Top Writer Ian Bell

There are few writers that inspire. Bell wrote with a rare clarity.

Many Illuminate - they write articulately, cleverly, are well informed and insightful, but they often have a limited view or write mostly about their own agenda, be it business, political agendas and more.

Bell wrote with a rare clarity – and he viewed the broad sweep and the bigger view – while he also dug deep into the issues with an eye for the unheard details or clever lateral thinking.

And I miss his articles.

I imagine after the Hillsborough news recently in May and the Justice for the 96, that the dead and the football fans are now free of blame - that Bell would have written articulately, clearly and openly about the rottenness at the heart of many UK institutions. The Yorkshire police are an Old Boys network – for the past centuries the Irish have been seen as second class citizens.

Liverpool has strong Irish connections from its trade to Ireland and not long ago Irish nationals were locked up from no reason. It was dark days when Ireland had to fight so hard to run its own affairs. Why, when Home Rule was put forward before the war? His grandfather's brother James Connolly who was part of the Easter rising. 

Someone posted on Twitter – are any of us safe – if the truth can be hidden for 27 years!’

Many British commentators talk of the corruption and dictators across the world – as if they believe in the UK that we are a Beacon of democracy and openess! They truly delude themselves!

I wonder what he would make of the 2016 Scottish parliament Elections and the demise of Labour. What would he say? He was a strong supporter of Scottish independence and he viewed that, as I do, as the only way forward for Scotland. We’ll see. It is time for the SNP to take more charge of the Constitution arguments and ask – what do the Conservatives, Lib Dems or Labour stand for. Tories say they are for the Union – but what kind of union exactly?

People are spoon-fed media lies from the hard right  - and they often fool themselves and believe it.

Then there’s the Chilcot Report due for release July only 2,000 days after the inquiry finished – will this be another whitewash? 

Democracy is only achieved with a free press and most of the UK press is now foreign owned and lacks credibility - it is manipulated, sensational, misleading, empty rhetoric, with mainly meaningless innuendo or gossip. I would guess London journalists fear for their careers and have to toe the broadsheet lines.

Many years back I kept one of Bells articles on Sense of Place. I cut out articles tto keep that resonate and inspire for future reference. Bell was quite simply not only a great British writer, but one of the best worldwide. He is sadly missed in the world of words.

They say the pen is mightier than the sword and in his case this was utterly the truth .Yeats, Burns prove this.

There are very few voices of Truth – and Bell was one.

(Bell was an award-winning columnist for the Scotsman and The Herald)

Time out of Mind at EIBF 2014 BLOG - http://www.musicfootnotes.com/ian-bell-time-out-of-mind

Father of Scottish tartan noir William McIlvanney

I am sad to hear of the death of the highly respected Scottish father of "tartan noir" William McIlvanney. I had a ticket for his event at the Edinburgh book festival this year which was cancelled. I took this image at his Edinburgh book festival photo shoot in 2013, when he had a conversation with Alex Salmond MP.  He is fondly and well remembered and loved.

New Writers at Edinburgh book festival 2015

Shami Chakrabarti

Neil Zink

Lucy Ribchester

Oscar Coop-Phane

Rob Davis

Rob Davis and Karrie Fransman.jpg

Rob Doyle

Shami Chakrabarti

Kevin Mayer and Neil Zink

Salia Simmuka

Eve Ensler One Billion Rising

Eve Ensler (born May 25, 1953) is an American playwright, feminist, activist best known for her play The Vagina Monologues. I was inspired last night on BBCs Hardtalk by writer and feminist Eve Ensler who works against violence towards women. Certainly when I listen to the news it is often about violence towards women ( just today in the UK DJ Dave Lee Tarvis and Rolf Harris are both in court for charges of sexual assaults on young women) 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/eveensler

She says women need to break the silence - and that most women keep quiet about their problems.  Violence towards women occurs in all countries worldwide - there is still incest, bullying, sexual harassment in the developed world - 1 in 5 women in UK are attacked, 1 in 3 in the US, 1 in 5 women on college compasses US are attacked.  Violence against women is what maintains Patriarchy. 

Her play The Vagina Monologues makes it OK for women to speak out. She heard women talk of these issues and stories that upset her.  One older woman spoke of being assaulted as a young girl and after this experience she never had sex. Eventually all the women's stories were made into her play The Vagina Monologues which is now performed world wide in 140 countries. She said the storied are universal and that all women understand them.  She claims that the violence perfumed by men against women can lead to depression, suicides and eating disorders.  She says women need to break the silence. She said that the threat of violence and daily terror leads to a siege mentality and that this existence of fear leads to depressions, destroys self esteem, confidence and sense of worthiness. 

Ensler stated that her feminism motivates her art and that they drive each other.  Eve was bullied by her own father and she said often these men are spilt personalities projecting one normal image to the outside world another violent one indoors. 

