DEE- MGXY rnuvous
They arrived at Edinburgh's Folk Festival in March.c1amouring for a gig. Four guys with an electric bass. snare drum and guitar. A twenty- minute spot was squeezed in on the club stage and halfan hour later everyone was talking about them. Moxy Fruvous came together as students in Toronto. and their album Bargainville has gone platinum there. Over here. they‘re getting Radio 1 airplay. With immense humour and real skill they write very acute songs in a sort of pop/doo-wop/acoustic rock ’n' roll. Bizarre costume changes and brilliant harmony singing top it off.
I Moxy Fruvous (Fringe) Fringe Club (Venue 2) 226 5257 (evenings 650 4673). 17—23 Aug. 9pm. £6 (£5). MAG-TALLA Arthur Cormack and Blair Douglas are well known as a duo in Gaeldom: Arthur for his wonderfully warm voice and unsentimental sensitivity to Gaelic song; Blair for
his keyboard and accordion skills.
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KINDRED SPIRITS When Grand Union last visited the Fringe in 1989, it was with the full- size big band. This time, Tony Haynes will lead a smaller unit in a new piece premiered in London earlier this year. ‘Prastutikaran’ is based around the Grand Union’s characteristic fusion of jazz with ethnic sources, this time a focusing on the music of India. i ‘When I started the band twelve ! years ago, the accent tended to be on
influences, because of the musicians we had at that time. We took it pretty much as an article of faith that we should broaden out over the years, and ; this is a fairly logical development for I18. .
‘The music is all original with the hand. For me, Jan is a spirit or an ; approach to music rather than a l genre, and we began work on this with 1 no specific intention beyond creating a fluid, largely improvised piece of
music. ‘The thing about the band is not so
much the ethnic backgrounds of the players - and in any case it is all British music now, regardless of origins - but the fact that they are resourceful and inventive, and are
‘good at bouncing ideas off one another. it’s the individual musicians
I West African or South American I I. I .
‘ ‘h " ‘ on. before the invention of . f writing. in story and song.
'1... l 'l‘éi‘ who make the music what it is, and I’m more interested in that than specific genres or influences.’
‘Prastutikaran’ (which means a ‘presentation’) features jazz musicians 1 like trumpeters Claude Deppa and
Paul Jayasinha, saxophonist Louise 1 Elliot, and percussionist Josefina
Cupido, alongside tabla player Manjit
Singh Basia and the blind multi-
instrumentalist Balu Shrivastav.
‘ (Kenny Mathieson)
i Prastutikaran (Fringe) Grand Union i Band, Queen’s liall (Venue 72) 668 12019, 15—17 Aug, 8pm, £7 (£5).
TALES YOU WIN ; . . . HEADS YOU ' LOSE
Storytelling was the original traditional art. Chanted stories ultimately ; became the ballads. The wisdom and insight of a community was passed
Before television. brutal violence. queer tales. whimsy. lovers. enemies. fabulous escapades and unbelievable creatures peopled the soaps for centuries. and tale bearers had vast repertoires and huge memories. All over the civilised world. meaning the world of cities. the storytelling art is currently undergoing a revival and. in Scotland. the Fringe offers two venues. Have it straight at the Netherbow in the High Street. or with malt whisky. music and song down in l.eith. I Tales You Win . . . Heads You Lose (Fringe) Netherbow (Venue 30) 55.6 957‘). Aug l()~Sept 3 (not Suns). 11am. £4 (£2.50). I Spirit of Scotland (Fringe) Malt Whisky
Society (Venue 102) 554
irreverent humour. permanent beret and for
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composing ‘Kate Martin‘s Waltz'. one of those rare
\ 6‘ Mac-Talia
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tunes that has become ubiquitous. at least in the Scottish Highlands. 1n Mac-Talia they are joined by equally respected
singers Christine Primrose
and Eilidh MacKenzie and the band is completed by Alison Kinnaird on clarsach. vocals and occasional cello. Although they might lack instrumental depth. and have yet to fully evolve as a tight-knit ensemble. their vocal riches more than make up for it. (Norman Chalmers)
I Mac-Talia (Fringe) Queen’s Hall (Venue 72) 18 Aug. 7.30pm. £7 (£5).
LIVESTOCK
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Music Man - throughout the Fringe from Fioere, Blues Cruisers, Lorna Brooks, Nigel Clark and many more, its FREE.
For details (0”
' '03.: 226 5425
34 Hamilton Plot
Sat
We
c Edinburgh
The List 12—18 August 1994 65
FESTIVAL . MUSIG
l 3451.15-17.22—24. 3 29—31 Aug. 7.45pm. £12.50 (includes two malt whiskies). Members £10.
HE!!- SIMON THOUMIRE
At the Acoustic Music Centre. the hub of the Festival folk scene. one of the most interesting and arresting sounds is Simon Thoumire‘s squeeze box. He plays the little linglish concertina but stretches the lay concept of folk music to breaking point. Never one to enjoy playing ‘straight‘. Simon uses traditional tunes as a base for a freewheeling exploration of their harmonic and rhythmic possibilities. In short. he jaues them. He's not so extreme that you‘ll lose the tune. but he enjoys putting a blues feel to a Highland reel. or even extemporising his own. With jazz luminary Kevin MacKenzie's superbly accomplished guitar. and acoustic bass. this is exceptional music making. I Simon Thoumire (Fringe) Acoustic Music
Centre (Venue 25) 220 2462, 15. 16 Aug. 8.30pm. £4.50 (£3.50).
INSTRUMENT SALES
M . sneer-em: mnc'
031-667-8241