Glasgow Art Club
September 20th, 2019

A new configuration of Collective Endeavors performed at the iconic Glasgow Art Club on 20th September to coincide with Glasgow Open Doors. This dance/music ensemble consisted of new dancers as their main dancer Aya Kobayashi has recently become a mum and was there to support her fellow collective members. So we were witness to Nerea Gurrugtxaga and Molly Danter who took us on a wordless journey where all sorts of themes and human emotions were enacted to a sold-out captivated audience.

What a great venue for this throbbing, experimental and haunting experience. Nerea and Molly entered from different sides of the audience dancing solo, interacting together and making moves that held grace in their poise and impossible body flexibility. Both these performers look young but their experience in dance looks far more mature than their years.

Behind their youthful faces lies a plethora of knowledge, experience and control showing wisdom beyond their years. Gurrugtxaga from Basque country in Northern Spain was an artist in residence in Kinning Park Complex three years ago. Her isolation ( movement of one part of the body independently from the rest) is incredible to witness. Molly Danter (ShoreditchYouth Dance Company and London Contemporary Dance School) was phenomenal in her physicality and ability to envision the most complex forms with her body and make it look painless and ethereal.

Full body extension dancing when linked with the barefoot guitarist Reid was a surprise. We saw the two join together in an intense embrace and the juxtaposition of the movement and melody became one. They entwined in a cross-disciplinary marriage that was fleeting yet mesmerizing. The dancers reconnected with each other as we entered the next chapter of the performance. The disjointedness was elegant and surreal. Also meditative like tai chi grounding us in the human experience, making us slow down and savour the moment. Giving in to the performance. A playful atmosphere changes dramatically as the violinist creates a thumping crescendo which in turn heightens the pace of the bass notes of Ried’s guitar. The dancers run, chase and jump on each other and through the crowd. Elea Inei abstractly plays alongside Reid’s experimental guitar. The pulsing rhythms of the extraordinary music pulls the viewer into a sense of comfortability only to be thrown into chaos mirroring life’s rich tapestry.

Clare Crines

Kelburn Castle
14th September, 2019

After an enjoyable afternoon at the football with family and friends I realised we were a 40 minute drive from Kelburn Castle and two of the young team decided to check it out. Getting in was a bit of a struggle with no internet for the card machines, we managed to push our way to the front offering cash only for the door staff to spend a long time glaring suspiciously at my English £50 notes. Directions in the event were provided by a team of loved up security who seemed to be firmly in the festival spirit.

Getting parked we decided to wait out a brief rain shower in the car – good move! The first bar we visited was a road block so we widened the search and found The Saloon which was less busy and had a bar and a roof and they were playing some bouncy funked up tunes that helped the drinks flow nicely. I was starting to take a liking to the predominantly Weegie crowd and had gathered for myself a crowd of young admirers helped probably by the fact my companions were predominantly younger and better looking than me. The young team did a great job of working the floor and soon our booth was the place to be. Doing my good deed for the day I helped a disabled guy get his crutches and sent him in his way having warned him the floor was uneven. We both wished each other a good evening.

Turns out Shane is a good protestant name so we were able to be friends. When we explored the site the true psychedelic nature of the event became apparent with brilliant light displays amongst the leaves and branches. There was even a DJ booth in a treehouse which looked and sounded amazing. The Elektrikal Crew are pounding the best sound system in the country and it really makes a difference. The sound and the bass line was fucking incredible.

On the Viewpoint Stage we saw Samson Sounds with Dandelion who were funky with a great brass section and had us making fools of ourselves jumping around on the dancefloor, loving the vibe. It wasn’t so much a dancefloor as a muddy type 1 surface but it seemed to do the job. Having been impressed with the view from the Saloon the new vista from the apply named Viewpoint Stage was like something from a dream or (perhaps) a trip. Full moon, trees, trees, lights, lights. Either I’d been properly spiked or the castle was busy changing colours as we grooved, what a magical experience. It seemed to be predominantly female artists and DJ’s which is a great positive message and more importantly had the whole place bouncing.

I saw Eva Lazarus while the young team continued to hunt in a pack for young ladies. She was utterly brilliant, a force of righteousness, a proper dancehall vibe. Loud, crisp sound and her huge vocals filled the trees with the proper stuff, what an amazing talent. Her DJ was brutally brilliant as well, at this point the young team reported for duty. Benny Page tore the sky off the roof. Sick as fuck. He played an absolutely roasting set of everything from old school jungle, Andy C Classics to Chasing Status’ latest remix of ShyFX “Original Nutter”. I totally lost my shit and so did the young team. Brilliant MC who knew how to build a night and took us where we wanted to go.