Writing was the one experience where she was able to make sense of her environment and have  a persona that wasn't being drowned. 

Of course we tend as women to blame ourselves - that is that we are somehow the cause of these attacks by our own behaviour.  I remember watching the movie Goodwill Hunting when the therapist says to Will - Its Not Your Fault, Its Not Your Fault over and over. I find it very hard not to believe it is not somehow my fault.  

Perhaps this book on art and words and music is about my journey to make sense of it all.  Music has been my escape route to a better place. When I was very young I started to write poems and  to draw. 

http://www.eveensler.org/

Ensler started the campaign One Billion Rising for Justice. She says this is a grassroots campaign organised worldwide. In 2013, One Billion women and men shook the earth through dance to end violence against women and girls.  She called on women to dance outside police buildings. Dance is a powerful expression of breaking free; tell stories, organise.   http://www.onebillionrising.org/

We write to you one month before 14 February, the actual day we will rise and dance for Justice. But we all know One Billion Rising for Justice is clearly not just a day. It is a campaign, a strategy, a determination, a new energy. It is months of preparation, investigation, and collaboration. It is the careful, conscious work of building a coalition, inviting new activists, and acknowledging those who have been on the frontlines for years. It is envisioning and writing new laws and legislation. It is breaking the silence, releasing our stories, naming and identifying injustices, creating demands, organizing forums and panels and events, as well as writing songs and poems and plays, and making videos. It is identifying the places where we will rise. It is learning about our sisters’ struggles around the world and making them our own. It is bringing the most marginalized to the front. It is the grassroots leading the way. It is men joining and standing with us. It is acknowledging the places of intersection. It is a decision, a vision of the world where the bodies of women and the body of our mother earth are honored and cherished and safe and held sacred. It is trust. It is expanding our identities and wounds to include the others. It is a fierce refusal to undermine or attack or diminish, but to take the time to find the language to express our grievances and frustrations, with the belief that each one of us in this struggle is on a path of evolution and revolution, wounded, broken, and doing our best. It is a wild energy that says Yes. Freedom is possible. Unity is Possible. Everything is possible. It is a Rising – dissolving borders, edges, separations. It is love, an unstoppable wave of love and justice.

This year, on 14 February 2014 we are calling on women and men everywhere to harness their power and imagination to rise for justice. Imagine, One Billion women releasing their stories, dancing and speaking out at the places where they need justice, where they need an end to violence against women and girls.  Join us!

Jake Wallace Simons

Jake Wallace Simons journalist and writer of crime fiction, discussed his book The Pure at The Edinburgh International Book Festival.  Copyrighted
I loved the old-fashioned black and white feel of these images - I guess that's my style really!

Nile Rodgers - Why Did Disco Suck?

Nile Rodgers Edinburgh Book festival 2012

Rodgers is one the most successful writers/ producers from the 70s. He wrote for Diana Ross's major hit album Diana, Madonna's Like A Virgin, David Bowie's Lets Dance and produced many hit singles such as - We are Family, Lost in Music, Lets Dance, Le Freak and many more. He was originally in the band Chic who had hits with Le Freak and Everybody Dance.

Nile gave a fun informal chat at the Edinburgh Book Festival's Speigel tent in August, with many impromptu plays of the guitar when the audience enthusiastically sang along. Nile talked about his music. He said when he wrote songs – first came the words and he always started with the chorus or hook. He likes to use the jazziest chords and fuse concepts together. He talked about the level of pop culture and that Bowie was ‘disruptive’ and therefore stood out in the charts. He believed in the ‘artistic powers’ of music itself. He said that the people made Good Times a No 1 which he said was his favourite song.  

Nile talked about his music. He said when he wrote songs – first came the words and he always started with the chorus or hook. He likes to use the jazziest chords and fuse concepts together. He talked about the level of pop culture and that Bowie was ‘disruptive’ and therefore stood out in the charts. He believed in the ‘artistic powers’ of music itself. He said that the people made Good Times a No 1 which he said was his favourite song.  

He learned flute and clarinet at school and later taught himself guitar. At 18 he auditioned for the children’s tv show Sesame Street for which he wore a crazy green wig!. He then worked at the Apollo theatre in New York with Screaming J Hawkings. 
On a trip to London he saw Roxy Music at the Roxy theatre!  Which he thought was so unique. He thought they should be the black version of Roxy Music and be a ‘totally immersive experience in music’ and they called themselves the Big Apple Band

They played sophisticated funk and their track ‘Everybody Dance’ was a big success in the dance clubs but there was little interest in a black rock band at that time. Jazz bands often went to France to make it then (Nina Simone and others) so they pretended that they were from France!  Chic was born and they had a hit with ‘Le Freak’ – which has been the biggest selling song for Atlantic Records and has such an awesome guitar riff!  

