Helena Kay Quartet: Golden Sands Revisited

Saxophonist Helena Kay is one of the UK’s most creative jazz artists, with two critically acclaimed albums and performances at prestigious venues including legendary jazz club Ronnie Scott’s and The Royal Albert Hall in London.  

Helena’s second album, ‘Golden Sands’, earned high praise from the jazz media and showcased original compositions that are reflective of time spent at home in Scotland, and living in London and New York City.  This second concert in the Jazz Thursdays series features Helena's quartet - with Peter Johnstone (piano), Calum Gourlay (bass) and Alyn Cosker (drums) - playing music from Golden Sands ahead of the release of its follow-up in October.

A product of both the Fife Youth Jazz Orchestra and the Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra, Helena is now established as a star soloist with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra and has made outstanding contributions to the SNJO’s recent Duke Ellington celebration and as a saxophonist-composer to its ‘Nu-Age Sounds’ celebration of Scotland’s vibrant young jazz scene. 

The 2015 winner of the Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year title, Helena went on to win the Peter Whittingham Jazz Award in 2017 and is now a City Music Foundation Artist.

About Norman&Corrie 

A contemporary folk duo with strong backgrounds in jazz and spontaneous music, saxophonist Norman Willmore and drummer-percussionist Corrie Dick transform ancestral melodies for the modern era.  

Norman’s ‘Alive & Well At The Muckle Roe Hall’ album earned media praise for its sharp, intelligent blend of tradition and improvisation and former Young Scottish Jazz Musician of the Year Corrie’s work with the Mercury Music Prize nominees Dinosaur and pianist Elliot Galvin, bassist Jasper Hoiby and guitarist Rob Luft, as well as his own projects, has been consistently lauded.  

In duo concerts, using saxophone, drums and organ pedals, the pair reveal a deep connection to the life stories contained within the folk tradition and champion a spirit of exploration and spontaneity that is thoroughly uplifting. 

About the curated season 

Thanks to funding from Creative Scotland, The Queen’s Hall has commissioned Helena to curate a series of four jazz concerts across 2024/25. You can see the other shows in the season at the bottom of this page.

Presented by The Queen’s Hall. Supported by Creative Scotland