Fast-emerging Scottish composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist corto.alto has been described as a traditional jazz head raised in the age of the internet. The moniker of Glasgow-based Liam Shortall, corto.alto brings a fresh perspective to a heady mix of intuitive improvisation, electronic production, broken beat bounce and bass-heavy dub. His debut album ‘Bad With Names’ out in Oct 2023 was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize 2024. It’s an honest and iconoclastic work, challenging the boundaries of contemporary jazz.

Championed by Gilles Peterson, Jamie Cullum, BBC 6 Music, KCRW, Jazzwise, Fip radio in France and RRR in Australia to name a few, as well as the editorial teams at Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp, ‘Bad With Names’ brings together some of the UK’s finest young players, including pianist Fergus McCreadie, trumpet player James Copus, drummer Graham Costello, with the flair of a string quartet, taking the corto.alto sound in a new direction. It is also the most complete and sophisticated statement of the corto.alto sound to date– a riptide demonstration of his multi-instrumental abilities (read: trombone, guitar, bass, synths, programming, tuba, percussion), punchy improvisation and subtle electronic production that has stitched it all back together again.

Following on from ‘Bad With Names’, and a series of remixes with some of the most in-demand producers in the UK and beyond, including BAKEY and Opolopo, Liam released 30/108 in June 24, the culmination of a campaign when he dropped 30 tracks in 30 days, accompanied by daily performance and breakdown videos. A prouesse that allowed Liam to put all sorts of ideas out into the world and explore new grooves, sound design worlds and composition approaches.

2024 saw corto.alto play over 50 shows to date, including Cross The Tracks, North Sea Jazz, Montreux and an incredible closing set on We Out Here main stage in August. They will finish the year with a UK tour celebrating all the incredible achievements of a truly memorable year.