They then wrote hit songs for Sister Sledge – We are Family and Lost in Music. He wrote for Diana Ross – who he interviewed for three days firstly – Michael Jackson, Madonna, David Bowie and many more. He has jammed with Hendrix. Madonna's Like Virgin sold more than 20m records and Nile wrote David's Bowie's best-selling album Let's Dance in just 17 days.

Disco went out of fashion and in the late 70s disco suddenly sucked – and so Nile went into producing for others. Yet he said if you look at the biggest chart hits for artists at that time their hit songs were disco influenced – for example Rod Stewart (Do You Think I’m Sexy) , Queen ( Anther One Bites the Dust), Rolling Stones (Miss You). 

Trends come and go and by the late 70s many rock bands had become flashy (or trashy!) with over the top, overblown sounds and productions and in reaction punk was born in the 80s. The good thing about punk music was it 'let go' and simply went for it!  Never mind the rules, who cares - lets just be nuts and the more off the edge the better - punk was raw and raucous! Sometimes art needs to be rough edge.  So why did disco suck? Well there is that macho element in some music critics who can't accept that not all of us enjoy heavy rock. The uniformity of the mainstream plays it safe and we can only move forward when we question and challenge the accepted and that's what punk, the 60s, the revolution were all about.  

Nile Rodgers Edinburgh Book festival 2012

Yes there was an anti-disco movement but lets not forget at the start disco had much to offer.

Some of my favourite Disco tracks - Diana Ross Upside Down, BeeGees Grease, Chic Le Freak, Michael Jackson Billie Jean, Stevie Wonder Superstition. 

He was also in conversation a couple of nights later at the festival with renowned Scottish writer Irvine Welsh. This was quite a contrast with Welsh in his white t shirt and bald head and Nile with his long dark dreadlocks 

Nile Rodgers – sometime actor for Sesame Street, songwriter, musician, producer, arranger and guitarist. Le Freak, Everybody Dance, We are Family, Let’s Dance, Like a Virgin, The Reflex.

Nile has written his autobiography “Le Freak – An Upside Down Story of Family”, 

Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. Its initial audiences were club-goers from the African American, Latino, gay, and psychedelic communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Disco also was a reaction against both the domination of rock music and the stigmatization of dance music by the counterculture during this period. Musical influences include funk, Latin and soul music. The disco sound has soaring, often reverberated vocals over a steady "four-on-the-floor" beat, an eighth note (quaver) or 16th note (semi-quaver) hi-hat pattern with an open hi-hat on the off-beat, and a prominent, syncopated electric bass line sometimes consisting of octaves. The "disco sound" was more costly to produce than many other genres - disco music  included a large pop band, with several chordal instruments (guitar, keyboards, synthesizer), several drum or percussion instruments (drumkit, Latin percussion, electronic drums), a horn section, a string orchestra, and a variety of "classical" solo instruments (for example, flute, piccolo, and so on). Disco songs were arranged and composed by arrangers and orchestrators, and producers added creative touches.  Recording complex arrangements required a team that included a conductor, copyists, record producers, and mixing engineers.  Disco songs used as many as 64 tracks of vocals and instruments. Mixing engineers compiled these tracks into a fluid composition of verses, bridges, and refrains, complete with orchestral builds and breaks. Mixing engineers helped to develop the "disco sound" by creating a distinctive-sounding disco mix.
With the advent of punk rock music an anti-disco sentiment developed. Many groups that were popular during the disco period subsequently struggled to maintain their success. The Bee Gees never had a major hit in the United States after the 1970s—even though later songs they wrote and had others perform were successful.

Goa Xingjian

Goa is from China, after speaking out against the cultural revolution he now lives in exile in France, in his Second Life.  As happened in Russia after this country's revolution, the 'free thinkers' and the creative people have had to flee China.  He is a writer, poet, playwright and painter and I went to his talk this August at the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2011.

 

Goa discussed his views on the differences between the artistic genres and the aesthetics of the different art forms - he spoke of how painting is not literary, theatre is not literal, and the art of the narrative. He said that Literature has suffered from political interventions and it can subjugate literature when authors submit to politics. That globalization imposes also. 

He talked of the necessity for literature to confront experience. Of how we don't understand 'Evil' and the 'Nazi' experience and how history could easily repeat itself. That people 'like to be led' as it is the easy way and how important 'independence' of Thought' is. 

Gao had a deep serenity and calmness about him.  His paintings are very good and they lead the eye on mystical journeys. He talked of setting aside months to paint when he barely reads at all - because image and painting must come direct (without words). When he paints he listens to music and he feels that painting is beyond words.

Gao describes himself as a 'total artist' - creating novels, short stories, essays, plays, paintings and film.  His 'Ballad Nocturne'  continues his ongoing experimentation with dissolving and redefining artistic boundaries, and with melding aesthetic forms.