FESTIVAL PREVIEW
FESTIVAL MUSIC
FESTIVAL CLASSICAL
food and drink available all day and concerts every evening. The FolkCellar operates asafolkclub hosted by clubs trom Ayr. Edinburgh. Glenfarg. Kilmarnock. Kirkcaldy and Penicuik and as a venue for sessions. Most visiting musicians drop in lorthe crack overthe three weeks and the bar stays open till 1am. The Fringe Programme lists the 33 events but here isa selection of the essentially Scottish music on offer. Archie Fisher is one olthe legendaryligures olthelolk revival and hasiustbeen appointed Director olthe Edinburgh International Folk Festival. He makes a rare concert appearance on the 10th. The McCalmans return again and again with theirperennial drolleries and sock-it-to-em harmony singing 12—16. 19. 21—23 Aug.
Two singer guitarislslly solo — Dssian's Tony Cufte onthe 18th and Easy Clubs Rod Paterson on the 25th and 26th. Bandsthatpack them in each year with a mixture of Scots song and liddle-based music are Chorda 21. 22. 28. 29;and Seannachie. 13—16. 28. 29 and the new line-up. including the pipes of Ceolbeg. The smaller bellows blown pipes 01 Scotland are brilliantly demonstrated by the Whistlebinkies16th, one of the nation’sfinest instrumental groups and by Hamish Moore/Ken Campbell and Friends 17th and 18th. The range olthe Scottish harps is revealed in instrumentals and song accompaniment bythe duo Sileas on the 23rd and 24th and new Irish/Scots ensemble Duadrille plays behind outstanding songstress Heather Heywood. Drop in during the day lora programme, a meal. ora chat. . .John Barrow and the organisers will keep you posted.
TRIO BULGARIA
Many people overthe last year have been electrified and amazed by the choral singing on the record Mystere Des Voix Bulgaire. and will be overioyed to
hearthatsome olthe same singers will be atthe Assembly Roomstorfive nights. Producer Joe Boyd's pilgrimageto Eastern Europe last summer has resulted in an album. Balkana: Music ofBulgaria, and thistourbytheten artists. leading vocalists and instrumentalists from one of Europe's richest musical heritages. Along with the kaval. a type of flute; the gadulka. a liddle-like instrument, and the tambur. used as a guitar or bouzouki in accompaniment. there are two species of bagpipe. one used to counterpointa man‘s voice in song. The Trio Bulgaria (see photo) are the country's leading female harmony singing group. creating those eerie and mystifying eftects with superb control at pitch and dynamics. and powerful voices devoid of vibrato. As Boyd says‘. . . they curl the hairofthe back row inthe music hall.‘
THE GAELS
The Boys Of The Lough present us with the British Isles in music, ityou allow ShetlanderAly Bain token Scottishness. but are actually three-fifths lrish. Fare And Remember Me. theirsecond album inthe new settled line-up is released to coincide with their Dueen's Hall concerts on the 21st and 22nd. It leatures the 19th-century set of uillean pipes. gifted to Chrisfy in America. and which he now plays. Capercaillie are a group moving steadily up the ladder since tuming prolessional two years ago. and have releasedtheir second album, Crosswinds, on the Green Linnet label. Primarily Gaelic songs lrom the beautiful voice of Karen Matheson are mixed with nimble arrangements of pipe and fiddle tunes. dellnitly Scottish. They are last emerging as this country's hardest working band. just back lrom Canada. . . soon oifto Scandinavia, followed by a British Council tour at the Middle East. They will stop at the Queen‘s Hall onthe 22nd.
FESTIV ‘
THE ROOTS F ROCK
Alastair Mabbott tracks down the sharpest sounds in town. (Full Festival Rock Listings on page 63) The first thing that the astute reader notices about music on the Fringe this year tnight be that the expanding interest in African music is well reflected. The Venue. (‘alton Road (venue 99) comes into its own in the first week ofthe Festival with a week of it. Quite how Sabatucada. a Brazilian Latin~American band. fit in. I‘m not quite sure — but so long as it's all good music. who cares'.’ The seminal British-based band ()rchestre Jazira (whose guitarist Ben Mandelson is deeply involved in a record label which hopes to bring music from all over the world to eager new cars) feature strongly on the bill. alongside Somo Somo (Mosese lllllll) from Zaire. Followers of African pop will no doubt be overjoyed at the chance to see both The Real Sounds ()fAfrica (see panel) and the wonderful Bhundu Boys.
The Venue's contribution to Festival music continues with a very loosely-termed Jazz Week and Folk Week. and will be open during the day throughout the Festival for indoor busking. Keep an eye out there for Edinburgh‘s brilliant fake hillbillies Swamp ’l'rash. who‘ll be doing there doggone darndest to separate you from your dollars and cents.
