MUSIC jazz
JAZZ LISTINGS continued
SUNDAY 6
Glasgow
I All That Wonderful Jazz Cafe Cossachok, Russian Cultural Centre, 10 King Street, 553 0733. 8.30pm. Guitarist Nigel Clark teams up with keyboardist Stephen Adam and Cafe Cossachok regular Lev Atlas on violin for a programme of Django Reinhardt and Stephan Grappelli classics.
Edinburgh
I DJ Night Jazz Joint, 8 Morrison Street, 538 7385. 10pm—5am. £2. A broad-ranging mix from across the jazz- dance spectrum from resident DJ Demus of new Edinburgh label Paralax Records.
MONDAY 7
Edinburgh
I The Monday Social Jazz Joint, 8 Morrison Street. 538 7385. 10pm—5am. £2. Laid-back tunes with the king of musical eclecticism, Joseph Malik (Lizzard Lounge).
TUESDAY 8
Edinburgh
I The Jazz Incident Jazz Joint, 8 Morrison Street, 538 7385. 10pm—3am. £4 (£3). Graeme Oakland and friends present a jazz-funk and breakbeat selection.
WEDNESDAY 9
Edinburgh
I Singers' Night Jazz Joint, 8 Morrison Street, 538 7385. 10pm—5am. £4 (£3). Nicola King, vocalist with Basic Collective, daughter of Freddy and sister of Tony, is tonight’s diva.
THURSDAY 10 Edinburgh
I Jazz Joint Jazz Joint, 8 Morrison Street, 538 7385. 10pm—5am. £4 (£3). DJ Demus supplies the jazzy tunes on decks with a band to be confirmed.
folk& world
Hsflngs
Dates listed below are for one-off and ticketed shows. Gigs are listed by date, then by city. Performances will be listed, provided that details reach our offices at least ten da 5 before publication. Follt & World istings compiled by Norman Chalmers.
THURSDAY 3 Glasgow
I Tony McManus New Dawn Folk Club, Riverside Club, Fox Street, 569 7287. 7.30pm. £5 (£3). Paisley’s finest, and one of Scotland’s most acclaimed acoustic guitarists.
Atrdrte
I Gaberlunzie Sir John Wilson Town Hall, Stirling Street, 01698 267515. 8pm. £6 (£4). Scots songs and entertainment from the veteran duo.
FRIDAY 4 Bellshill
I Gaberlunzie Bellshill Cultural Centre, John Street, 01698 267515. 8pm. £6 (£4). See Thu 3.
WEDNESDAY 9
Motherwell
I The Alexander Brothers Mothcrweil Theatre, Civic Centre, Windmillhill Street, 01698 267515. 2.30pm & 7.30pm. £5—£7 (£3.50—£5). The Brothers perform their popular blend of Scottish music and song.
26 THE usr 3—10 Aug 2000
THURSDAY 10 Glasgow
I lan Davison New Dawn Folk Club, Riverside Club, Fox Street, 569 7287. 7.30pm. £4 (£2.50). Local singer- songwriter performing varied material. accompanied by percussionist lain Murray.
Stirling
I Alasdair Fraser's Skyedance Albert Halls, Dumbarton Road, 01786 473544. 7.30pm. £12 (£8—£10). See Wed 9. California celtic from the band led by the exiled Scots fiddler, touring with material from their new CD, Labyrinth.
classical &
opera
Hsnngs
See Festival Issue for coverage of Fringe and International Festival classical music.
IIIIIIIEKEEIIIIIIII Glasgow
I Sunday Brunch Momac, 321 Hope Street, 353 1660. 12.30—2.30pm. A firm favourite with locals from the Theatre Royal and RSAMD, this regular Sun bash features a changing programme of light classical music performed by both professionals and students.
Edinburgh
I Simmerdim - Dreaming Of Summer National Portrait Gallery, 1 Queen Street, 624 6200. 3pm. Free. Frances Cockburn (alto) and Sheena Philips (soprano) perform songs for two voices.
I The Glorious Company Christ Church, Morningsidc Road, 667 3633. 7pm. £6 (£4). The Glorious Company perform music by Handel, Debussy and Widor, plus world premieres of works by James Douglas.
