Matt Carmichael ‘Dancing With Embers’ album launch

‘Dancing with Embers’, released March 2025 is the latest album from Scottish saxophonist and composer Matt Carmichael. Known for his powerfully emotive blend of melodic jazz and folk with previous albums ‘Marram’ (Edition Records) and ‘Where Will the River Flow’, ‘Dancing with Embers’ is his most ambitious work yet, expanding his musical sound world with guests Rachel Sermanni (voice), Brìghde Chaimbeul (small pipes), Chris Amer/Innes White (guitars) alongside his regular Quintet. 

The album is a collection of emotionally driven instrumental songs where melody and feeling is at the forefront. An approach which stems from his earliest musical roots as a child, playing in church where his father was a minister and leading congregational singing from the saxophone. ‘Dancing with Embers’ reflects the flickering in and out of influences from Folk and Jazz traditions alongside melancholy and dynamic interplay, creating an album that is both intimate and expansive.

All the music originates from Matt improvising at the piano, which he plays on ‘a distant glow’ and ‘woodsmoke’, bookending the album. “I’d never recorded on piano before this album and lack the technical skill I have on saxophone but it felt natural to play on a few tracks. My way of processing emotions and meditating in some way is through improvising at the piano every day which is where all my ideas and the feeling of this album come from. I really like the intimate vulnerability of those tracks and give the listener a more direct insight into the creation of my music.”

Live performances of the music feature Matt’s regular quintet with Fergus McCreadie (piano), Charlie Stewart (fiddle),  Ali Watson (bass) and Tom Potter (drums) who have a special chemistry together, having been playing and growing as musicians since they were teenagers. Each performance is a unique interpretation of Matt’s music and set lists are rarely made, with collective improvisation and trust at the heart of the music.

Over the past few years, they have performed throughout Europe at Bimhuis, Love Supreme Festival, Celtic Connections, Münster Jazz Festival, Fasching, Ronnie Scott’s, Göttingen Jazz Festival with the music gaining over 8 million streams. Matt’s also featured as a soloist/arranger/composer with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra and WDR Big Band with further collaborations including Rob Luft, Bob Mintzer, corto.alto, Kathleen MacInnes, Kim Carnie, Kjetil Mulelid, Liv Andrea Hauge and Brian Kellock.

Support is from Michelle Willis a Canadian singer, songwriter and keyboard player, now based in Edinburgh.

Presented by The Queen’s Hall