Blue Mondays

Blue Mondays returns to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland on Monday 26 October, with the night starting at 19:30. It's one of the regular fixtures in the Conservatoire's 'What's On' programme, and the format is pretty straightforward: members of the RCS Jazz faculty take the lead, each heading up a cohort of students for the evening.

That's the bit that gives the night its character. Rather than a setlist pulled from a standard curriculum, the faculty members build their sets around repertoire that's close to them — the records they love, the songs that shaped their own playing, the stuff they actually want to be playing on a Monday night. Because each faculty member brings their own tastes to the table, the music changes from one Blue Monday to the next. You're hearing the teachers' personal record collections played back by the students they're training.

It's a good way to see how the department works from the inside. The faculty members aren't just conducting; they're leading from within the band, and the students are the ones doing the heavy lifting on the night. It's a live classroom as much as a gig, and the repertoire is chosen because it means something to the people leading it.

Tickets run from £5 to £13, and the venue is the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, 100 Renfrew Street, in the city centre. It starts at 19:30 on Monday 26 October.