With a population of around 650000, Luxembourg is a considerably smaller nation that Scotland, the latter having approximately 6 million population. However, both countries punch above their weight musically, this afternoon’s gig being a good example of this.

First up was Scottish trombonist and singer Anoushka Nanguy’s new band, NooVision, in which she, with able support from her talented band, presented her own compositions. With a wide vocal range and admirable ‘bone technique, it was possible to discern some of her influences – as the festival literature explained “.. elements of jazz, hip hop, underground and Latin..” The sound was spacious, at times feeling like a work in progress, although it felt positive that musicians have the confidence to evolve literally under the spotlight.

Nanguy’s band benefitted from containing some of the cream of Scotland’s young Jazz musicians: James Mackay (guitar); Ewan Hastie (bass); Ewan Johnston (keys); and Graham Costello (drums). It will be exciting to see what this band develops into, certainly the sound is already unique.

Second to play was Luxembourger, bassist Marc Demuth, who presented mostly his own, lyrical and interesting compositions, with the help of accomplished Scottish Jazz musicians Konrad Wiszniewski on sax, Alan Benzie on piano and Alyn Cosker on drums.

Such was the weight of talent on stage, one wouldn’t necessarily have guessed that they didn’t all, Demuth included, regularly play together. Indeed, Demuth’s grins of delight suggested he felt his pieces were being done full justice. Throughout the set all had a shot at soloing and all hugely impressed. More of this cross-border collaboration, please!