s Jazz Nights, Richard submitted a tribute to the great jazz pianist McCoy Tyner to the programme’s producer and was promptly given a weekly slot instead of the existing monthly one.
Jazz London Radio then gave him a regular slot where he explains the many styles of music that are contained under the jazz umbrella.
A long life in jazz
As down to earth in conversation as he is when directing FYJO and encouraging their audiences to get involved with the music from their seats, Richard wears his official achievements lightly.
He was awarded the BEM in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2012 for his contribution to jazz education and was subsequently made an Honorary Professor of Jazz Piano at St Andrews University.
He also won a Herald Angel for his History of Jazz Piano solo shows during the Edinburgh Fringe in 2010 and was invited to be a tutor with the Nicola Benedetti Foundation.
For Richard, it’s equally fulfilling that FYJO has produced a long list of musicians who have gone on to great things. Bassists Calum Gourlay and Andy Hamill – the former now with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, the latter touring the world with pop stars but still involved with FYJO as a tutor – former Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year, saxophonist Helena Kay and pianist Fergus McCreadie are all FYJO alumni.
Richard’s own offspring also have FYJO associations and daughter Hilary joins him on saxophone and violin on the Langtoun Jazz concert, which was pre-recorded last weekend.
“We had a setlist but I never stick to them,” says Richard. “I prefer to read the room, ascertain what the audience is enjoying and give them more. Fortunately, Hilary’s a FYJO tutor too and is used to my way of working. She just needs the name of the tune and the key and off we go.”
- Langtoun Jazz Festival also includes saxophonist Guido Spannochi’s band, Gem Trio and singer-pianists Wendy Kirkland and Fiona Ross and will be shown on the Langtoun Jazz Facebook Page and Youtube Channel from June 25 – 27
