I’m Melodie Fraser and I’m the Community Lead for the Aberdeen Jazz Festival. I am an experienced Jazz singer and bandleader from, and based in, Aberdeen. My Dad, Colin Fraser, was a musician from Northfield, so I grew up listening to Jazz and my first name is not just nominative determinism! I am passionate about music and the cultural life of Aberdeen. I regularly perform with a professional band in the city and I have also recently developed myself as a percussionist. I have performed as part of the Aberdeen Jazz Festival with my own Latin Jazz band (Melodie and the Chillers) and also in collaboration with the Young Pilgrims, AiiTee, Chef, Aiysha Russell, Scuba and Son-al-Son. I also have a wee side project trio called Nae Jist Beatles, which versions the more beautiful songs from the 60s and 70s, with a double bass, guitar and percussion. 

I have been employed freelance for the last couple of years leading up to and during the Aberdeen Jazz Festival as Community Lead.  In this role I have liaised with communities and musicians and arranged and hired musicians for gigs; I have also been studying the musical life of the city. For the last few years, I have provided music for communities that perhaps haven’t had access or connection to live music, so I have worked with Middlefield Community Project, Aberdeen Disability Action, Aberdeen Sheltered Housing Association and City Moves’ Dance For Parkinson’s group to negotiate the type of music they want and organise musicians, so that they could have a gig brought to them during the festival. I have also reached out to other communities, organisations and less-well-known musical communities for future projects and performances. The performances so far have been special for both the musicians and the audiences and have hopefully enhanced and inspired those communities and complemented the festival.

 Jazz is a broader term nowadays than many people think: the modern understanding now includes the likes of funk, soul, blues and World music, where high-quality music and improvisation are the uniting factors. I am particularly interested in drawing new talent and new groups into the Jazz music scene in order to enrich it and to foster social cohesion between Aberdonians themselves and between them and the new ethnic groups arriving in the city. Aberdeen is the most international city in Scotland, with many residents born outside the UK, so there is huge potential for musical interchange and innovation, since Aberdeen already boasts a wealth of local musical talent, and a world-class Music school. 

Personally, I hope to be part of a music scene which enhances the cultural lives of Aberdonians, produces and nurtures young talent, and which is accessible to musicians and audiences alike. Via my role, I hope to develop my skills as a producer of events and facilitator of music, as I continue as a performer.