Page 234 - FINAL_Guildhall Media Highlights 2019-2020 Coverage Book

It’s little wonder, given the trust he has in McCreadie, that Manning chose to record
his debut CD, When the Sun Comes Out, with him earlier this year. The original idea
was not to record an album, but just to make some recordings together. “Sara Colman,

my mentor and tutor at Guildhall, and I had spoken a lot and she suggested we go in
and record enough material so I could make a CD if I wanted. We recorded at the
National Youth Orchestra of Scotland’s HQ – a room that we were already familiar

with – and that was a great way of minimising stress, by being in familiar
surroundings. Sara sat in on the recording and helped produce, which also helped me
feel more comfortable and confident.”

His confidence was further boosted by the involvement of leading alto saxophonist

Laura Macdonald, who had given him sax lessons at school before he took up singing.
“I love her energy and her playing. We’ve always stayed in touch, and she has been a
really good mentor to me. I wanted to have a duo on the CD – but then I thought it

would be nice to have a guest and Laura was the first person to come into my head.
And it was the idea of having her, rather than the idea of a sax. It turned out just as I
envisaged: she came in on the second day and completely changed the energy. I was

almost pinching myself. Everyone in the room loved it. Fergus hadn’t played with her
before. We had a quick run-through. It was very much of the moment.”

The bottom line for Manning was that this debut CD was an accurate reflection of

what he does in a gig. “All I wanted was honesty. I didn’t want multi-tracking or
mixing, and I wanted a maximum of two or three takes. Some of the songs were new
to us; some we’ve done before. There is no theme to the album but the songs are

connected in a way because there are themes of home, identity and love. I was
thinking about how there is pressure to release all new music that’s innovative and
new, but I didn’t want to write ten new tunes – I wanted to do what I’d do on a gig.

“At the end of the day, it’s an honest snapshot of who I am. And I just love great

songs.”

When the Sun Comes Out is available now; Luca Manning – Chet Baker: Chet is at
The Blue Arrow, Glasgow on Thursday October 24; www.thebluearrow.co.uk