rmon part ot Plattormsplfian's.
0‘ o (D_
Bing Hitler
GUEST LIST
PALTFORM JAZZ
Platform, Scotland‘s jazz promotion agency, launches its lirst season
? underthe new, ‘ centralised,andtully
prolessional system developed by Administrator Roger Spence. All Plattorm's booking and organisational duties
will now be directed
lrom their Edinburgh office by Roger and Rab Adams, replacing the
old, volunteerrun
Platform Music Societies in Scotland‘s major cities.
‘When Plattorm was set up,‘ Roger explains, ‘itwas to encourage the development of jazz in Scotland, and we have come a long way since then. The programme we are mounting in the Autumn is the most adventurous we have everstaged, particularly in terms of Glasgow,
, where we will be running v weekly promotions at the
Henry Wood Hall in Claremont Street.
‘We teltthat in orderto sustain the level ol
international artists we have now reached, we needed a more prolessional organisation. We have gradually built up jazz in Scotland, and a lot ot that is down to the increased tinancial support we have had lrom the Scottish Arts Council and our sponsors. but equally it is down to our own
. abilityto turn that
support into greatly increased turnover.
‘The areas ol music which have developed the prolessional
3 promotions,likethe classical orchestras and
rock, have prospered in
5 Scotland in a way that otherlorms,|ike talk or
classical chamber music, have not. We no longersee jazz as a minority lorm, and I thinkthat is borne out by national interest in the music, and in orderto both meetand develop thatdemand, we have to operate on a national basis.‘
The lruits otthis more ambitious outlook will be on Scotland's bandstands from the lirst week in October, when saxophonist Bobby Watson will playlour dates in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen (part at the expanded Alternative Festival there, lurther evidence of the growth in the music's popularity lollowing the other major Festivalsthis summer) and Dundee, his lirst in Britain with his own quartet.
Subsequent highlights include an outing lortwo new Scottish units, Tony
Gorman‘s Sax TC and the
John Rae Collective, bringing together several of the brightest young players in the country, and a tourlor
the always popular Carol
Kidd, but the real locus
ot Plattorm’s new prolile
lies in the international dimension ol the programme.
At the head otthat comes Don Cherry's NU, possiblythe most eclectic and interesting bands working in contemporary jazz, with its roots spread across Ornette Coleman‘s ground-breaking harmolodics to the more organic music ol
Codona. Ex-Miles Davis
guitarist John Scotield, considered by many to be the majorjazz guitarist these days, brings his New York band here in November,
visit of pianist Cecil Taylor, a unique expefiencein contemporary jazz, who
contemporary music in Glasgow.
Keep your eye on the jazz listings lor details ol concerts in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Full details are also available lrom Platlorm S on 031226 4179.
iLouoou WAINWRIGHTIII
He sold his guitartotake yoga lessons in that San Francisco SummerolLove. An actor olsorts, he‘s been M'A'S'HedonTValew times. In the Shetlands he sang atAly Bain‘swedding. He has also recorded a dozen albums usingthe name given him by his parents—Loudon Wainwright III. A comedian otthe bana|.andhisown WASPAmerican middle
j class. he can write a song
i aboutthin air,though more P usuallyabout the sexwar,
love and death. Notthat
; he's morbid—the songsare tootouchinglytunny.And
alterallthatbooze and acid.those attairs.and
: continuing close shaves
with aeroplane death. he
still hasn‘llound himsell
buthe‘lltellyou allabout
thatwhen you buyaticket
lorhistherapy.his
T concerts. Loudon Wainright 3 isin concertin Edinburghat the Queens Hall on Sat30ct and Glasgow in the Pavilion on Sun 4 Oct. See Rock listings. (Norman
5 Chalmers)
l
l
only one week belore the
will also be taking part in an ambitious weekend of
' ot sexual activitythat
thinkitactuallyenhances ~ the love story to have it
' sweetand emotional.
rather than sexual — not that g»
LUIS VALDEZ
‘La Bamba' director and writer. Luis Valdez, had more than a passing interest in the hero at his tilm, the ill-lated rock ‘n' roll star, Ritchie Valens.
Like Ritchie, Valdez isa Chicano and as he and his high—school lriends rocked to the sounds at ‘Donna' and 'La Bamba‘, he remembers how Ritchie Valens also came to represent the tullilment ot his own hopes and dreams: ‘I suppose it was the start at the green lite . . . lwas getting to have plans about showbiz. about being an actor, and so on. The tact that Ritchie made it, made them seem more real.“
Valdez was also lascinated by the uncharted history ola careerwhich with just three hit singles belore his tragic death at the age at seventeen, was to inlluence early Sixties rockers and nameslrom Trini Lopez to today's Los Lobos, the group responsible tor the pacey Eighties‘ beat in the re-recordings ol the Valens' songs in the tilm. ‘Nothing much had been written abouthim; he wasa lootnote in the history at rock ‘n‘ roll. We didn't even knowthat his name was Ricardo Valenzuela until the Sixties.’
Extensive research and meetings with Ritchie's lamin and his girllriend. Donna. seem to have done littleto disillusion Valdez at his affection tor the era. ‘At the time we just responded to ‘Donna' as a pertectly lovely dance number, but there was a purity about that kind olyoung romance which rellects the spirit at the age. . .wetalkedto Donna where she works as a mortgage brokerand she has quite a vivid memory at him . . . lthink she Iikedlhe unpretentiousness ol our approach. butshe was concerned that we didn‘t make the relationship so Eighties that there was a lot
wasn't there in the Fitties.l
thetwo are mutually exclusive...‘ (3 Bitten) .1