MUSIC PREVIEW
V LISTEN!
I The Bhundu Boys sadly lost Shakespear Kangwena on 5 December. two weeks after the guitarist and keyboard player flew home. ill. to Zimbabwe. Shakespear is the third band member to have passed on. with their original bassist. David Mankaba. and his replacement. Shepherd Munyama. dying front
[11E- Festive groove
The basement jazz club at The l3th Note in Glasgow has undergone a couple of changes of identity in its time. but continues to provide a platform for local talent. as well as an occasional stage for visiting bands or (more often) soloists.
The club will take its commitment to
AIDS. The Bltundu Boys _ . . Scottish jazz to new heights. however.
have a special attachment
to Scotland. having uprooted themselves to live itt Hawick and gigging tirelessly across Britain from their home base there.
I flew club frenzy in Glasgow as lndustria becomes Equinox from ll December and what was once The Mayfair opens its doors again in the middle of January — though minus the ballroomesque decor. crushed velvet. disconcerting mirrors attd all.
I A call came through from a keen-cared listener called Saul Linklater of Edinburgh. who claims to have discovered. through careful listening. that the riff running through Lenny Kravitz’s hit ‘Are You Gontta Go My Way' is based on a four-second snatch from ‘1983 (A
in its special Christmas Bash presentation. The extended opening hours (courtesy of the curfew relaxation) will accommodate a line-up featuring Phil Bancroft. Bill Wells. Nigel Clark. Chick Lyall. Colin Steele. Russell Cowieson. Kevin MacKenzie. and the club‘s organiser. drummer lain Copeland.
‘We wanted to give our regulars a treat. attd at the satne time assemble the best of the younger players on the scene. It won’t just be a blowing session with a rhythm section. though — people will be doing different things. Bill Wells is playing with his ()ctet. for example. and Chick Lyall will have his usual Quartet. We are also having a
. mystery band on the night.‘
In addition. Copeland and Phil
Bancroft have arranged the hire of ; video equipment through one of Phil's
friends. They not only plan to video
(and digitally record) the gig. but also
to shoot various sketches during the day. possibly including taking their music out ottto the streets of an
1
results are not brilliant. ‘it should be - great fttn doing it‘.
He is pleased with the audience response since the club moved to
MARC MARNlli
Phil Bancroft Jazz. Project after the New Year. making use of their Sunday night slot at the Tron Ceilidh House to share
é expenses. (Kenny Mathieson)
Mcrman [ Should Tum To unsuspecting Glasgow. The aim ts to I Saturday nights. and is looking to do 1 I/it’ Basement C lab Christmas Has/t Bey (m Elam-C Lady/um] 2 end up wnh some kind ()1 n 3 tnore in the way of JOll‘ll promotion of j moves In [/16 upstairs bar (it"l'lze [31/1
by Kravitz's role model Jimi Hendrix. Has anyone . else noticed this he asks‘.’ '.
Well. have they? And is it
a sample. a sneaky rip-off. m a delve into the collective unconscious or a mere coincidence? No one at
promotional video. but even ifthe , visiting players with the Edinburgh Nate. Glasgow mt Sat [8.
Virgin has been able to shed arty light on this one. Yet. We‘ll keep you posted.
I Exclusive one-offs will be heard on the Christmas edition of Radio Scotland‘s liars/tat. The programme is a combined party attd gig. wherein a band of sessioneers provide the backing for six Scottish singers — Justin Currie. Norman Blake. Duglas. Horse. Claire Grogan and Monica Queen from Thrum .— to chirrup their favourite Christmas numbers. Songs that will be unveiled include Grogan‘s stab at ‘Winter Wonderland‘ attd Monica Queen doing Elvis’s ‘lf Every Day Was Like Christmas‘ and Neil Diamond‘s ‘Star Of
A bunch of '1 fives
‘I just thought of a really disgusting analogy,’ announces Martin Metcalfe, and, indeed, he has. ‘lt’s like someone tossing off into their socks. That’s what it was like before. flow, it’s like tossing off into the sheets and rubbing it in.’
There’s an anecdote attached to this
which we sban’t relate here, suffice to ,
say that Metcalfe found it ‘weirdly tidy for a sexual, er, event’, but the reason he brings it up in the first place is to sum up his feelings about the new Goodbye Mr Mackenzie LP, ‘Five’. The first studio album on their self-financed Blokshok label, it’s their roughest and rawest yet — far closer to the Mackenzies live experience than any of their ‘careful and clinical’ previous albums.
After being tiny cogs in multinational
and VAT and what-have-you,’ Metcalfe explains, ‘so we’ve got to try and balance it up. But it’s like a really committed hobby, which is what music always should be. The label’s your
reliable members are myself, Kelly and Finn at the moment. Shirley’s in the band . . . it’s just that . . . I don’t know ... she was in her bath the day the photos were taken. It’s nothing too
Bethlehem‘. And just guess who’s going to be singing Big Star‘s ‘Jesus Christ“? No answers on a postcard. please. as all will be revealed on Radio
concerns for the early part of their recording career, the Mackenzies are I do tor your ettorts.’
i now confident that their independent But there’s the nagging question as status will help them build up a grass- ; to why current photos of the former
, roots following abroad in a way they six-piece are only showing four Scotland between i never could before. They still, « members. Metcalfe’s a bit more 10.10pm and midnight on 1. however, have a lot of debt to pay off ‘ evasive about this.
I 1 Tue 2 I. . l ‘llh-huh. I would say that the only
work and the music’s what you get to deep and meaningful. Rhona plays on stage with us still. So the band that you saw five years ago live should be
the same.’ (Alastair Mabbott)
Goodbye Mr Mackenzie play the Queen’s llall, Edinburgh on Fri 11 and The Arches, Glasgow on Sat 18.
. from the old days. ‘Tax and accounting 5
42 The List l7 December 1993—13 January l994