Best party in Scotland, only missing The General on the decks. Next year!

Graeme Steel

The Lammermuir Festival
Saint Mary’s Parish Church, Haddington
16-09-2019

For the tenth anniversary of the Lammermuir Festival, I thought I would investigate the cerebral buzz surrounding Vox Luminis upon one of their rare, rare visits to Scotland. The accepted invitation by the Belgium-based Vox Luminis is quite a coup for the festival orgainsers, who can now effortlessly add the phrase ‘Beautiful Voices’ to the festival’s emblematic ‘Beautiful Music, Beautiful Places,’ slogan. At the head of this tassle of timbres stands the charming Lionel Meunier, who adds his own pristinely-sung bass to the proceedings. Around him the vocal chords of his cleverly assembled team embed themselves in each other like the towers of a Templar fortress, conjuring such soul-stilling music that I can still hear them singing as I type.

The performance overtures with a single faceless sirensong growing stronger & clearer from the depths of the church. When this stranger is done singing & setting us all atrance, Vox Luminis arrive into our ken slowly & methodically, like freemasons at an initiation ceremony. Haddington Saint Mary’s offers divine acoustics, but they still need to be worked, & I was completely enthralled by the symbiotic serenity of the singing as they decorated the anonymous Lamentation de la Vierge au pied de la Croix, Antonio Lotti’s Crucifus a 8, Claudio Monteverdi’s Adoramus to Christe & Lamentio della Ninfa, Allessandro Della Ciaia’s Lamentatio Virginis, then after the interval the elongated ecstasy of Domenico Scarlatti’s Stabat Mater.

This centuries-old selection of soft & subtle sacred works are all inspired by the Virgin Mary. As a spectacle, they were delivered in a most appropriate setting & performed with immaculate precision either side of the trance-popping pauses. Such mature solemnity – tho’ streaked with a clear & optimistic mountain lakewater – contains the essence of Christianity & its Trinity, purified by ten honey-tongued singers & their dulcimerean instruments, including the lovely, long lute-like Theorbo played by Simon Linne. As a guitarist myself I watched him play with some fascination as he created chord shapes & plucked individual notes, bass-guitar-style, at the same time.

For each piece the ensemble moved about with marvellous variety – sometimes just a soloist, sometimes quartets & sometimes a complete & unified whole. Of the cantos, the four descending bass-notes & the wind-willowing phrases of Lamento della Ninfa (1638) is the most perfect and spendid thing I have now ever heard in my life! I have no more words to describe it, I was positively weeping within. Its purveyors, Vox Luminis, are rather what happens when a young swan ruffles its plumage – incorruptible natural beauty. Their music is what you’d expect Dante was hearing in his head as he was imagining the Paradisio. For myself in 2019, it felt as if I was gently cruising down the Nile in one of Cleopatra’s pleasure-barques, the dip of the galley oars rising & falling to the beat of the jaw-jangling, spine-tingling Theorbo.

Damian Beeson Bullen

Sherdley Park, St Helens
Saturday 7th september, 2019

Due to work commitments we were a bit late arriving but after an easy cruise down the M6 we rocked up at 7.30. A couple of helpful security guys escorted us to the main entrance only to find that unfortunately the production box office was at the other side, another guard took us to the right place. Roddy was apparently a kick boxing champ and after we saw him in action on his phone I relaxed, to be fair I’ve never felt safer. A few early casualties were being seen to by what looked like an experienced and effective set of first aiders.

After processing we headed to the Love House Arena full of optimism. For once I was in the demographic as the Festival was overtly a celebration of the 90’s dance scene. Jon Pleased Wimmin was just finishing his set with some bangers, we were starting to feel very at home so we headed out and about to find the Judgement Arena. Along the way we managed to trip over a very nice bar serving proper cocktails. Suitably fortified with industrial strength gin and tonic we found our destination where surprisingly Micky Slim was also filling the floor with a set of 90’s classics, are you starting to spot a theme? I can’t remember what the fuck he actually played but just type 90’s rave classics into your search engine, you’ll get the idea.

Judge Jules was worth the entry and the drive all by himself, here’s one of the old timers who’s still smashing it everywhere he goes. One of the old school who’s kept it real over the decades he didn’t disappoint and I could have gone home happy after his set. This was lucky because the whole thing was set to shut down at 11.

