Laura Macdonald

Laura Margaret Macdonald (born July 17, 1974 in Glasgow ) is a British jazz musician ( alto and soprano saxophone , composition ).

Live and act

Macdonald first learned the violin before she decided to play the saxophone at the age of 16. She attended Prestwick Academy and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama ; she continued her studies at Berklee College of Music , where she graduated in 1997 with the Award for Excellence.

1998 Macdonald was lead alto in the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra , where she met her composition Royal Mile to Edinburgh Suite helped the orchestra. In 2000 she toured in a big band alongside Buster Cooper and Barry Lee Hall in Switzerland. On her debut album Laura (2001) she was accompanied by David Budway , James Genus and Jeff Tain Watts , on the album Awakenings (2003) her sextet included Claus Stötter , Donny McCaslin , Steve Hamilton , Gildas Boclé and Antonio Sánchez . In 2005 she performed a new octet piece commissioned by her at the London Jazz Festival. In 2007 she toured Sweden. In 2008 the album Open Book by Laura Macdonald and Martina Almgren was released; She also toured in Germany and performed on Jazz Cruise 08 in the Caribbean with Ken Peplowski , Wycliffe Gordon and Claudio Roditi . Together with Tom Bancroft , she led the big band Band of Eden in 2010 , for which she also composed. In 2014 the album Duets was released , which she presented with David Berkman .

Macdonald worked with Tommy Smith (whom she was married to), Guy Barker and Jason Rebello . She has performed at the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe . In recent years she has also performed with Zoe Rahman and Luca Manning .

Prizes and awards

Macdonald was nominated for Best Performer Award at the Glasgow International Jazz Festival in 1996; In 1997 she was the first winner of the Scottish Young Jazz Musician of the Year award .

Web links

• portrait
• biography
• Laura Macdonald at Discogs (English)