MUSIC LIST
the magic of his latest work.
Usually, composers have to wait until they‘re dead, or at least into their old age, before there‘s any sort of special celebration of their work. But on reaching merely his 50th birthday, one ofthe nicest presents Indian born but Edinburgh resident composer Naresh Sohal (whose ballet Gautama Buddha was premiered by Houston Ballet at this year‘s Edinburgh Festival) will receive is a concert by the Paragon Ensemble devoted entirely to his music. Not only that, but it will include the first performance of Madness Lit By Lightning. a 50 minute music theatre piece. commissioned by Paragon, which Sohal has written in collaboration with film writer Trevor Preston.
Intended for future performance as a companion piece to Stravinsky‘s Soldier‘s Tale, the scoring is similar. with a slightly increased instrumentation — making a total of 10 players with five singers/actors taking the roles ofseven characters. ‘It’s basically about the greed and weakness ofthe human body and mind’ says Sohal, ‘as seen through the daughter of the devil‘s daughter — and the devil is female too in this case - who is sent to earth to learn the ways ofhumans.’ The main role, played by baritone Alan Oke, is that of McGinty, a sort of narrator- cum-participant who comments on the action as well as being part of it. Sohal explains, ‘When the devil thinks the girl, who has enormous power, is getting up to too much mischief in the world, she wants her to come back. But she‘s enjoying herself so much, she doesn’t want to go back, so connives with McGinty to set a trap to catch the devil with a magic bottle.’ At this point, it sounds as if, quite literally, all hell is let loose, with demons having a ball and all sorts of havoc going on. The devil, however, is found and she agrees to send it all back to hell to leave the earth free. Once more, McGinty‘s co-operation is sought and the girl is caught, not to be sent back to hell straight away, but to be kept in the bottle for a year to witness the greed ofthe world.
The performance takes place on Sunday 17 Sept at the Stevenson
MADNESS LIT BY LIGHTNING
Carol Main talks to composer Naresh Sohal about
Hall, RSAMD, just one day before Sohal‘s birthday. ‘It is‘, he says, ‘very powerfully written and I feel put out that it is not getting a fully dramatic presentation, but the money is not there to do it. It‘s always assumed,‘ he continues. ‘that high art comes from abroad, but this is a stupidity beyond redemption as far as I‘m concerned. OK, there may not be hundreds of great composers, but even one occasional work needs support and there isn‘t any. It‘s all talk, talk, talk‘. Lack of funds also means that this time round anyway. Madness Lit By Lightning is restricted to one Glasgow performance, which seems particularly sad as Paragon have managed to assemble a fine cast including Jane Manning as the devil‘s grand-daughter, Linda Ormiston as the devil, with tenor John Brackenridge and bass Jonathan Best, as well as the afore-mentioned Alan Oke. However, BBC Radio will record the work the following day, so although a music-theatre piece is obviously best experienced in performance, Edinburgh audiences who don‘t relish the thought of BR on a Sunday, can always listen in when the work is broadcast.
JAZZ
NORMAN HOWARD
Like most areas of creative endeavour, jazz has its unsolved mysteries and curious disappearances. Take Albert Ayler. The saxophonist was a prime mover in the free jazz explosion ofthe 1960s. and one of the most powerful, passionate and controversial voices in the history ofthe music. His body was fished out of New York's East River in November 1970, and no one is sure to this day what happened.
IfAerr’s death remains a mystery, the less spectacular disappearance of his one-time associate Norman Howard is equally unexplained. As far as anyone knows. Howard simply gave up on music after a briefcareer in the 1960s, including his participation in Ayler‘s ground-breaking Witches and Devils session in 1964. The two men grew up on
the same block in
ROCK
I cuscow l BARROWLAND (041 226 l 4679) The Ramones, 2 Oct; | Sugarcubes, 7 Oct; The Wonder Stult, 14 Oct; Transvision Vamp, 17 Oct; Gary Numan, 20 Oct; The Dogs D’Amour, 23 Oct; All About Eve, 29 Oct; Fish, 30 Oct; Ian McCulloch,1 Nov; Jesus and Mary Chain, 4 Nov; The Wedding Present, 11 Nov; Lloyd Cole, 13 Nov; Marillion, 4 Dec.
I GLASGOW PAVILION
(041 332 1846) 60s Greats,
1 Oct; Dr Hook, 2 Oct; Van Morrison, 4 Oct; Louden Wainwright III, 6 Oct; Rose Marie, 8 Oct; David Essex, 24 Oct; Climie Fisher, 8
Nov; Julia Fordham, 15 Nov. I GLASGOW SECC (041 248 3000) Deacon Blue, 10 Dec; Erasure, 18 Jan; Simply Red, 21 Jan.
I LIVINGSTON FORUM (0506 419191) The Cult, 21 Nov; Aerosmith, 22 Nov.
I EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE (031 557 2590) Dr Hook,1 Oct; Gloria Estelan, 2-3 Oct; Shirley Bassey, 7-8 Oct;
The Temptations, 15 Oct; Transvision Vamp, 16 Oct; The Fureys, 19 Oct; Anderson, Brutord, Wakeman 8 Howe, 21-22 Oct; Run Rig, 24 Oct; All About Eve, 28 Oct; 10,000 Maniacs, 4 Nov; Motley Crue, 6 Nov; Spandau
Ballet, 6 March.