My companions think we saw the live set of Tricia McTeague but personally I can’t remember, I’m sure it was excellent though. She’s sung with all the greats over the years and now me, her life is complete. Love Inc got the main stage crowd singing along and bouncing, hard to tell with their scouse accents but I think they got the words right. Lee Butler and Sosumi’s sets looked absolutely amazing, the organisers must have spent a fortune on visual effects, no wonder it was £85 a ticket what with all the security and everything.

If you can remember the 90’s you weren’t there but I’m pretty sure I saw Anton Powers and he was brilliant. Mike Lewis was great and finally I found what I was looking for where the streets have no name. 3-0 ya beauty! In the end everyone plays drum and bass. Banging out Danny Byrd’s Ill Behaviour. With a great MC. I just don’t know who is was! When everything started shutting down we were allowed a go on the shows for £5 and the guy kept it going for ages but with no music. Eleven!!!! Then I had a massive whitey which prevented me from attending the after parties.

I know this is meant to be a review of Reminisce but actually I had a much better time at the Urban Flava 2019 party in Dundee with my good friend The General a Mains Castle, three floors of banging tunes from the attic to the garden. Easy days boys.

Words: Graeme ‘Steely’ Steel
Photography: Mark ‘Parky’ Parker

Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival
July 2019

Roosevelt Collier is a smiling, heavyweight musical genius. A pedal and lap steel guitar player from Miami, Florida, he is sometimes simply referred to as The Dr. Though known for many acclaimed collaborations, he only released his debut solo album, Exit 16, in 2018. He tours with his own band, which changes on a regular basis. This time it was a young trio, also from Florida and each musician impressively proficient on their instruments of bass guitar (Rodrigo Zambrano), drums (Armando Lopez) and keyboards (Jason Matthews). They were each given turns to bring to life the beauty of their instrument, with Collier looking on encouragingly. They are also, in the tradition of Jazz, well tuned into each others’ musical style and wavelength, and had a cool and relaxed manner as if they were jamming together in the bandroom. Collier connected with us right away as an audience, joking about how driving on the left on British roads had led to some close calls on the way to perform in Edinburgh, and seemed genuinely overjoyed to receive such a warm welcome from the festival audience. The Piccolo tent is just as it sounds, a cosy and intimate setting to enjoy a performance from a small band. It’s a temporary structure; friendly and comfortable, but with mystifyingly great acoustics.

Collier began the show on his lap steel guitar, with Roosevelt the Dr. printed on the front. He’s named Doctor for mastery of this unusual instrument; a guitar with pedals and levers that can allow for a great deal of complexity. He gave us the eponymous track from his album that’s on the GroundUP Music label founded by Grammy award-winning Snarky Puppy’s manager (bassist and composer) Michael League. He has produced and contributed to some beautiful tracks for Collier; Exit 16 track itself is expansive as it steadily builds in intensity with a few Hendrix-worthy rock guitar moments.

Zambrano’s guitar strap broke half way through the set, leaving him temporarily disconcerted. Encouraged by Collier to sit down and keep it going, he sat on his speaker and did just that. It didn’t seem to matter a bit, because even without vocals, and playing just four instruments, the band was able to masterfully weave in a myriad of influences into the sound. Trippy, psychedelic tinges melded into a Detroit House vibe, then veered over into disco territory and some heavy funk, with the legacy of Collier’s gospel background and early years of playing in church with his cousins shining through all these layers of genres. Pedal steel guitar is associated with sacred music around the world, though it originated in Hawaii, and is popular in country music.

Supernatural Encounters was possibly my favourite number with its insistent beat and extravaganza of rock guitar spread over a deliciously indulgent five minutes. Their slow, swingy cover of Michael Jackson’s The Way You Make Me Feel lets you experience the roots of the song structure differently from the original and feel the ancestral connections Black music has across genres. Happy Feet is fast and funky, a fun tune that had everyone moving. h

Make it Alright is a tune where Collier encourages some audience participation, and the crowd readily clapped along to this long, cheerful track. Satisfying and uplifting; this one took us on a comforting journey reminiscent of the waves of an early morning chanting session in an ashram.

Collier took his time deciding on what tune they should leave us with. “I’m from the South, so I’m gonna play some blues for y’all”, Collier beamed at us, before launching their last heavy blues number and encouraging us all to come up front and dance. An elderly man with a hearing aid was ecstatically swaying in his seat, a shy teenager behind him clapping along with the tune, an auburn American woman in a leather jacket rushed to the stage to rally to Collier’s dance call. As the audience continued standing for an enthusiastic ovation, the young French musician next to me exclaimed “That was the very best concert I ever saw in my life!” I think most of the crowd would probably agree. Quincy Jones has not dubbed him “the best there is” without reason.

