THE THURSDAY REVIEW
The Independent 23 August Z001

EDINBURGH FESTIVAL 200

I VANT T0 BE ALONE
B0NG0 CLUB

Given current surveys pointing to an increasing proportion of us living in single-person
households, this charmingly sidelong meditation on the pleasures of solitude and the pitfalls
of loneliness takes on an added pertinence. Ailie Cohen plays Margaret, an apparently
buttoned-up spinster who works at a museum demonstrating 1930s radio sound-effects to school
parties. There's a tinge of the timewarp, too, about her small, spartan flat, with its
old-fashioned wireless set (on which she listens to Vintage Hour) and Art Deco touches,
evoking perhaps a nostalgia for the much vaunted community spirit of bygone days.

The potentially desolate, fearful quality of her isolation is portrayed with touching, though
subtly played, pathos through the telling minutiae of Cohen's vocal inflections and physical
mannerisms. This is counter balanced by an ingeniously realised representation of her
contrastingly expansive fantasy, life, conjured through a whimsical mix of monologue,
puppetry, slide projection and a disembodied voice that speaks to Margaret through her radio.
The boundless liberation implicit in these imagined experiences is thoughtfully tempered in
turn by Margaret's accompanying fears for her sanity but in the end, joyfully and astutely,
the freedom wins out.

SUE WILSON

venue l43 (0131-558 7604) to 25 Aug, 14.30 (15.30)

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EVENING NEWS
TMURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2001
4-Mality The Bongo Club *****

"PERCUSSION quartets are a rarity" Adrian Spillett told the audience at the Bongo Club. What
he should have said was good percussion quartets are a rarity
4-Mality is one of those rare gems.

The name is a play on the four mallet technique used to play the marimba, one of the featured
instruments.

The programme sees the musicians playing not only works by Keiko Abe and H Brown, but their
own as well. They have chosen to absorb all the musical influences in their lives and used
them to create a sound experience that is new and not easily categorised. This allows them to
be flexible and showcase their precision and artistry

Diet Oye Como Va by Tito Puente, the closing piece, was played with such accurate abandon it
was difficult to discern who was having the better time, us or them.

Their encore piece was a further showcase of their synergy All four percussionists played on
one five octave marimba. Never missing a beat, the four men weaved in and around each other
to complete the seamless performance.
For something outside your normal musical diet, take a bite out of 4-Mality - you'll be glad
you did.

Ends Sunday

Rebecca Carbino

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THE SCOTSMAN
18 August 2001
FRINGE MUSIC
Raga Rock Revelations

Mrigya ****
The Bongo Club, out of the blue (venue 143)

"We basically take a lot of Indian classical stuff and put it in the grinder and what comes
out is Mrigya;' says bassist Indraneel Hariharan, by way of introducing this muscular,
nine-piece Indian fusion band, with its gleefully no-holds-barred melding of pan-Indian music
and guitar rock. It's perhaps not the most subtle Indian fusion music you'll hear, with
Sharat Srivastava's lyrical plangent Indian violin and nimble tabla percussion underpinned by
occasionally ponderous western drum beats; nevertheless Mrigya in full flight is something to
hear.

A diversity of Indian music traditions, from rhythmic, Sufi-inspired quwwali to micro-tonally
ornate Hindustani classical singing boogies with vigorous helpings of jazz and funk. And, out
of this "grinder" come some intriguing moments, such as Sonam Sherpa's biting electric guitar
segueing neatly into acrobatic bursts of classical vocals or playing in tight unison with
Tara Baswani's skat singing, guitar and fiddle travelling exhilaratingly together in the
loosely raga-based Caravan, a tongue-in-cheek lurch into a jazz piano break, or the
uproarious rant of quwwali singer Quadar Niazi's closing number. (We're still not sure what
it was about, but he went down a storm). Some of it though, was simply good ol' fashioned
rock 'n' roll though not quite losing the raga, you might say.

Jim Gilchrist

Ends tonight

[Picture of Gyan playing tabla]-Colin White

LEFT: Mrigya's fusion of pan-Indian music with Western jazz, funk and rock creates some
interesting cross-cultural moments.

