Described as “one to watch” (Jazz Views 2025) Matthew Kilner is an active musician, educator, and award-winning saxophonist, currently based in Glasgow. Matthew regularly performs at festivals and jazz clubs around the UK and abroad including; Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, London's Pizza Express Live, and the 2023 Regensburg Jazz Festival. In 2019, Matthew won the prestigious Ogston Performance Prize whilst attending the University of Aberdeen, and most recently reached the final of the 2023 BBC Radio Scotland Young Jazz Musician of the Year competition. He is an established band leader and has recently released his debut album “The Space In Between” which features Alyn Cosker, Paul Harrison and Ewan Hastie. The album has received critical acclaim and has been described as an “exceptional debut”.
Recent Reviews
Scottish National Jazz Orchestra 26-28th September 2025
I recently had the privilege of playing as part of the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra for their project, performing the music of ‘Weather Report’. The band was led by Alyn Cosker and featured guest Laurence Cottle on Electric Bass. Here is a short excerpt from Patrick Hadfield’s review of the project’s opening night in Edinburgh:
“Birdland had a superb sense of groove. Whereas for a certain generation of Londoners, the tune is hackneyed due to its overuse as a ratio ident, the SNJO and arranger Bill Dobbins instilled it with new life. Featuring solos by guest Laurence Cottle on electric bass and Cosker, there followed a frenetic saxophone duel between Konrad Wisniewski and Matthew Kilner, the latter in his first outing with the band. They drove each other to great heights – literally in Kilner’s case as he took his soloing into the soprano sax’s stratosphere.”
You can read the full review here
Matthew Kilner Quartet Cardiff 6th November 2025
The quartet, made up of Ali Watson, Neil Birse and Greg Irons, made it's way down to Cardiff for the first time at the start of November. We had been nominated to play as a featured Showcase act at the 2025 Jazz Promotion Network. Here is a short excerpt from Jon Turney’s UK Jazz News Review:
“Kilner’s quiet confidence, with a tone sometimes reminiscent of Bobby Wellins, was unaffected and his poised originals came across clearly.”
You can read the full review here
Upcoming Dates
12/12/25
Cowdray Hall
Kilner/Birse + Friends
Aberdeen
8pm
18/12/25
The Outhouse
PLAYTIME
Edinburgh
9pm
04/12/25
The Basement
Kilner/Afif/Ganguli
Glasgow
9pm
28/11/25
The Jazz Bar
Kevin Henderson Band
Edinburgh
9.15pm