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Scottish singer Todd Gordon and Jazz International has announced its largest event so far in A Celebration of Johnny Mercer – the first confirmed major headlining concert of this year’s Glasgow International Jazz Festival.

It’s a special event celebrating the genius of American songbook lyricist and composer Johnny Mercer and his enormous contribution to popular music: as a songwriter, singer and co-founder of Capitol Records, one of the most influential labels of all time.

The line up features star vocalists Carol Kidd, Clare Teal and Todd Gordon, and top jazz pianist Laurie Holloway who, for many years, led the Parkinson big band. The concert will be hosted by special guest – and longstanding Mercer aficionado – Sir Michael Parkinson.

Intriguingly, Mercer was particularly proud of his Scottish ancestry. He traced his roots back to a certain Hugh Mercer, a physician from Pitsligo, Aberdeenshire. As a consequence of attending to the wounded at the Battle of Culloden, he was forced into hiding for a year before sailing to Philadelphia in 1747, later serving as a general in the Revolutionary War.

Johnny Mercer therefore represents the only legitimate Scottish connection to American Songbook royalty – an especially relevant connection in this, the year of Homecoming Scotland.

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