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The Herald
Saturday August 18, 2001

MUSIC
MRIGYA
THE BONGO CLUB
LIKE their compatriots Indian Ocean, Mrigya fuse classical Indian music with Western styles
such as jazz, rock, and funk, and present it in an endearingly informal manner. Like Indian
Ocean, too, there's something of the 1970s about them, specifically John McLaughlin's
post-Shakti outfit the One Truth Band, although contemporary music followers will find plenty
to engage them also.
As with One Truth, one of Mrigya's main focal points is the violin, the others being their
two main vocalists' extraordinarily passionate delivery. Sharat Chandra Srivistava may not
have quite the fearless invention of McLaughlin's mate, L Shankar, but his violin playing
gives the music a searing, exotic intensity alongside the more Western and slightly prosaic
patterns of the band's guitar section. Some of their fusions, one rather cheesy swing jazz
section in particular, sound gratuitous rather than ingenious, but their no-prisoners,
(I)slam-dunking metal graftings and their general momentum are the stuff to get folks rocking
in their seats.
Ends tonight
Rob Adams

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THE STAGE
August 16, 2001
The Bongo Club
I Vant to Be Alone
Ailie Cohen and They Ate Her

Margaret is a loner. By day she demonstrates thirties sound recording techniques in the
museum and tells lies about her exciting lifestyle to her colleagues. At night. she returns
to her lonely flat, where she listens to Radio Vintage, drinks a bottle of wine and dreams of
flying away into the places of her imagination.

Ailie Cohen and They Ate Her Productions have created an evocative little piece, which
intrigues and entangles its audience. Cohen's portrayal of Margaret is focused, although,
given her abilities, more forceful direction from Morna Burdon could have brought further
nuances to the character. , The staging and design, however, are exemplary. Cohen delivers
her museum lectures from the audience's level, before using puppets to take the character to
her flat onstage. Here, voices in the radio and a hand-puppet cat are her only companions
and, as her isolation becomes complete, take on their own lives. The world of her imagination
is played out in silhouette.' Hazel Wotherspoon has crafted a spot-on thirties costume and
Rick Conte provides solid support as the radio voice. A satisfying production from a company
which knows its own . limitations and makes full use of its strengths.

Thom Dibdln

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Samuel Oyediji Bongo Club
Radio Version

Samuel Oyediji uses a sampler to layer various rhythms and melodies over each other. He is an
incredibly innovative artist who succeeds in combining the modern and ancient. His music is
steeped in African root music, culture and history, but is influenced throughout by
internationalism and technology. Wonderful in his innovation and musically important, catch
him while you can.

9/ 10

Website Version

All and nothing seems to be the trend these days. As electronic artists waken to the endless
possibilities opened up by the net, the combination of eclectic elements can often lead to
aimless music without any tangible foundations.

Samuel Oyediji is nothing short of inspirational. No kidding. While a lot of electronic music
is both alienating and rootless, Oyediji creates a wonderful hybrid that is true to his
cultural and historical roots. Using a hand drum and his voice, Oyediji layers his sound with
a sampler, creating songs that swiftly progress from simple layering to sophisticated
juxtaposition of recorded elements over which he sings and drums.

Filtering "world music" through electronic equipment requires delicate production to avoid
the pit-holes of an eighties-esque naff sound. Oyediji hurdles this obstacle effortlessly,
which is down to his incorporation of world elements such as Nigerian, Latin and ancient
African languages without the adoption of the "world music" sound. This use of different
languages is an interesting insight into multiculturalism, and creates a genuinely
international sound.

Oyejidi's layering of himself is great as it gives the impression that there could be about
10 performers on stage. This distortion of space and time, along with his use of ancient
African language creates a timeless feel to his music. It would be cool to see him use other
instruments to create more variety, but this is a delicate process that will no doubt take
time.

All in all, the skill and precision of Oyediji's layering, his wonderful rhythms and melodies
and his amalgamation of ancient and modern create a wonderful and unique experience. It is
commendable to see an innovative electronic artist staying true to his roots, with Oyediji's
willingness to experiment never comprising his cultural background. Oyediji's triumph is to
take world folk and successfully enhance it with technology, something that many artists fall
on their ass with. A multi-cultural man with unique musical plan, Oyediji will hopefully be a
future force in cross-disciplinary music.

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THE SCOTSMAN
10 August 2001
Sri-ba Alba **
The Bongo Club - out of the blue (venue 143)

HAILING from Penicuik's youth community centre, Sri-ba Alba perform their interpretation of
African dance to a traditional and contemporary soundtrack. Ghanaian dancing appears to
involve much shaking of your "booty".

Initially the troupe appeared self conscious; one could sense John Knox's disapproval.

The contemporary routines let things down; it is an ambitious company that takes on the
choreography and attitude of chart stars.

Julia Robertson

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THE LIST
Thursday 9 - Wednesday 15 august 2001
ART

MIXED MEDIA
THE GAMES ROOM
New Street Exhibition Space, The Bongo Club; until 31 Aug ****

Arts organisation Out Of The Blue, renowned for irreverent fun, has called upon Britain's
artistic talent to play with the idea of games. Such a brief could never be taken soberly and
the relish with which it was seized is obvious. Works range from a gigantic game of Risk,
replete with toy soldiers and a javelin-like proportioned pick-a-sticks, to a haunted
church-themed crazy golf. Childhood energy has been tapped into and subverted by the less
innocent adult world.

