62 THE LIST “
Have you ever seen a pub named after a Stooges song?‘ Vic Galloway has, in Finland. the nights are closing in and the Winter jacket's been dusted off once again. Never have I felt so aware of this. and in need of that
coat as in Finland it gets properly cold and dark there! I've just returned from a week's visit, unearthing some musical gems in the land of sauna and Santa. I end up in the strangest of places in my quest to find new music. and I can report back that it's an incredibly beautiful coontry With honest and hospitable folk. It glows with a renewed optimism, wanting stake. it's claim in Europe as a serious musical contender. the government and business sector also Visiny support their artists and ri'iusiCians. looking ahead to some kind of cultural future -v something we COuId learn from here.
I took in two cities - lampere. an industrial town north of Helsinki where the annual ‘Musiikki and Media' festival happens. showcasmg new and established Finnish acts. It has been compared to Manchester, and the event could be seen as their 'In The City'. Ever so- slightly disappouiting. With a bill weighted towards their love of commercial glam/goth/rock acts, I have to say the mullet quota was quite extraordinary! All was not lost however. as some Kraftwerk-esoue electronica. experimei'ital guitar SOundscapes and muscular. hardcore-punk was also on offer.
Helsinki is a lovely City. similar in size to Edinburgh Wllh a great transport network, making it all the more easy to visit the masSive Crosstsection of record shops. clubs and music venues. they even have a bar 'Loose' named alter the Stooges song? Finding more unique and idiosyi'icratic muSic made me realise what a bLl/Jlllg capital it is. With paSSionate people and a huge creative energy. I can't wait to go back. but poss‘ibly when the temperature notches up a few degrees. Until then, I'll have to make do and blast some I-‘innish madness over the airwaves for you. KlitOSl - Vic Gal/owiray presents [386‘ \ Radio Scotland's ‘Air' at 805- 1000 Monday Evenings and BBC Radio I at 7. 309.00 lhiirsday Evenings
'EII i, f“
.J/V/ MCCOY TYNER Queens Hall, Edinburgh, Sun 13 Nov
Pianist McCoy Tyner will always be associated with the epochal John Coltrane Quartet, and is now the only surviving member of that classic line-up following the death of Elvin Jones last year. He joined the band as a largely unknown 22-year-old in 1960, and left it a little over five years later as an established jazz name.
While he readily acknowledges that his time with Coltrane was a vital formative influence on his subsequent development as a pianist, Tyner went on to carve out a major jazz career in his own right, and was able to ride out the lean years of jazz fusion in the 705.
‘I was considering driving a cab, but I didn't actually do it,’ he says. ‘At that time, the jazz that we played was being challenged by fusion and electronics - it was the
I t)! K THE CARRYING STREAM FESTIVAL Various venues, Edinburgh, Wed 9-Mon 14 Nov
A celebration of the life and legacy of the late Hamish Henderson »- for that's what the fourth annual round of concerts, ceilidhs. debates. workshops and is no more than an extension of what the great Scottish poet, soldier, socialist. folklorist, songwriter and whisky lover was himself. A polyinath and egalitarian, his later work in contributing to the founding of l dinbuigh University's School of Scottish Studies. and even the l dinburgh l estival l ringe. was but a chapter in an extraordinary life he carried around a dog eared copy of the Italian surrender during WWII in his pocket. I led been the senior officer to accept it. fun Neat delivers the annual I Iainish l lenderson Memorial I ecture at the City Chambers llaniish's greatest contribution was his passion for the traditional culture waning throughout Scotland in the post war years. and the tireless search to l(}(i()lf l. collate and celebrate the riches he, and others were uncovering. And if astonishing versions of ancient ballads and the revelation of voices as hidden and iinigue as .Jeannie Robertson's are among his great legacies,
coiiviviality WI” succeed in being
another is his championing of the new.
According to festival director Paddy Hort: ‘What is a most attractive thing about I Iainish -.-.'as his belief in the resilience of culture. He was open for all kinds of experiment. Martyn Bennett's music is a fine example.‘
So. along will! a night of verse and music in the Scottish Poetry I ibrary. films at the I iliiiliriiise. (Ill‘~,'llllllfl might happen sessions in Hainish's ex all” r: « ii féa'ii l3. Hell's H ii. and r (titr‘erls by seasoned veterans of the folk revival like Scotland's [)l(.l\ ( ‘iatighan and America's I orraine l ee I Iaiiiinoiid. the whole shebang kicks off wrlh young Canadian newfolkies
r)llir::i:
laiiglefoot. I lainisli will approve. (Norman Chalmers)
s , invasion of the electronics. I wasn’t drawn to it at all. My sound and self is definitely embodied in the acoustic piano. I’m in love with my instrument, and I basically stayed away from it.’
Tyner’s perseverance with the music he loved ultimately paid off. He may be one of the revered senior figures in jazz, but his approach to creativity remains unchanged.
‘I like to go on an adventure when I play. It’s like a voyage. I like to take people along the way and bring them back. I want them to understand what I’m doing as opposed to trying to baffle them. I want them to see that’s what music is about. It's about enjoyment and going on a trip.’
He has performed in Scotland in several settings, from solo piano through to big band. For his latest visit, he will be joined by bassist Charnett Moffett and drummer Eric Gravatt. (Kenny Mathieson)
Tanglefoot