Fay Young

At a club, concert hall or container near you

Welcome back to the Broughton music festival (see yesterday’s blog).  Thank goodness for the alphabet because it would be impossible to give any other order of priority to these highly individual musicians.  What they all have in common is a desire to experiment and a strong collaborative streak. A roll of drums please for Andy Bain…

Andrew Bain

Specialised in percussion at Edinburgh Music School Last saw Andy playing at Henry’s Jazz Bar in Edinburgh, stirring fond memories of Broughton jazz and wind bands. Plays far and wide these days, with CV covering Guildhall School of Music and Drama plus Manhattan School of Music, New York. Andy performs and teaches in UK and US. Co-director of National Youth Jazz Orchestra of Scotland, Instructor of jazz Drumset at Birmingham Conservatoire and instructor of jazz for City of Edinburgh Music School.

Adam Brown

[cd cover by Tommy Perman]

Guitar specialist at Edinburgh Music School. Like Morgan (see below) Adam has a special feeling for Latin American composers. From Broughton Adam went to Royal College of Music in London and Juilliard School in New York City ( he was the first guitarist to obtain Julliard’s Artist Diploma degree) then to a doctorate in composition at University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

His first album The Rebels Within was released in 2009 (For the time being I have given up trying to embed YouTube links for everyone – they keep disappearing – but click here to enjoy Adam’s performance videos). Now London based. Sadly, we missed his last performance in Edinburgh but he keeps coming back.


Twisted Mile

WOODENBOX with A Fistful of Fivers | Myspace Video

Sam Evans

Saxophonist in Broughton jazz and wind bands (if you look hard you can spot him in the video above). Not a professional musician –  Sam’s day job is social work – but you will see him performing at rock festivals round Scotland in his time off Sam plays saxophone in Edinburgh country rock and jazz band Woodenbox whose first album Home and the Wildhunt was released 2010 and the band are off to SxSW this summer.

Bobby Perman

Percussionist in Broughton jazz and wind bands To many, he’s better known as S-Type, electronica producer with a new single launched on Phuturelabs Glasgow label and he will be launching a new project on LuckyMe later this year. His day job is music producer and sound editor at Inner Ear where he’s also a programme maker for Radio Magnetic [ Rumour has it, he's planning to reintroduce live drums into stage performance]

Tommy Perman

Soprano sax in jazz band, clarinet in wind band but you will see him on bass these days. One of the recent Vital Spark award winners. Tommy (the one on the left) is part of Found. The experimental  pop band have a publishing deal with Domino Records and record deal with Chemikal Underground. Can be FOUND in art galleries, warehouses and even storage containers. From SXSW to Small Isles Festival. Creators of emotional robot band Cybraphon

Dougal Perman

Oboe in wind band. Guitar in jazz band, member of Broughton Youth Theatre.  Co-founder of the UK’s longest running internet radio station. Radio Magnetic is part of Dougal’s production company Inner Ear, digital media creatives who work with the likes of Channel 4, BBC and Scottish Enterprise. And music is the theme that pulls it all together. Also on the board of the Scottish Music Industry Association. (Rumoured to be working on a composition for many metronomes as well as planning a big Radio Magnetic tenth birthday party).

Ruth Ross

[anyone got a picture?]

Trumpet in Broughton jazz band and wind bands, an Edinburgh Music School specialist. More recently we saw Ruth making wonderfully innovative music at the Bongo Club in Edinburgh. Classical doesn’t properly describe her style. Now specialises in trumpet and natural trumpet. Performs in classic orchestra and jazz ensembles, and plays early natural trumpet in the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment

Emma Smith

[here's a nice pic of Emma  but would be good to get one of her on stage with Gorillaz or Morgan maybe]

Double bass player, Emma spent 6^th year in the Edinburgh Music School at Broughton and graduated from Royal College of Music. Look for her playing bass with Gorillaz, but her innovative and experimental repertoire ranges far and wide. Emma is equally at home with Latin American and Flamenco.  She also teaches at Edinburgh Music School.

