The Gypsy Jazz Festival of London: Seonaid Aitken’s ‘Rose Room’

Scottish Jazz Award-winners Rose Room has become one of Scotland’s leading ensembles influenced by the Gypsy Jazz genre.
Sharing a love of Swing music and the style of the great Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli, their “vigorous and vivacious” performances go “down a storm” with any audience as they serve up their 1930s ‘Hot Club’ standards, Gypsy Jazz favourites and self-penned originals with virtuosity, verve and panache recreating the excitement of Rive Gauche Paris.

Based in Glasgow, the quartet is fronted by award-winning violinist and “sophisticated songstress” Seonaid Aitken, who was voted Scottish Jazz Awards ‘Best Vocalist’ in 2017 & 2018 and also played with the Orchestra of Scottish Opera, the Tim Kliphuis Sextet and is the presenter of BBC Radio Scotland’s ‘Jazz Nights’. Scotland’s No.1 guitar maker, Jimmy Moon of ‘Moon Guitars’, features on double bass with Celtic Connections’ Danny Kyle Award-winners ‘Swing Guitars’ Tam Gallagher and Tom Watson on rhythm and solo guitars, respectively.

With three albums recorded to date – ‘The High Life’ (2015), ‘Am I Blue’ (2013) and ‘Somewhere In Roseland’ (2011) – Rose Room has headlined at all of the major Scottish jazz festivals, appeared at the celebrated Shetland Folk Festival, and toured Ireland performing at the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival. Their collaboration with top Scottish saxophonist Konrad Wiszniewski and ‘string quartet to the stars’, the Capella String Quartet, led to the formation of ‘Rose Room Orchestra Fantastique’ – a 9-piece ensemble which celebrates the vintage sound of the 1930s.

Rose Room were delighted to have been voted ‘Best Band’ in the Scottish Jazz Awards 2018, having been finalists in the previous two Scottish Jazz Awards, and are frequently played on BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Radio Scotland’s ‘The Jazz House’ and Jazz FM. They have performed with world-famous virtuoso jazz guitarist Martin Taylor, German Gypsy Jazz star Joscho Stephan and they are involved in teaching and fundraising for The Clutha Trust charity. Two of Rose Room’s tracks are also featured on The Clutha Sessions charity CD.

The Gypsy Jazz Festival of London, curated by violinist and producer Tobie Medland, is a showcase of some of the world’s finest cutting-edge musicians specialising in the style affectionately known as ‘Gypsy Jazz’. The festival has become one of the world’s most prestigious showcases of the distinctly European jazz style. Determined to break stereotypes associated with the style, GJFL promotes modern, cutting-edge, diverse and forward-thinking original gypsy jazz and related styles.

“The hottest ticket in Scotland right now!” – JAZZ SCOTLAND

“Classy, very accomplished” - THE HERALD

“As close to the sound of the great Stephane Grappelli as I think you’re going to hear in Scotland” – BBC RADIO SCOTLAND

“Rose Room swing harder than an elm tree in a force nine English gale…” - SHETLAND NEWS