Calum Gourlay is a Scottish jazz bassist and composer from Glasgow, born in 1986 and brought up in Fife from his teenage years. He begins on cello before taking up both electric and acoustic bass, and he moves towards jazz after also playing traditional Scottish music and classical music.

Education and early development

Gourlay studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he is midway through a music degree. While there, he has the opportunity to play with visiting musicians including Stan Tracey, Lee Konitz, Marc Copland and Seamus Blake. He also studies privately with Mario Caribe, Jeff Clyne, Phil Donkin and Duncan Hopkins, and attends master classes with Dave Holland, Avishai Cohen and Jens Olsen.

Playing and collaborations

He performs with a wide range of musicians in London, including Martin Speake, Tom Cawley and his group Curios, Barry Green, Sebastiaan Cornelison and, on occasion, the Ronnie Scott’s House Band. In Scotland, he plays regularly with the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, the Tommy Smith Group, Laura MacDonald Octet, Paul Towndrow, Konrad Wisniewski, Martin Kershaw, Colin Steele, Cathie Rae and Todd Gordon.

Bands and projects

Gourlay appears in youth ensembles including the Fife Youth Jazz Orchestra, the National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland and the Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra. He leads his own quartet, with Freddie Gavita on trumpet, Kit Downes on piano and James Maddren on drums. He also records in New York with John Escreet, Joshua Blackmore and Seamus Blake on the album Rooftop Adventures, and contributes a couple of compositions to it.

Associated groups

He is a member of the George Crowley Quartet, the Kit Downes Trio and the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra.