Tommy Smith, commonly acknowledged as one of the world's best young jazz saxophonists, has long been trying to combine traditional Celtic music and jazz. On Wednesday at the Old Fruitmarket he unveiled the world premiere of his 15-piece epic of Celtic-jazz fusion, The Sons and Daughters of Alba.

This specially commissioned piece, the centrepiece of the Glasgow Jazz Festival, was an opportunity to bring a new lyrical fire to ancient Scottish themes. Reviving his collaboration with poet Edwin Morgan, Smith introduced Capercaille's spine-tingling singer Karen Matheson, pianist Donald Shaw, and uillean piper Michael McGoldrick into a mini-orchestra that included French brothers Jean-Baptiste Bocle (vibraphone) and Gildas Bocle (bass).

Smith is now a one-man jazz force. As musical director, he has led the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra to new heights and his output is extraordinary. But instead of an interlinking Ellingtonian suite of tone and space, this was a sometimes disjointed collection of short musical portraits of historical figures, from Robert Burns through the grave-robber William Burke to the "Dornoch Witch", Janet Horne. It was a fascinating idea of a people's history through music, yet Morgan's nursery rhymes seemed awkward beside Smith's elemental collage.

There were some exhilarating passages where Matheson's pure voice justified her reputation as the Edith Piaf of Celtic music, and Smith played exuberantly against a backdrop of pipes and vibraphone. But the pieces rarely worked and only the folk-samba for St Columba combined the Celtic laments and hard bop jazz in a seamless whole.

For the rest, the sudden shifts of tempo and style were strange. Smith believes that there is a common rhythmic pulse to Celtic music and the African-American sounds that evolved into jazz - but that heartbeat proved elusive. A great jazz combo and a superb folk outfit sat together but only occasionally connected.