MUSIC
V SINGLES
I The Wilderness Children: Paint tor Me a Picture EP (0088 Products) They don‘t sound like ‘a council house punk rock band‘ any more. not with the violin and slide guitar. and gentle. strummy indie-country songs (plus a nod to Sonny and Cher). Since they‘re poised on the brink of fame anyway. why doesn‘t somebody give these people some money - soon — so they can record their songs properly? (Available from Doss Products. 200 Quarry Street. I Iamilton) (AM)
I Robert Cray: The Midnight Stroll EP (Mercury) On paper. Cray‘s seamless garment of blues and soul is just dandy. but ‘The Forecast Calls for Pain‘ just isn't one ofthe finest songs in the history ofeither. that‘s all. It's followed by three unremarkable blues. all. of course. immaculately played. (AM)
I The Beautiful Pea Green Boat: Every Night With You I Die a Little (Slaughterbaelt/Third Mind) A new singer. and with her a new direction. This solid technobeat number is a long. long way from their last 12in. a cool rendition of an Italian folk song. and it implies that the Boat's unfixed identity is their strength. What. it goes on a bit“? Well. perhaps. (AM)
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I Adamski: The Space Jungle (MBA) Why Adamski'? was the question on more than a few lips when he lodged himselfat Number ()ne. This one. laughably based on Presley‘s ‘All Shook Up'. makes that question more pertinent than ever. (AM)
I The Light: No Farewells (Burn One) The first release from a new Glasgow group who aren't afraid of delivering the goods in snappy and energetic bursts (or shamelessly inserting
ROCK 49 JAZZ 52 FOLK 53 CLASSICAL 55
LISTINGS
II
MUSIC
I
V JAZZ
Culture
Kenny Mathieson goes global in trumpeter Don Cherry’s world ofmusie.
World music eclecticism is highly fashionable these days. but trumpeter Don Cherry is no bandwagon-jumper. Cherry‘s interest in exploring the ethnic musical traditions of India. Africa and the Middle East dates back at least a couple of decades. and has been conducted with a thoroughness and integrity which puts others to shame.
That interest has been carried forward in a succession ofdifferent groups. the most notable ofwhich were the wonderful Codona. a trio with Nana Vaseoneelos and the late Collin Walcott. and Nu. also featuring Nana. who made a memorable visit to Scotland in 1987.
‘In Codona. Nana was playing the music of his own traditional culture. and Collin and I had studied with musicians in many other countries.’ Cherry says. ‘I myselfhave studied in India and Africa and Turkey. and played with many great musicians from different cultures. which is just the way my life has come out.
‘I believe that as humans we have the capacity to take in much more than we do. In the East. I think they use more of their mind than we do in the West. because we are trained to conform to only using certain parts ofour minds. Learning about different time and rhythms and different concepts of music opens that up for me.’
Cherry‘s abiding interest in ethnic music has gone hand in hand with a distinguished jazz career. playing alongside the likes (if likes they have) of Sonny Rollins. John Coltrane. Albert Ayler and. most influentially. Ornette Coleman. The trumpeter is a respected leader in his own right. but admits he is still studying Coleman’s Harmolodie concept as a primary source in his music.
Last year‘s pristine jazz quartet session in A&M Records‘ Modern Masters series. Art Deco. one of my records of the year. found him in as straight a jazz context as we are ever likely to hear. His second album for the label. the vibrant Multikulti. returns to a strong flavour of that world music strain (as well as featuring him on the doussn'gouni or hunter's guitar). and also a hint of the various diverse explorations he has made in funk and new wave. often through the influence of his children. notably stepdaughter Neneh Cherry.
‘I‘ve worked with Ian Dury and Lou Reed and Talking Heads and people like that. and there was Rip Rig and Panic. who I think were very important because they were playing
music from all ends. you know. which is what I love. I was raised in Oklahoma of American Indian and Black extraction. where you always realised about the fire. In those cultures. everyone meets around the fire. and comes together and dances and sings around the fire.
‘Jazz has always been like a meeting place in that way for the musicians and the people who come to listen. The people come to listen to jazz. and they can have that sense ofcoming together even if they all just clap together on the one. and the same thing applies when I do
workshops and teach.
‘All these different concepts can be too complicated fora layman who maybe just wants to play. and I enjoy teaching people who just want to come together and improvise. rather than musicians who think they know something. You have to understand that one of the few universal agreements that has ever happened in the whole history of mankind is that the pitch of-HU is A natural. Music can do that!‘
(‘herry's new Multikulti band. featuring Peter Apselbaum on keyboards. Bo Freeman on bass. and
40'I'he List 3] August — 13 September 1990