EIF JLCO with Yuja Wang Usher Hall Edinburgh 12 August 2026 Review
JLCO with Yuja Wang at the Usher Hall Edinburgh tonight, a concert that was part of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra residency at this year’s Edinburgh International Festival, was an opportunity to experience one of the world’s most in demand classical pianists playing jazz piano. There were two performances of JLCO with Yuja Wang tonight, one at 6pm and a later one at 8pm. This review is for the first performance.
As well as an outstanding performance on trumpet, JLCO founder Wynton Marsalis was also our guide to the music tonight. This was a celebration of the outstanding skills of some of jazz music's greatest talents on piano through the years, and the music chosen for this performance gave a small, but wonderful, insight into their creativity.
The virtuosity of Yuja Wang as a classical pianist is evident in all of her performances and recordings, but jazz piano can require different techniques and different approaches to playing, making that a difficult cross-over for many people. Tonight, however, Yuja Wang effortlessly demonstrated that her technique and talent also allows her to perform jazz piano at the highest standard.
The music chosen for this performance by Yuja Wang included works that would stretch the technical abilities of even the best jazz pianists, and at the top of that list was an outstanding performance of Art Tatum's "Tiger Rag". This was technical virtuosity at the highest level of performance.
Other works in the first half of this evening's double bill of concerts included, amongst others, Oscar Peterson's (L'Impossible)", Dave Brubeck's "Blue Rondo à la Turk" and Erroll Garner's "Autumn Leaves".
The JLCO has an enormous pool of talent in its band and this was reflected in outstanding solo and band performances this evening. Also demonstrated by tonight's music was the level of skill as musical arrangers that members of the JLCO have.
Review by Tom King (c) 2026
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
As well as an outstanding performance on trumpet, JLCO founder Wynton Marsalis was also our guide to the music tonight. This was a celebration of the outstanding skills of some of jazz music's greatest talents on piano through the years, and the music chosen for this performance gave a small, but wonderful, insight into their creativity.
The virtuosity of Yuja Wang as a classical pianist is evident in all of her performances and recordings, but jazz piano can require different techniques and different approaches to playing, making that a difficult cross-over for many people. Tonight, however, Yuja Wang effortlessly demonstrated that her technique and talent also allows her to perform jazz piano at the highest standard.
The music chosen for this performance by Yuja Wang included works that would stretch the technical abilities of even the best jazz pianists, and at the top of that list was an outstanding performance of Art Tatum's "Tiger Rag". This was technical virtuosity at the highest level of performance.
Other works in the first half of this evening's double bill of concerts included, amongst others, Oscar Peterson's (L'Impossible)", Dave Brubeck's "Blue Rondo à la Turk" and Erroll Garner's "Autumn Leaves".
The JLCO has an enormous pool of talent in its band and this was reflected in outstanding solo and band performances this evening. Also demonstrated by tonight's music was the level of skill as musical arrangers that members of the JLCO have.
Review by Tom King (c) 2026
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
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