Fake hillbillies‘.’ Ilow about fake country and western'.’ No . . . how could anyone call Ilank Wangford. with his awesome sincerity rating. ‘fake".’ Buoyed with the success of his hit TV show The A -Z u_/‘( ‘& W. Hank presents his Alternative Festival off 'omtlry Music on Saturday 29. and insiders say that the ‘special guests' could be special indeed. And while we‘re on the subject. look out for'I'he Blubbery Ilellbellies (you can‘t miss them. actually). the .. . er. ‘biggest‘ band in the world. who'll be bringing their ten-gallon hats to The Venue. That same building also plays host to Railroad Bill
And The Boxcar Stompers
Important events in the calendar must include an evening with Tom Robinson (see panel). the concerts by the excellent Michelle-Shocked. who’s giving acoustic folk-based music back its good name. the solo concerts by Richard Thompson. whose been doing that for years. and Carmel. the jazz singer who was paid a lot of attention by the rock press when she first emerged. even getting her single ‘Bad Day‘ into the charts.
But this is all very peripheral. you may be saying. What about good old sweaty 12-bar rock ‘n' roll'.’ Well. Edinbugh's great bluesy shouter Tam White and his Dexters will be on hand all the way through the Festival at Platform 1 in the Caledonion Hotel to administer aid to the needy. And don‘t miss Blues ‘n' Trouble. Edinburgh‘s other great R&B band. on for one night only at the Assembly Rooms (28 Aug).
Enjoyed The Blues Brothers? Well. get it down to Buster Brown‘s to catch The Blues Re iew re-create the best musical moments from the movie. ‘Rrrrrruber bisCLIIT (bow bow bow ) I !'
Slipping into the jazz territory again for just a moment. my gratitude to Round Midnight for bringing (iil Scott-I leron up here for another long-overdue gig. With a solid backing ofjazz. blues and soul. a social conscience that can‘t be ignored and one of the broadest grins in showbiz. his appearance at the Queen’s Hall on Sunday 9 is an essential date for the diary. Get on down
there! (Mab)
TEAM SPIRIT
The Real Sounds DlAlrica have. along withthe Bhundu Boys, benetitted the most lrom the rapidly-blossoming interest in African pop inthis country. Driginallylrom Zambia. now based in Zimbabwe. Real Sounds have been collecting rave reviews for their live shows like other bands collect dust. and present pop that's truly exciting and a tonic for the soul: melodic. rhythmic, percussive. irresistibly danceable. Real Sounds are. the Bhundu Boys claim. ‘betterthan us'. High praise indeed.
In Zimbabwe they are superstars: their woo-capacity residency in Harare is sold out on every one of the three nightsa weekthey play. While they're over here the owner has had to-close the club. knowing that no one else could hope to pull in such a dedicated crowd.
Theirbiggest hit so farin their adopted homeland has been ‘Dynamostaps (0-0). a tribute to Harare‘s two top football teams. Watch out. though. when the band don tootball strips to perform it—their ball control doesn't quite match
4 uptothatoltheirheroes.
Real Sounds number thirteen: twelve musicians andtheirquadruple- jointed, rubber-limbed witchdoctor who performs withthem and hasto be seen to be believed. So see them and believe it. (Mab) 0 Real Sounds olAlrica. Assembly Rooms (venue 3). 226 2427/8. 7—15Aug 11.45pm. £4.50(£3.50).
A PRIVATE VIEW
Who could imagine the Fringe any more without Tom Robinson? A lixture at the Assembly Rooms for several years now. he's playing the entire three weeks (except Mondays) at
- the Edinburgh Suite. Why
does he keep coming back. one wonders?
‘I suppose the thing about the Fringe is that there'sa chance to catch a lot of other artists atthe same time. And also, you mix with people, you get to jam with them; it’s quite a good sort ol cross-pollination. And particularly. it’s nice for me
! !
to step outside the world of pop music, where the same idea has been recycled endlessly. and pick up things lrom people who're working in jazz. orlolk. or cabaret. mime. ballet. .. 'And a Festival audience doesn't pre~judge you. then. a Fringe audience mightnot know any olyour songs; they don't have any preconceptions. So you can try something difterent. and ifit's good they'll applaud. and it it‘s not they won‘t.‘ Little has been heard of Tom since he last saw chart action with WarBaby. but he hasn‘t been idle. LPs are still selling respectably. he's having hits in Italy and has over the years been pointing his music in a more ADR direction since the
s air-punching punk days. An LP of a performance on the
Fringe. with his lull band. is
l available on Doio Records. : though he prefers the
smaller set-up ola trio he‘s using on these dates: Robinson. faithful drummer Steve Laurie and pianist Steve French. ‘The smaller the band is. the lessformal. less organised it has to be. This show's called "A
PRIVATE VIEW": a bit of
banter. a chat, an anecdote, as well asthe more
I straightforward singing and pertorming.‘ (Mab)
o A Private View. Tom Robinson. Assembly Rooms
5 (venue 3). 7—29 Aug 10pm.
£5.50 (£4.50) [Fr]
The List 7 — 20 August 35