FESTIVAL MUSIC
gigs - recitals
JAZZ PREVIEW
Jazz jamming
It’s meltdown time as Andy Sheppard joins with Jazz Jamaica.
Jazz Jamaica will be hoping for a better outcome than the last time they travelled north of the border — a plethora of travel problems meant they did not make it to their last scheduled appearance at the Dunoon Jazz Festival last year. This is a chance to make amends, and let us catch up with the band‘s exhuberant fusion of Caribbean rhythms and jazz soloing, and with a very special guest to spice up the mixture even further.
The Flux concert will be the first ever collaboration between the band and saxophonist Andy Sheppard, whose own links to reggae are strictly limited, although he recalls it as being ‘one of the sounds that were around when l was a kid.’ Shepperd has never played in the idiom before, but was more than happy to take up the opportunity when the invitation arrived from Jazz Jamaica’s bass-player and leader, Gary Crosby. ‘I did a gig opposite Jazz Jamaica at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival a couple of years ago and I thought then it would be fun to play with them,’ says Shepperd. 'l've known Gary for years, and we've talked about maybe doing something together at some point, and when he asked if I wanted to do this gig with the band, I said yeah, fantastic.’
Shepperd will join an already vibrant horn section, featuring the mighty triumvirate of Rico Rodriguez (trombone), Eddie ‘Tan-Tan' Thornton (trumpet), and
as Andy Sheppard limbers up for a jazz injection
Michael ’Bammie' Rose (saxes). Even if he is not entirely sure what will happen on the night, he is in no doubt that it will be fun. ’Yeah, I’m really looking forward to it. They sent me a tape, and I’ve been playing it in the car driving to gigs, getting into the groove,’ affirms Shepperd. 'What I’ll have to do is find a way to play something in my style which will make sense in the context of the music. I'll need to get myself into the right frame of mind to play with a reggae beat, and still be creative, but I've got my tape, I’ve got a rehearsal with the band, and I've got no excuses!’ (Kenny Mathieson)
I Andy Sheppard and Jazz Jamaica (Fringe) Flux, The la (la Cake (Venue 7) 226 5 738/477 8222, 75 Aug, 8pm, [7 7.
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Loyko: tracing a musical line back to 1700
i. V .A"
Festival in the early 805, in a big Russian programme,’ says Ponomarev. 'She was a singer — she still is — she's off in Georgia somewhere, but the Edinburgh poster is still on the wall at home. And Sergei was in a Moscow theatre company that won a prize there seven years ago.’
For as long as he can remember Ponomarev has played music, 'I did my first concert, part of a concert, about fifteen minutes worth, when l was five in the Philharmonic hall with my grandmother on the piano.’ Although he plays various instruments, including electric bass and programmed keyboards, sometimes in rock bands, his first love remains Gypsy music. ’It's international. There are Gypsies in every country, from Europe through to
rouc PREVIEW Loyko
This tempestuous, Virtuoso RiiSSian trio last year toured With Yehudi Menuhin and Raw Shankar and are set to take Edinburgh by storm on their first Festival Visit Phenomenal fiddlers and vocalists, cousms Oleg Ponomarev and Sergei Erdenko were brought up in the then Sovret Far East near Vladivostock
before inovmg to Moscow where, like their brilliant Siberian guitarist, Vadim Kulitski, they received a classical rnusmal education in tandem With Gypsy musmal culture
The cousins are members of a Gypsy vrolin, song and dance dynasty that can trace its roots back to the original Loyko Zabar, a legendary RusSian fiddler of the i700s The band also have several connections With Edinburgh. 'My mother was at the
China. And there's the influence of Django and Gypsy jazz. But we don't want to change that music A German producer wanted to make us electric — like the Gypsy Kings - but we said no, we want to stay With our tradition ' (Norman Chalmers)
I Loyko (Fringe) Assembly Rooms (Venue 3) 226 2428, (5— 79 Aug,
10pm, [ 8 ([6), Graffiti (Venue 90) 55 7 8330, 2081 26-29 Aug, 11 30pm, [8 (£7).
H it list
Why our ears are tingling with anticipation
Bryn Terfel The Welsh baritone returns to the International Festival to perform a programme of songs by Schumann and Finzi. See him now before his appearances become a very rare commodity. See feature. Bryn Terfel (International Festival) Usher Hall, 473 2000, 20 Aug, 8pm, 5-15 19.
Andy Sheppard and Jazz Jamaica See preview, left.
Loyko See preview, left.
My Friend The Chocolate Cake ‘An unclassifiable mix of lush melodic textures, punchy beats and powerfully emotive songwriting . . . a memorably delicious melange' is what we said last year. You know what? They ain't changed. My Friend The Chocolate Cake (Fringe) Famous Spiegeltent (Venue 87) 558 8010, 15-17Aug, 11.30; 18, 19, 22-24 Aug, 7pm. 15 7. 50 (f 6). flndersticks If you like a touch of melancholy with your music then the Tindersticks are the boys to entertain you. Now on their third studio LP, Curtains, the Tinders craft finely wrought, even delicate, songs.See preview. Tindersticks (Fringe) Jaffa Cake (Venue 7) 226 5138/477 8222, 20 Aug, 8pm,
2’ 10. 50.
Ray Davies: The'Storyteller The former Kinks mainman straps on his guitar and tells you the story of his life as well as playing the songs which have made it so memorable. Ray Davies: The Storyteller (Fringe) Assembly Rooms (Venue 3) 226 2428, 17—30 Aug, 1 1.45pm, £11/£12.50 (IQ/£10).
Mela Edinburgh’s largest multicultural festival kicks off for a third year. On the music front, fans can look forward to the passionate vocal dynamics of Atta Ullah Khan Essa Khailvi, bhangra band, the Apna Group and a spectacular musical collaboration between groups from ireland, Scotland, Pakistan, Africa and other communities. See preview. Mela (Fringe) Meadowbank Centre and Stadium (Venue 151) 668 4100. 16—1 7 Aug. All day.
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