This is nowhere more apparent than in the various playing cards which have been reinvented by
artists including Kirsty Whiten, Alec Ohnstad, Jamie Grant and Frank Quietly. The
traditional, regal hierarchy of Jack, Queen and King, is usurped to reveal a queen who kicks
ass, a certain king from Memphis, Tennessee, and a beautiful collection of erotic pencil
sketches, revealing among other things an ordinary Queenie having a little fumble.

The experience is something of an Alice in Wonderland, one where everything tempts; touch me,
drink me, turn my handle. And for those of you who could never resist pushing buttons and
adjusting dials, this is a must.

Ruth Hedges

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The Scotsman, 9 August 2001
FESTIVAL THURSDAY

One Night Only ***
The Bongo Club (venue 143)

So, there is an Englishman, a Texan and a Canadian, and they are stuck in an elevator. It
doesn't sound funny and, for the first 15 minutes, it isn't. I am sure their mates laughed at
the bit where they just stand there for two purgatorial minutes, staring quizzically into
space, or at their opener, when one of them, "hilariously" trips over on the way in, but in a
rather awkward first quarter, the paying public were looking at their watches and mumbling
about a refund.

Mysteriously, however, the trio of Douglas Frawley, Joel Spence and Jamie Glassman - who is
fresh from creating Borat for the Ali G Show - suddenly reveal that they do have some
material after all. Whipping up an act out of a heady mixture of song, sweat, dance and yoga,
they even touch on moments of brilliance, grabbing gags out of thin air and culminating in a
top-class finale. We may see these boys on a bigger stage yet.

Matt Warren Until 25 August

Singing, dancing Douglas Frawley, Joel Spence and Jamie Glassman are stuck in a lift for One
Night Only

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The List

9-15 August 2001

Music Index

Mrigya
Bongo Club, 6.15pm. 13-18 Aug.
Since the demise of Graffiti, Edinburgh's August music scene has missed its dose of
ear-opening, innovative and exotic music from around the world. But the Bongo Club now remedy
that with what promises to be a Festival hit in nine-piece Delhi-based fusion group Mrigya.
Mixing Indian classical with blues guitar and harmonica, Latin and jazz grooves with virtuoso
tabla, funk and rock keyboards - and three great vocalists - Mrigya produce a sophisticated
high-energy music that also allows space for instrumental soloing and the spoken word. Raags
and qawwali, rendered pure by delicately-voiced Sukriti Sen Bhattacharya or the massive vocal
presence of Qadir Niazi, are turned inside-out in arrangements by the band, which includes
members of star Indian outfit Parikrama. So be warned, the venue can easily fill up - book
ahead.

Norman Chalmers

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THE LIST
Thursday 9 - Wednesday 15 august 2001
MUSIC
INDEX

4-Mality Live!

4-Mality, The Bongo Club, until 27 Aug, 6.15pm.

4-Mality came about when percussion soloist Adrian Spillett, the BBC Young Musician of the
Year in 1998, was offered a concert in his hometown of Shrewsbury in 1999. He decided he
didn't want to do it on his own, and recruited three fellow percussionists, Jan Bradley,
Stephen Whibley, and Icelander Geir Rafnsson, to help out. 'It went down a treat, so we
thought well, that was pretty cool. let's do another one, and on it went. We have very
diverse influences, and we like to keep it accessible with a non-specialist audience in mind.
The visual aspect is important too, with all these strange instruments on stage, but quality
is the main criterion, and the music has~ to be interesting for us as well.'

Kenny Mathieson

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THE SCOTSMAN
TUESDAY 7 AUGUST 2001

I Vant To Be Alone
Bongo Club (venue 143)

Local performer Ailie Cohen's impressive first full length show is very cunning. Lonely,
passionate Margaret is the Unnatural History Museum's demonstrator of vintage radio sound
effects. As I Vant To Be Alone winds into gear, its minimal text, preference for sound rather
than speech, and Cohen's expressive facial clowning seem to be heading mimewards. There's
clopping of coconuts and crunching of gravel as Margaret shows how it was once all done live.

Yet 90 minutes later, the show has gusted to a close with some big, surreal, angry,
heart-rending speeches, as the now wild-eyed Margaret rhapsodises about her solitude. It is
quite a shift, from soundscape to rich philosophising monologue.