TUESDAY 8 ‘ Glasgow
I The National Youth Orchestra Of Scotland Royal Concert Hall, 2 Sauchiehall Street, 287 5511. 7.30pm. £8—£16(£2—£8). Sian Edwards conducts the young musicians in a new commission by John Maxwell Geddes, Schnittke’s Cello Concerto No I and Elgar’s Enigma Variations.
WEDNESDAY 9 Glasgow
I Strathclyde Police International Tattoo SECC, Finnieston Quay, 287 7777. Proving Edinburgh‘s not the only city that can throw together a military display, this popular event features music, animal displays and lots
I Mass In B Minor Barony Hall, Castle Street, 287 5511. 7.30pm. £8 (£5). Chamber choir Cappella Sebaldina and the Nurnberg Bach Soloists perform Bach’s Mass in B Minor in a commemorative performance on this the 250th anniversary of the composer’s death.
THURSDAY 10
Glasgow
I Strathclyde Police International Tattoo SECC, Finnieston Quay, 287 7777. See Wed 9.
I Quantavoce Pollok House, Pollok Country Park, 2060 Pollokshaws Road, 616 6410. 7pm. £8 (£7). Four singers and a pianist from Scottish Opera present a programme of music from La Trat'iata, The Magic Flute, ll'estside Ston and Madame Butterfly.
Play of love and hate
Leonard Cohen is morose and introspective, right?
Wrong, says ONE YELLOW RABBIT. He's a hoot. The List ,
flew to Canada to find out why. Words: Neil Cooper
, In olden days, when being ‘deep’ was still considered an asset and
staying up all night talking shite was considered quite the thing, no student party was complete without a final spin of Songs Of Leonard Cohen. Laughing Lenny’s mournful baritone, telling tales of woe set to an unbearably sparse backdrop, was the perfect soundtrack to wooing wispy young ladies wearing peasant skirts and beads. There’d be a battered copy of Cohen’s novel, Beautiful Losers, gathering dust on the shelf, and maybe, just maybe someone would read a passage or two by candlelight. They’d smoke a little grass, read seriously, chock-a-block with wisdom, leaving plenty of space for it to pour through each phrase. Of course, then mum and dad grew up and became even more boring.
But Leonard Cohen’s doleful candour has travelled far further than the ennui of that post-60s comedown. Which is why One Yellow Rabbit’s Doing Leonard Cohen was such a hit when it opened in Calgary a while back. Devised and directed by Blake Brooker and the company, the show begins with Cohen’s poems, before moving into an adaptation of, yep, Beautiful Losers.
‘Many people forget that Cohen was a poet a long time before he made the records,’ says Denise Clarke, who, with Brooker, is co-artistic director of One Yellow Rabbit. ‘People have this idea of him making this wrist-slashing music, but what surprised us when we read all his work out loud was that we just laughed our heads off. He’s so incredibly honest too. He’ll paint himself in a poem in a way that most men would be terrified of doing. He’s not afraid of showing himself as a bastard.’
Yet [)oing Leonard Cohen isn’t designed for chin-strokers in polo- necks. Anyone familiar with One Yellow Rabbit’s frequent appearances on the Edinburgh Fringe will know their style is anything but static, and will recognise a physical vocabulary that illustrates impressionistically rather than reducing the delivery to a set of arm-flailing histrionics.
‘lt’s choreographed within an inch of its life,’ says Clarke. ‘What we want to do is illuminate the text, to give it even more life.’
Doing Leonard Cohen’s opening in Toronto turned into a full-on party for all Cohen’s cronies and, while the great man wasn’t there in the flesh, he did send a dozen red roses. Cohen has yet to see the show, being too ensconced in living quietly in a Zen monastery, which he has recently left. ‘I guess he needed to get away from all that pussy for a while,’ laughs Clarke. Even the ultimate exponent of 60s values, it seems, likes to live quietly.
'He's not afraid of showing himself as a bastard.’
Doing Leonard Cohen, Tron Theatre, Glasgow, Tue 8—Sat 12 Aug.