Reviewer: Lisa Williams

Perth Horsecross
31st May, 2019

An acquaintance recommended Elephant Sessions live to me. I’d listened to their latest album and liked it, but somehow never managed to get to a gig, especially since they seem to be gigging all over the world these days. Their music is a bit like the electro-trad of Celt-fusion Simard & Gagné, Melisande or Ashley MacIsaac’s fiddling. But there is more than a hint of the progressive electronica of the likes of Boards of Canada in there too. I was interested to see when presenting a full set live, if, like the mythical Kelpie, they were a beast of two natures – would the two sounds that they marry so well on vinyl come undone, or worse, go a wee bit cotton-eyed Joe?

The audience in the cosy Joan Knight Room at Perth Theatre had been suitably warmed up by Perthshire’s own funksters Bohemian Monk Machine. Stank faces aplenty to some nasty grooves, the lads went though some soul-funk classics and a few licks of their own with real attitude, getting the audience in the groove like the wrong sized underwear. Phew!

Elephant Sessions entered on an airy synth atmosphere that easily slipped into the, by now characteristic, progressive elevator fiddling from Euan Smillie and mandolin (yes, mandolin) from Alasdair Taylor, over a driving drum and bass line from Greg Barry and Seth Tinsley. Repetition, mesmeric, of a simple phrase is at the heart of electronic dance music. These guys get to the same place with traditional instruments. It’s infectious. Even this teuchter’s feet got tapping.

A selection of grooves from their first album “The Elusive Highland Beauty” and their acclaimed sophomore disc “All We Have is Now” demonstrated how the band have perfected their style. The track “Summer,” in particular, demonstrates a beguiling simplicity that is truly uplifting. To say that the audience thrilled to it would be a measured claim. “You guys are f**king brilliant!”, exclaimed someone at the end of one song, which got a roar of agreement. A few tracks from their new album “What Makes You” showed the guys just keep getting better. The track “Colours” was yet another crowd pleaser.

Elephant Sessions brought a real vibe to the room. Perhaps overall their set wasn’t as varied as their studio work, but it was driving and hypnotic, and fresh. Pasty Scottish folk can’t really dance, but the whole joint was jumping. Spectacular.

Mark Mackenzie

City Halls, Glasgow

May 4 – 5, 2019

It was a nice day when my companion and I arrived at the City Halls for Day Two of the Tectonics Glasgow Festival, annual showcase for all kinds of new and experimental music performance. Stepping in to the Recital Room, we were confronted with a large wooden floor paved with drawings that somehow constituted a kind of path. The four artists performing Lucie Vitkova’s installation, were standing together using their voices for a perpetual sound that varied from whale noises to some kind of prayer incantation. It appeared to have no structure to it and we stayed for a few verses, only to wander off, taking with us the impression that this had been all about the quality of sound.

Festivals always have their own character, and this one, though small, also had its own atmosphere of welcome and anticipation, not to say a slight feeling that we were at some kind of science convention! We stepped out to enjoy a chat between performances and readied ourselves for a performance at the Old Fruitmarket. It turned out to be a free-form improvisation of recorded and live breathing exercises that lasted about 45 min and was performed by Angela Sawyer, Alex South and Nicola Scrutton. With its focus firmly held on the crowd who were sitting together it proceeded into a lot of people making a lot of what I can only call farm noises.

For the next part of our festival journey it fell to the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra to perform for an hour in the Grand Hall. We were treated to two orchestra pieces by Juliana Hodkinson (All Around) and Mauro Lanza (Experiments in the Revival of Organisms). This was followed by the world premiere of The Gay Goshawk by Martin Arnold which had Martin himself on melodica and Angharad Davies and Sharron Kraus on highly sensual, traditional and beautiful vocals about the trappings of love and life.

By this point we were both very relaxed and in a mood to continue absorbing everything we could. We found ourselves back at the Fruit market, that famous old market hall with a large, high space for the Symphony Orchestra to perform Sarah Davachi’s Oscen, a large scale work all about textures and harmonies. The place was transformed as the music took us along a slow melodic journey telling a story of Consort and Disunion.

My impression was of a day full of the tonality of music, the experience of being human, what is important and what perhaps is not.  A day showcasing theory itself, turning it into a solid phenomenon that can take you to marvellous places that are there for all of us if we would but listen. An experience uniquely offered by the BBC Symphony Orchestra over a very enjoyable and successful weekend.

Review: Daniel Donnolly

Photography : Alex Woodward