MUSIC PREVIEW
IE!- I FINOEBPIOKIN' : coon v . ?
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Pentangle: filigree fretwork Originators. with Davey Graham. of the intricate British acoustic folk guitar style. Bert .lansch and John Renbourne created a dazzling partnership in the cool ()()s timbres of Pentangle. a superb band that created a Completely new and inimitable sound.
Their sound is based on the interplay between Jansch's country blues- oriented fretwork and Renbourne's jazzier chorclings. their filigree lingerwork. the transparent tones of singer Jacqui MeShee. and nimble rhythm section work from bassist Danny Thompson and drummer Terry Cox. The band was an instant success. and for six years they performed to enthusiastic audiences worldwide. A decade after their voluntary retirement. the band reunited for at Cambridge Folk Festival. recorded again and have since continued to gig on a regular basis. with annual tours to the States and Europe.
Although no longer incorporating Renbourne. who has recently moved to Edinburgh. the core of the band remains Jansch and McShee. with Peter Kirtley (whose pedigree stretches back to spells with Alan Price and George Harrison) in the second guitar chair. Gerry Conway‘s drums have previously underpinned John Cale. Steeleye Span. Emmylou Harris. Richard Thompson and even that bass player with the Beatles. Nigel Portman- Smith handles Pentangle's bottom end. and like the others. with the exception of the drummer. contributes vocals.
Cun‘ently on tour promoting their latest album. the quintet play just one concert in Scotland. Live 1994. released on the Hypertension label. is a recording from their tour ofGermany. ,
As an antidote to hard t plectrum strumming and l bouzouki bashing. ' perhaps it’s about time for i a return to the sparkling harmonics of this relaxed. refined art of l fingerpicking. (Norman Chalmers) Pentangle play The Ferry. Glasgow on Wed 26.
mi.— Oall itjazz
Tina May: building bridges
Tina May returns for her second Scottish tour with a rhythm section fit to grace pretty much any occasion, featuring pianist David Newton, bass
. player Alex Oankworth, and drummer Clark Tracey, who doubles as her
. husband when he is not making himself useful behind the kit.
She began singing while a student at ' Cardiff University in 1981, but she has been making a big push for recognition in the 905, in which time
she has released three albums on 33
i CONTEMPORARY .
l
; that there are different kinds of music 1 and we are offering a wider palette of
i the eclectic mix the One Voice
- contemporary music scene. ‘The
42 The List 21 Apr-4 May l995 l
Records: ‘flever Let Me Go’ (1991), ‘Fun’ (1993), and ‘It Ain’t Necessarily So’ (1994).
‘We rehearse the albums, then just go in and pretty much record them in one day, which is how I like to do it. On tour, though, the material is always developing and changing, both in the arrangements and in the way I sing them. I see myself as a musician who uses the voice as an improvisational instrument, which is what makes it jazz in the first place.’
Tina is classically trained, and has an impressive three-and-a-haIf-octave range, but her commitment has always been to jazz. She does occasionally
3 branch out, as in a forthcoming ? London concert with the Britten String
Quartet and guitarist Dylan Fowler, which will include songs by Fauré and Egberto Gismonti, but is in no doubt
; where her first love lies.
‘I suppose it doesn’t really matter what you call it, but I think there has been too much of a tendency to turn a blind eye and just call things jazz
when they really aren’t, and I don’t
like that — if it’s jazz, then it should be jazz! I do like to broaden out at times, but jazz is what I really love to sing. I
‘ believe people like to hear a mix of familiar and unfamiliar things, and the
familiar songs are a good way of building a bridge to an audience.’
(Kenny Mathieson) Tina May plays at The Tron, Edinburgh
on Wed 26.
Buoyed up by the success of their debut concert last autumn, the One Voice Ensemble is set to continue making an impression on’the
ensemble is really beginning to develop now,’ says director Jeremy Cull. ‘The players are getting to know each other better, as a social group as E much as a musical one.’
One of the ensemble’s aims is to provide a sounding board for contemporary music in Scotland, whether pop, easy listening or the more challenging sounds of Geraint Wiggins. Wiggins is one of the ensemble’s other founding directors, the third being composer and clarinettist Ornette Clennon.
‘We are striving to increase people’s awareness of contemporary music and emphasise that it is actually accessible,’ explains Cull. ‘We want to say that we can’t just play nice music,
music to listen to.’ On this occasion
Distinctive voice
i Ensemble sees as its trademark is
represented by two pieces by James MacMillan; “Trio Sarajevo’ for piano,
i clarinet and cello, by Nigel Osborne;
the premiere of “Elements’ by Geraint Wiggins and the better known “The Yellow Pages’ by Michael Torke. ‘lt’s great,’ says Cull of the latter, ‘and really, really fun. It’s based on a bass line from a Madonna song.’ The CO released by the ensemble last year also features two tracks of what Cull describes as ‘purely functional pop music’.
lnstrumentalists in the group are a mixture of established and emerging freelance musicians. Supported by the Performing flights Society and some sponsorship, the One Voice
9 Ensemble’s future plans include a '; Glasgow concert on 13 May, a Fringe
appearance in August and a ‘quite extreme night of live electronics including the live version of the pop tracks on the CO in mid-November’. (Carol Main)
The One Voice Ensemble plays at the Queen‘s Hall, Edinburgh on Fri 28.
Imme— Kids’ play
Offspring; will they sell out?
\Vhen Ito/lure Stone iii;iga/.iiie describes your band as 'maiustream punk'. yott know it's going to be tough persuading the kids in the mosh pit you haven‘t turned into corporate rock whores. This ‘sell out‘ tag has dogged ()l'fspring in a way those other nouyeau .»\tnerican punks (iieen l)a_y haye not bad to put tip w ilh.
That's probably becattse their third album Slum/i. a puuked-up Black Sabbath melee which has now sold upwards of four million records and rising. projected them into the US arena circh alter ten years of .\lc.lobs and own-label releases. ()nly late last year did ()l'lspring's geek guitar man Noodles giye tip pushing broom at a local ()range (‘ounty high school.
Their hardcore tm both senses) fans.
mostly west coast snowboarders and
skaters. had gotten Used to them as the band whose members were jttst like I them. Suddenly their authentic ‘Come (hit and Play ((iolla Keep ‘lim { Separatcd)‘ was heavy rotation on MTV. ‘l.ike. uh. that sucks.‘ was the i disgruntled whine. with ultra-liardline j punker llemy Rollins reportedly i requesting a dressing rootu well away i from the band to register his disgust when they shared a bill recently. l Offspring themselves admit they are I unlikely to stay with indie label Epitaph i for their next release.
From a British perspective. this whole i ‘no sell out‘ battle cry is just hilarious ' and so 70s. Been there. done that; get a life etc. Maybe it‘s a feature of the American music scene — the country is so big that. paradoxically. the number of available heroes to choose frotn on a national stage is relatively small. ()ffspring have been leapt upon as the salvation fora disaffected generation that has already suffered one disappointment with the passing of Nirvana and failure ofthe whole grunge project. Meanwhile the grassroots fans who followed them around California clubs must find another band. tinsullied by success. on which to project their ‘no sell out‘ fixation.
This whole question of ‘are they real punks‘ is obsessing American rock fans. but has no real relevance in Britain. Over here. Offspring are kiekin‘ thrash metalurgists who will show the limp lettuces of the New Wave of New Wave how to rock out. Btit signifiers fora generation‘s angst? I think not. (Eddie Gibb)
Offspring play (i/uxgow Barron-land on th'r/Iiewluy' 26 April