* New Release from 10 TO 10 records * FIONNA DUNCAN – YOUNG AND FOOLISH with BRIAN KELLOCK RONNIE RAE JOHN RAE * RELEASE DATE - 16th June 2006 * see track listing here

In 1950, Fionna became heavily involved in Rutherglen Academy’s Ballad and Blues Club. From 2nd Year at Rutherglen Academy she played soprano lead role in several Gilbert and Sullivan Operas run by their very active music department. They included ‘The Dukes Dilemma’ and ‘Country Girl'. Also during this period she joined ‘The Bankhead Players’, a highly regarded amateur drama group who toured around Glasgow and its surrounding areas. This proved to be a solid grounding in lighting and stage presentation, which time and time again has stood this particular student in good stead.

After achieving a ‘Higher Music Pass’ at the Academy, Fionna was singing several nights a week in a semipro capacity with various jazz bands and in 1955 became resident vocalist with the Lindsay MacDonald Modern Jazz Quartet who performed, amongst other dates, every saturday night in The Glasgow University ‘Snug Bar’.

During a business trip to the States in 1956, she performed on network TV, several radio programs and turned down a contract with Riverside Records, as this would have entailed moving to the U.S.A. on a permanent basis. On her return to Scotland in 1957, Fionna auditioned for the BBC in Glasgow and for the next two years performed every saturday morning on a live network broadcast, ‘Skiffle Club' with ‘The Joe Gordon Folk Four’. At this time she also joined Glasgow’s Steadfast Jazz Band with whom she worked for about a year before joining ‘The Forrie Cairns All Stars’ and later ‘ The Clyde Valley Stompers’. Between 1964 and 1970 Fionna was host at London’s West End ‘Georgian Nightclub’, a night spot frequented by most of the leading ‘showbiz’ personalities at that time. This was a great learning process as each night a show was incorporated which lasted 90 minutes. The show was directed and produced by Billy Petch and Bobby Chandler from The Talk Of The Town. Fionna organised the daily rehearsals, set up the lighting and auditioned new acts for each show, which ran 6 weeks at a time, as well as her work as a vocalist with ‘The Georgian Dixielanders’ and featured artist in the stage show. Invaluable experience inenergy and stamina.

Ten years later, back in Glasgow, she became a full time vocalist, touring Europe and U.S.A. In 1985 Fionna formed her own Trio using the cream of Scottish Jazz - Ronnie Rae on bass, Brian Kellock on piano, John Rae on drums - which has been her regular rhythm section ever since. In 1995, Fionna began to put the wheels in motion to run workshops for young singers. The first was held during the 1996 Glasgow International Jazz Festival with the aid of Professor Madeline Eastman andproved to be successful. She continued to run pilot workshops over the next 3 years, each one more successful than the next. Ten years on, her workshops have become an established training ground for aspiring vocalists from around the world.Fionna plans to continue to pass on her experience of over 45 years as a professional jazz vocalist with the help of her devoted team of professional tutors and musicians.

www.fionnaduncan-workshops.co.uk

Fionna's bassist and partner, Ronnie Rae, also has a CD available on Tentoten Records, “From The Cradle To The Groove”. His Quintet was nominated as Best Small Group in the BBC Jazz Awards in 2006.