PREVIEW MAYFEST
Beat The caprice is right Downing
‘ Eve few years the music world a music critic declared that ‘all that ' discrtlvers a new child prodigy, usually , great violinists do, he did.’ I n 0 r0 0 s a precocious, talented child who later Sixty-one years and some 5000 ' quietly slips out ol the public eye. performances on, Ruggiero’s light has Ruggiero Riccl - don't let the name lool not dimmed. He is particularly admired you, he’s Calilornian — is a vibrant lor reviving interest in the 19th century
exception to that rule. He and his six composers and lor his repertoire ol siblings were given little choice about i sold violin muslc- nurtured during the
their lutures by their ‘music maniac' war when he was an “Entertainment lather: they could either study music or Specialist’ and expensive musical become dustmen. Ruggiero chose ‘ accompaniment was pared down. music over street-sweeping and, at the n It is, however, with Paganini that age at ten, astonished audiences in Ricci is lastingly associated. He once
San Francisco with a lormidable debut said that ‘il you’re a violinist and you’re
,- concert including works by not interested enough to study
\\\\ Mendelssohn, Saint-Sachs and Paganini's Caprices, then you
\ ., l e ‘ Vieuxtemps. A year later, in New York, shouldn’t study the liddle’. He claims
The a“; pom i ' a ,3; ~ ~ . that the experience ol recording the
Top cats among the acts seeking to Capricee 0" Pagamnl's 0"" Guamafl
penetrate the staid civic recesses of i lauflhl him 3 '0t ahom "‘8 llallafl
the Moir Hall this Mayfest will be r massing. although it was not a painless
The Beat Poets Arkestra, the latest lesson: n was "he "Villa in accelflale
in a line ofpermutatjons for the to 60 miles an hour in a Rolls, when a Guameri is usually more like a Ferrari.’
perennial Glasgow surf giants. Their I The photo that adorns show will comprise two sets: one by , Manes! “Flames Will be able '0 Will Downing‘s tour the regular five-piece line-up, which r savour Ricci s celebrated rendering ol poster leaves no doubt as now includes cx_Primeval Malcolm l the second set oi Paganini’s Caprices to where he‘s coming MacDonald on guitar and one by as well as Bach Partlta No. 2 in D minor from. The well-tailored . . -’ and Bartok’s Solo Sonata. Miranda Downing Sits with his :hetAltkesgd’ d tcfi-glectepbaTd France) ( hands folded in his lap in ea urlng e usua ea oe 5 core, , a, from of a icamin but with the addition ofextra ' ‘ ' ' i . i Bungle") Rice. plays me (my "a" 0" )ld-f' h'ogn d g Italy s Ruggiero Riccl . Sun 5 ‘ . as ' ° . saxophones, keyboards and ' microphone. At first
percussion. This configuration 8183?» it leeks hhke he's promises, among many other . V J :Vd réngrizrglxocpmeuneh Cinemattc and televrsual cover app if. ‘ Yb _h g . ih versions, a rendition of the Randall - u . ms w" and Hopkirk theme tune, which the)l radicallyalicrcd (though have also recorded for inclusion on a reverent) version 0mm” f ‘ ’“s x Coltrane‘s ‘A Love _ Supreme‘ in 1988. Currently at Number One on the British blues and soul charts with his 4th & Broadway albumA Dream Fulfilled (itself a Coltrane-csquc title), ahead ofM.C. Hammer. Whitney Houston and Alexander O'Neal, Downing exudes the class ofthe oldestylc soul singer. The Luther Vandross qualities in his voice appealed to legendary New York dance and rock producer Arthur Baker. and a style that goes back to the classic vocalists ofsoul
forthcoming Imaginary Records
compilation. V . a , “a-.. _, Beat Poets mainman Tom Rafferty i
explains the thinking behind the Arkestra guise: ‘We’ve always wanted to do things with bigger, noisier bands, and now we've found extra brass people it‘s a chance to stretch the tunes further and see what happens. Because we’ve got fresh ears, it‘s forcing us into different areas. We’re not suddenly going to become a bebop band, but there’ll be different flavours there.’
Along with this predilection for experimentation within their chosen i field, The Beat Poets like to make a meal of their performances, playing unusual venues like the City
Chambers and incorporating special piano circus 33$)"sz Pumbers “elusive ‘0 “Ch Show- i It was appropriate that Piano Circus jazz and experimental music, as has Hendryx, Billy Ocean and The one'Off thing has come around i should start their recording career with Richard Harris, while Max Richter has Mica Paris'- beeeuse we get asked to do them and i a compelling interpretation of the piece had several oi his compositions A Dream Fulfilled is. by we like dOing them? states Tom . ol music which inspired their creation perlormed by other groups. Kirsteen 3” accounts ""3 a'bum Simply- fl did enoegh sloggmg . in the tlrst place, Steve Reich’s vibrant Davidson Kelly and John Wood have ‘“a}?‘.’.w",'igr a , . around in 8 "Damn when I was In E minimalist masterpiece ‘Six Pianos'. similarly eclectic tastes. at???) magi“ The anevaIs It was great fun at the I The six members at the group played Some of this diversity is already “mfg w m)“. for years. time. hut there are definitely ’ the piece at their inaugural emerging in their work, which, a fusion of jazz. soul and ' dimlnlShtng returnsthere.‘ . c perlormance on the Edinburgh Festival although tirme rooted in the R&B, low on overdubs The uPShOt 0f the" fringe activity 1 Fringe in 1989, and were so pleased minimalist mode of Reich, Riley and and synthesised sound.
has been a tendency to label them as with the result that they decided to stay Nyman, all at whom ligure strongly in high on musicianship from a cult act. even as something 0i a r together and expand their repertoire, their programmes, is broadening out to ‘a'c'l‘ "kc denim." Om‘" novelltY- ‘Aslwe don’t have a Singcen l h which now stands at around twenty include younger and less well-known :ggli’l'clfrfils cm PeOP e are a ways gems to reset US pieces. , names like Graham Fitllln and Simon .- ..' ’ as Operating somewhere about the , {0 Although all classically trained, the Rackham, both ol whom will figure in margins 0f polmlar entertainment» I m group bring a diverse range Ol their second recording [or the revived versions that include ‘For but it gives US a Whole area to drew B additional musical interests to their Argo label, in addition in their Mam“ All We Know'. originally on that other bands aren’t drawrng work, an invaluable asset in come" a the Third Eye cemre on F" sung by Ray Charles and 0"- Instwmemais are 3 Proper Part > interpretinu contemporary 10, the group will also play at the My Cam": (“35‘3"
0f reek history.’ (Fiona Shepherd) ‘ composition. Kate Heath, for example, queen's Hall in Edinburgh on Sai 11 . Memo") ,
The Bear Poets Arkestra play the 2 watts with an African drumming group (Kenny Mamas”) willpowmng Plays the Meir H0110" Tue 7- i I in London, Ginny Strawson has played ‘ flaw” Theatre 0" 5‘"
The List 3— 16 May 199123