I EDINBURGH OUEEN’S HALL (031 668 2019) Fish, 23 Oct; The Dogs D'Amour, 24 Oct; Julia Fordham, 16 Nov.
I EDINBURGH usuen HALL (031 225 2424) i
l l l
Cleveland, Ohio, where Howard returned after the hostile reception Ayler‘s music met in New York. adopted the Muslim faith, and apparently lapsed into silence.
Not so. A 1968 session under the trumpeter‘s own name has just been released (see review in last issue), and from the unlikely setting of Newport-On-Tay in Fife, where Roy Morris has set up a cassette-only label especially for that purpose. Roy bought the tapes from the Dutch label Osmosis when they decided against release
14 Nov; Tammy Wynette, 18 Nov.
CLASSICAL
I GLASGOW CITY HALLS (041 227 5511) SNO/Thomson/Opening Concert/Martinu 4, 7 Oct; SNO/Katz/Tchalkovsky, ‘ 12.14 Oct; SNO/Jarvi/ Mahler5, 21 Oct; l l
SNO/Bamert/Elgar, 28 Oct; SNO/CIeve/Brahms, 2, 4 Nov. I GLASGOW RSAMD (041 332 5057) Vladimir Ovchinikov, 12 Oct; Songmalters Almanac, 9 I Nov; Leon Spierer/Jaclt .I Kearney, 25 Jan; Elly Ameling/Rudolph Jansen, 15 Feb; Ralph Kirshbaum/Rogeergnoles, 15 March. I GLASGOW SECC(041248 3000) Luciano Pavarotti, 16 May. I GLASGOW THEATRE ROYAL (041 332 9000) ' Scottish Opera/ The Merry | Widow, 30 Sept, 6, 25 Oct, 6, 9 Dec; The Marriage 01 | Figaro, 5, 7, 19, 21 Oct, 5, 7 Dec; Jenuia, 18, 24, 26, 28 ! Oct; Die Fledermaus, 29, 31 , Dec, 3, 4, 6Jan, 21, 24 Feb; I Bluebeard'sCastIe/Oedipus l
. Rex, 24,27Jan,14Feb,1 ; March;La Forzadel Destino,13,17,20,22Feb, ,
3 March; Salome, 25, 28 April. 11.24.29 May; Cosi Iantutte 10, 12. 17, 30 May; Madame Butterfly, 23, 26, 31 May, 2, 5June.
I EDINBURGH KING'S THEATRE (031 2291201) Richard Baker's Grand Tour | to Melody, BOcI.
I EDINBURGH OUEEN'S HALL(031 668 2019)
back in 1980, and has been itching to issue them ever since.
‘My first objective was simply to get the music out,‘ Morris confirmed. ‘I have been listening to it for nine years, and [still hear new things in it. I wish I knew where Norman was now. I have checked out Cleveland, and he is not thought to be there, but YusefMumin (formerly Joe Phillips) is believed to be in Milwaukee, so I may make enquiries there.‘
Whether Roy finds the trumpeter or not remains to be seen, but he has done a service in making this music available at last. The session features Howard on trumpet, Joe Phillips on alto saxophone, Walter Cliff on bass and drummer Corney Millsap, and is essential listening for anyone interested in that fascinating period. (KM)
Signals is available from Homeboy Music, 24 Riverside Gardens. NeWport-On-Tay, Fife, DDé 8NQ, a!£7(inc pd’zp).
BOOK NOW
I Sugarcubes, 9 Oct; 10,000 E Maniacs, 5 Nov; Lloyd Cole,
SCO/Saraste/Mozart/ Opening Concert, 7 Oct; SCO/Fruhbeclt De Burgos/Falla, 12 Oct; SCO/Laredo/Beethoven Triple Concerto, 19 Oct; SCO/Laredo/Bach, 28 Oct. I EDINBURGH USHER HALL (031 225 2424) SNO/Thornson/Openlng Concert/Martina 4, 6 Oct; SNO/Katz/Tchalltovslry, 13 Oct; SNO/JarvI/Mahler 5, 20 Oct; SNO/Bamert/Elgarz, 27 Oct; SCO/Segal/ Beethoven 6, 2 Nov; SNO/Cleve/Brahms 1,
3 Nov.
JAZZ & FOLK
I GLASGOW PAVILION (041 332 1846) The Fureys
plus Davey Arthur, 18 Oct; Christy Moore, 19 Oct; Randy Travis, 9 Nov; Billie Joe Spears, 11 Nov; NancI Grilliths, 14 Nov; The Corries, 24 Nov; Syd Lawrence Orchestra, 25 Nov.
I DUNFERMLINE GLEN PAVILION (0383 720108) Dunlermline Jazz Festival, 30 Sept—1 Oct.
I EDINBURGH KING'S THEATRE (031 2291201) The Corries,16—18 Nov.
I EDINBURGH OUEEN'S HALL (031 668 2019) Bob Berg/Mike Stern Oulntet, 20 Oct; Andy Sheppard Big Band, 10 Nov; 29th Street Saxophone Quartet, 17 Nov; John McLaughlin Trio, 1 Dec; Chris Barber Band, 8 Dec.
I EDINBURGH USHER HALL (031 225 2424) Christ Moore, 21 Oct; Lionel Hampton Big Band. 26 Oct; Clannad, 19 Nov; Syd Lawrence Orchestra, 27 Nov.
The List 15 — 28 September 1989 29