Press 

      Freddie King

"FREDDIE KING has a silly putty voice. There doesn’t seem to be any shape he can’t bend or twist it into.
Sounds that have no business coming out of a synthesiser seem to effortlessly fly from his mouth.
As the band cranked up Almost Like Being In Love last night at the Cameo, the familiar melody registered with the audience for a few minutes, before he launched into the first of many scat improvs. It might have been purely stunt singing, but for the fact that he has a rich, deep and classy normal singing voice too.
[...]
And though they took the music deadly seriously, they took every opportunity for a laugh with the audience. And no-one can work a crowd like King."
Martin Lenon, Edinburgh Evening News

Press Up

"[W]hen what you've got is the bebop finesse of Freddie King's superbly stylish interpretation of Boplicity, you really should be getting noticed."
Rob Adams, The Herald.

"Vocalist Freddie King has a rich vintage wine sound, coupled with a baritone sax timbre, not to mention an excellent way with a lyric. Billy Eckstine fans please note and prepare to change your allegiance immediately. Anyone who has heard him scat-singing will know that vocal improvisation comes to him as second nature. You are either born with that inbuilt feeling for the extemporaneous or you aren’t. You cannot learn it."
Pat Quinn, Edinburgh Evening News

"Legend of the Edinburgh music scene, the vocalist likes to bebop as though it was 42nd street in the 40's. He balladeers and he sings some of his own tunes. He’s a magnet for great musicians and good times."
Edinburgh Jazz Festival

Brian Kellock's Front Room
QUEEN’S HALL, EDINBURGH
"Brian Kellock’s current high standing in British jazz is largely down to his more modernist inclinations, but the pianist has always been fascinated by early jazz, and devoted much of this Edinburgh Jazz Festival showcase to the music of Fats Waller. [...] The rest of the set featured his Handful of Keys band, with singer Freddie King doing his flamboyant pastiche of Waller’s extravagant vocal style, and trombonist Roy Williams and saxophonist Alan Barnes joining in as special guests. Personally I prefer my Waller in smaller doses than this, but the large crowd enjoyed both the musical invention and the mischief."
Kenny Mathieson

"Brian Kellock’s Handful Of Keys Play the Music Of Fats Waller, celebrating the centenary of one of the greatest characters in the colourful life of early jazz. Waller’s glittering piano technique was a marvel and thrown into an extraordinary perspective through a life of spontaneity, rumbustious partying, singing. composing hits and clowning. Widely acclaimed as the UK’s leading pianist, Brian Kellock, always includes humour and swing in his music and here he has a field day from solo stride, to madcap duo with John Rae and then with a full band featuring Freddie King who gets as close as possible to Waller’s inimitable style. If this doesn’t send you out with a smile on your face, nothing will. "

Fri 21 May, Dundee Rep, 8pm.