Margaret's fantasy is skydiving. But at home in her pokey flat she contents herself with a
teary tipple or two and dancing with her toy cat. Then her radio comes alive, questioning
both how lonely she really is and whether that is such a bad thing. Just a little unhinged,
Margaret explores these radical ideas in increasingly odd set pieces. Her cat sings a torch
song, she explodes in a big lascivious gush about a fantasy emotional orgy, and finally sky
dives, thanks to sweetly Python-esque back projections. The idea of being a hermit sounds
very attractive, Margaret realises, when everyone you are close to leaves. In the company of
me I can do all these things, sings the cat. Margaret has reached a heartbreaking epiphany,
rejecting life and all the hurt it can bring, choosing to hide behind the couch with a
sandwich.

It gets weirder by the minute, but it works. Cohen's script darts and shifts, discoursing
intelligently about the nature of despair and loneliness. It is her vaudevillian
capabilities, and director Morna Burdon's harnessing of them, that captivate. This is acting,
clowning, movement, illusion and puppetry in one tender mesmerising whole.

James Mullighan

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THE SCOTSMAN
6 AUGUST 2001

4-Mality ****
Bongo Club - Out of the Blue (venue 143)
Percussion quartet 4-Mality probably deserves some kind of above-and-beyond-the call-of duty
award just for getting their massive array of instruments into the Bongo Club. Once
installed, they served up a hugely enjoyable programme of virtuoso but highly accessible
music.

4-Mality was formed by Adrian Spillett, the only percussionist to win the BBC Young Musician
of the Year award. The group provides an outlet other than solo performances for Spillett's
talents as well as for those of his collaborators, Jan Bradley, Stephen Whibley, and
Icelander Geir Rafnsson.

Although all are essentially classical musicians, their remit here is wide-ranging: from
jazz, rock, Latin and minimalism alongside African and other ethnic music - sometimes, as in
Stephen Whilbey's Monsoon, all in the same piece.

Rafnsson and Bradley also provided compositions. The latter's In Line was played with four
unconventional drum kits. Marimbas are augmented by a huge range of drums, cymbals and gongs.
All four players revealed musicianship of a high order in a concert which also included a
modest arrangement of the jazz standard, You Stepped Out of a Dream, and Tito Puente's Oye
Como Va, made famous by Santana - no guitar solo here, though.

Check them out, and scrap any preconceptions you may harbour about "just" percussion.

Kenny Mathieson

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The Edinburgh festival 2001 -- Reviews -- Music 'A-B'
EdinburghGuide.com

Edinburgh Festival Fringe 5th-27th August

Unmissable

4-Mality Live!

Drams Excellent (equivalent to 5 stars)
Venue The Bongo Club (143) Address 14 New Street
Reviewer Garry Platt

What do 3 young Englishmen and a Icelander have in common? Well in this case they all play
percussion instruments like men possessed. 4-Mality are a four-piece percussion group playing
in the Bongo Club on a stage so small they have pushed out into the audience space.

I counted at least 30 instruments each of which gets used during the performance. The music
they play is both original and their interpretation of unusual or familiar pieces. It ranges
over African, Salsa, Light Jazz, Japanese, you name it.

The instruments they play cover everything from marimbas, through to bamboo canes, if it
makes a noise they can play it, or so it would seem. The performance space they have to [?]
around between each set and to do some amazing choreography during some sets jumping from one
instrument to the next and back again.

Their talent and skill is evident in the first 10 seconds, the beats, the rhythms, the
cadences fall from the stage like a waterfall of syncopated sound. They play with a level of
unison which is startling and achieve an almost transcendental level of music playing. The
day I was in there were 8 other members of the audience, this group deserve and should get
800 - but the Bongo club won't take it! Go see this group if you enjoy percussion music and
want to see it played at its best.

Garry Platt

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METRO
Friday, August 3, 2001

Club
a night for cuba
Tonight, The Bongo Club, New Street, Edinburgh, 10.30pm until 3am, £6, £5 concs. Tel: 0131
558 7604

`It feels strange to have a city of this size with so many independent clubs all striving
towards the same goal,' says Club Latino promoter and DJ Simon Hodge, of the clubbing ménage
à quatre he's instigated, although he's typically loath to take full credit.

Tonight, Club Latino links arms with Salsa Viva, Arakataca and Latin Explosion for a special
one-off in aid of Medicare Cuba. With Arakataca and Latin Explosion in the front room and
Club Latino and Salsa Viva out back, you can expect traditional salsa, merengue and bossa
nova alongside modern Latin and African house, rap and R'n'B. Club Latino traditionally
offers Latin dance classes to early arrivals, and A Night For Cuba features two talented
troupes: local outfit Combo Latino and Cutumba, a 21-strong posse from Cuba.

`Everyone's always asking why we don't join forces and it's something most of us have been
considering for some time,' Hodge explains. `A Night For Cuba will be a coming together to
thank the country for her fantastic culture.' The revolution starts here.

Andrew Richardson



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