Brian Craib. (by Alan Steadman 2026)

I knew Brian from our school days In Kirriemuir where he was a few years above me. This was in the early 1960s.

He lived on the outskirts of the town at Dameye and biked to school every day.

He took up the double bass at school and played in the school orchestra as well as the Angus Youth Orchestra.

I remember at an open evening at school he scored a version of John Dankworth’s African Waltz for two clarinets and bass. I played one of the clarinets.

I was also fortunate to attend a couple of musical evenings at his parents’ house. His Dad, Jim, played the fiddle, his Mum sang and one of his other brothers, Billy, also played bass and went on to become a well-known musician in the Scottish music scene.

Although Brian became a respected classical musician and conductor-he played in the Scottish National Orchestra for a number of years- he also loved jazz. He gave me a couple of Oscar Peterson LPs when I was around 15 and this was my introduction to this wonderful pianist. I still have the albums.

Back in 2017 I managed to bring together some of the guys who had played in the Angus Youth Orchestra at a concert I ran at Hospitalfield House in Arbroath. The musician playing that night was founder member of the Average White Band , Molly Duncan who had played clarinet in the Youth Orchestra. It was a wonderful reunion.