Morgan Szymanski

[aaargh my version of WordPress just ate Morgan's Machaca video, will try to upload again soon]

Guitar specialist Edinburgh Music School and then graduate of Royal School of Music, Morgan launched a new international ensemble Machaca with a sparkling event in the Purcell Room at the Southbank Centre and they are now on to their second CD.  Passionate about Latin American music, Morgan introduced us to the Buena Vista Social Club (no, not literally) and is effectively Mexico’s music ambassador to Europe – (despite the name he is Mexican). He regularly returns to perform in Edinburgh

Chris Wheeler

Trombone in jazz band and wind bands, an Edinburgh Music School specialist Chris is a creative entrepreneur. He founded the Heritage Orchestra in 2004 because he was disillusioned with classical music. Chris also appears as a ‘cultural engineer’ on Dream Factory website. Quoted as wanting to transcend styles, shatter stereotypes, experiment with art and music (no pressure then). CD links to follow…

Abi Wingate

Saxophonist in Broughton jazz and wind bands, teaching music in Thailand and then she’s cycling all the way home…more about that very soon.  [by the way, her mum made the waistcoats the Broughton jazz band wore at all their prize winning concerts]

Add comment February 16th, 2011

Broughton rocks…all over the world

You can find them at clubs, concert halls or festivals near you whether you are in New York, Austin Texas, Mexico, London, Edinburgh or Glasgow  – a fantastic bunch of young people making music for a living and for fun. They are at T in the Park and on the Island of Eigg; live on Jools Holland and recorded on Vic Galloway. They have even been found in an old container on a car park during the Edinburgh Fringe.

At least part of the credit for all this creativity must go to a local state school where music has inspired generations of students.   Not all of them were specialist students in the Edinburgh School of Music but the music unit (directed by Tudor Morris) has been infecting Broughton High School with a special kind of enthusiasm for years – with more than a little help from talented kids and their dedicated teachers.

You might be forgiven for thinking that the only people to make anything of their lives after attending Broughton High School were Hugh McDiarmid, Tommy Smith, Shirley Manson and Martyn Bennett. It really is time to put the record straight.  Specially since BHS (the school not the store) currently does not have a live website and their outdated Facebook and Wikipedia pages still trot out the same four names. ( Sadly Martyn Bennett died in 2005).

I am not attempting to bring the story right up to date. I am sure there are many other proud parents who can tell similar success stories and not just in music (BHS produces talented dancers, drama students, writers, town planners and social workers).  But music has a special power to bring out the individual best in students in the collective experience of a band or orchestra.

And of course I am biased – some of them are my sons ( that’s Tommy drawn by Kev Sim above), but I am proud to know them all.  So here’s my very own festival of music (jazz, rock, hip hop, folk, classical and very avante garde music) starring Andy Bain, Adam Brown, Sam Evans, Bobby, Dougal and Tommy Perman, Ruth Ross, Emma Smith, Morgan Szymanski and Chris Wheeler – with a cycle-on part by Abi Wingate.

To avoid making this a very long blog I will now post more about them on a proper roll of honour (click here for the rest of the story…it’s still a work in progress as there’s a lot of uploading to do).

With special thanks to Dave Simpson who started the jazz band and Andy Barker, master of the wind band. (and thanks to Tommy and Bobby for the art work).

Add comment February 15th, 2011

FOUND at RBS

No, no, no. Not that RBS (though the old bank might do well to invest in real young talent). This is the Royal British Society of Sculptors and their current exhibition Material Rites just happens to feature the work of our Tommy Perman, Ziggy Campbell and Simon Kirby (aka a rearrangement of FOUND the band). Thanks to Ray Perman for tracking them down on his latest trip to London, here’s what he found.

Sounds in space…the first thing that meets you in the gallery

Unfortunately my visit to see the latest Found installation coincided with a temporary fault. The helpful and enthusiastic gallery manager assured me it had been working earlier in the day and I’m glad to hear Simon managed to fix it remotely soon after my departure. Although I didn’t get the full effect  it looked good and was prominently displayed – the first thing you see as you enter the gallery.

It’s a nice space in an interesting building. Tommy would love it – old world charm hard up against a Shell garage. [If you don't know Tommy's work, look here and you will see what Ray means.]

As I was queuing to get into the Virgin lounge at Euston at 6.50 this morning, I met Cybraphon’s biggest fan. Sir Tim O’Shea, Principal of Edinburgh University, always spontaneously launches into praise of the Found Collective. I think you should both push for honorary professorships. [Simon Kirby of course is already a prof].

I send you this verse to inspire your next venture – embedded in the floor of St Pancras Station.

And congratulations to Sandy Wood of the RSA who curated the RBS exhibition of Scottish sculptors.

Ed: Thank you Ray, I really should have been working on something completely different but, come on, everyone deserves a break.

1 comment February 4th, 2011