Something is brewing in Glasgow. The architecturally imposing city, notorious for its rain showers, has emphatically emerged as a true jazz hotspot in recent years. There is no more convincing proof of this than corto.alto, a group that revolves around composer and multi-instrumentalist Liam Shortall. Earlier, the band members had made an impact in AKU! and Graham Costello's STRATA, among others. The collective of musician friends deliberately chose not to move to London, instead building a thriving scene in their native Glasgow. The many gigs, both in Shortall’s tiny flat and in local jazz clubs, resulted in the tight-knit, perfectly matched corto.alto. The lynchpin of the band is Shortall, who creates hypnotic backgrounds on keyboards, and switches between guitar, bass and trombone – all of which he masters like a virtuoso – at lightning speed in live performances. The group’s debut album Bad With Names (2023) has a deceptively accessible sound while secretly bursting with subtle tempo shifts.
