Rachel Duns, future jazz legend

There is no doubt that the jazz department at the Royal Conservatoire Of Scotland has energised the country's scene in recent years. Young alumni such as pianist Fergus McCreadie, saxophonist Matt Carmichael and trombonist Liam Shortall have all helmed exciting crossover ensembles. However, it is still relatively rare to come across a female instrumental bandleader among this current fertile crop. Trombonist Anoushka Nanguy has rightly turned heads with her Noushy 4Tet while Glaswegian saxophonist and flautist Rachel Duns followed Nanguy in being named Rising Star at the Scottish Jazz Awards while still in her final year of studies.

Duns supplemented flute with tenor saxophone and swapped classical music for jazz in her mid-teens, sharpening her skills in local council youth bands and the National Youth Jazz Orchestra Of Scotland, while hoovering up her grandparents’ albums. ‘I haven’t really looked back since picking up the saxophone,’ she says. ‘I can’t imagine my main instrument being anything else. It feels like I’m speaking through it when I’m playing.’

Dexter Gordon is her sax idol, with John Coltrane, Frank Wess and Hank Mobley also in her personal pantheon. But her tastes and experience range widely. As well as fronting her own quintet, Duns performs occasionally with fusion guitarist Nathan Somevi, in a duo with blues guitarist Kyle Hood (also a member of her quintet) and in ska band SUPA & Da Kryptonites. 

Her own compositions tap into the neo-soul and hip-hop influence of Erykah Badu, D’Angelo and Moonchild, allowing Duns to show off her vocal abilities as well as instrumental skills. She has also started experimenting with beat poetry in an eclectic live set which touches on her thoughts as a female bandleader.

‘It does feel like you have to work twice as hard,’ she says, ‘although I don’t think any of my peers or mentors are expecting me to be any better or worse because I’m a woman. It’s probably just something I’ve learned to be conscious of. I’ve written some lyrics about having to dull down your femininity in a male-dominated jazz setting. I used to think that people wouldn’t take me as seriously if I was more girly, so that’s why it’s really important to me to have feminine style as a performer.’

Duns has yet to release any recorded music but hopes to do so soon and has aspirations to create an all-female band to celebrate lesser-known female jazz musicians such as pioneering German pianist Jutta Hipp. 

While there is no shortage of excellent vocalists such as Georgia Cécile, Marianne McGregor and Kitti on the current Scottish scene, Duns is clear that ‘we need more female role models at the very foundation of jazz education. [Saxophonist, composer, bandleader and MasterChef contestant] Laura Macdonald is a big name and she’s amazing, but there are not many female instrumentalists. It doesn’t take away the talent or ability you need to have as a vocalist but I think you shouldn’t just be encouraging women to be vocalists because that’s not the only path you can take.’

Rachel Duns plays St Luke’s, Glasgow, Sunday 19 June.