Colin Steele interview: Horn of plenty

Published on Friday 26 June 2009 17:16

AS HE sits in a sunny cafe in the centre of Edinburgh, indistinguishable jazz tunes playing on the stereo, sparkling water in hand, Colin Steele seems a lifetime away from the wildly elemental, fantastically chaotic sounds he's here to discuss.

The self-confessed jazz-head could easily be here to wax lyrical about his successful Chet Baker or Miles Davis-inspired shows, his clutch of awards, or ever increasing fanbase, which boasts Chaka Khan, Robbie Williams and Tom Waits. Instead, a world away from the small Scottish island that inspired him, the 41-year-old musician is here to talk about Stramash, the trumpeter's most ambitious project to date.

The dictionary definition of stramash may be "'disturbance, racket, or crash", but that couldn't be further removed from Steele's 10-piece creation. A labour of love spanning almost five years, the album is a culmination of the musician's incredible musical journey.

Hailed by critics for his ability to effortlessly bridge the Scottish folk traditions with American jazz and classical interludes, Stramash's beating heart not only produces some incredible melodies but also showcases some of Scotland's finest talents. Bringing together the award-winning jazz quintet of Dave Milligan, Phil Bancroft, Aidan O'Donnell and Stu Ritchie with Scotland's foremost folk fiddlers, Aidan O'Rourke, Catriona MacDonald and Mairi Campbell, as well as Scotland's top classical cellist Su-a Lee, and piper/whistler Rory Campbell, Steele has created his own musical and cultural revolution.

"It was a massive undertaking," he admits. "Over the years, my body of work has moved from jazz to folk to classical; it never felt like one thing. I had worked with all of these great people at one time or another and wanted to know what it would be like to bring all those elements together.

"As I was writing the music, I was imagining these people playing, not just their instruments, but imagining how they would play it. Fortunately, they were willing to join me in my quest."

A self-taught trumpeter, Steele's career always wrestled with convention. Brought up in Bishopbriggs, he would fail to get the one-shot music slot, playing violin, at his school. A move to Edinburgh to Broughton High would open doors he never dreamed of. While never a bone fide member of the specialist music unit there, he would none the less be inspired by Edinburgh-based jazz contemporaries such as Tommy Smith and Phil Bancroft.

"At 14 or so, I remember walking past the music room one day and hearing this exotic sound come out, and it was Tommy playing away; then he'd be picked up and taken off to gigs, this big double bass sticking out the back of the car. I thought it was brilliant," remembers Steele.

Back at home, he would find inspiration in strange places. "It was Roy Castle in Record Breakers that really got me. He'd get his trumpet out to play the title tune, and I remember thinking 'How does he make it so different every week?'." Spurred on to learn and practise his craft, by 18, Steele would find himself part of the seminal Eighties jazz outfit, the John Rae Collective, alongside Rae and Tommy Smith.

"From early on, even though I was a jazz-head, I felt my music becoming more and more Scottish. The melodies (in folk music] are just so absolutely joyful. Jazz is intellectual, with more complicated melodies; I just like tunes. So over time I just let myself go with it," he explains.

After a brief hiatus to study accountancy in Glasgow, and a year out in France gigging, a career "break" arrived in the unlikely guise of Eighties pop outfit Hue and Cry. "I had just arrived back from France feeling a bit depressed about going back to university and got this message saying: 'Can you do the UK tour? Oh and can you do Top Of The Pops and Wogan this week'. It was mad."

Twenty years on, he has few regrets. Collaborations with some of Scotland's great and good have followed. Steele has been applauded for helping reinvent the jazz genre and borrowing from a multitude of influences, all of which are recognised on his majestic Stramash album. Most of the album, he admits, was written in isolation over a blustery five days on Islay in 2005. It would take him until the end of 2008, because of money and the availability of the artists, to get the album recorded.

"You could say it was written over three years or five days, both are equally true," says Steele.

The result is 15 very different sweeping melodies and a heartfelt lampooning of traditional jazz sensibilities. "It's an organic thing," he says. "It's not like 'here's the jazz, here's the folk bit, here's the classical bit'. The writing writes itself. The three genres flow into each other. It's nice, I have people say to me 'I don't like jazz, but I like what you do.' It's just about finding a great melody."

Steele's experiences on Islay became very much part of the album. The first 12 tracks are what he calls the Islay Suite. The final three tracks are arrangements of previously recorded tunes, including the title track of his second album, The Journey Home.

"The whole experience affects you. You're leaving on the boat, leaving the mainland. It's all so vibrant: the weather's so vibrant, the several seasons in a day is so vibrant. The wind and the rain just make you feel very alive.

"Lots of the pieces actually came together when I was literally battling the elements," he says.

A visit to local pub inspired Shindig At The Lochside. "I thought, I'll try and get into the spirit and sample the whiskies, not realising there were over 2,000. I went way into the double figures that night. It was a real Tam o' Shanter experience getting home, but I had my Dictaphone with me and Shindig On The Lochside was born."

View From The Round Church would come on the last day on Islay, when he was being battered by rain trying to get back to his digs. "It was howling wind and rain, then the sun came out, and this melody came screaming through me."

The haunting The Bletherer, also on the album, recently earned Steele first prize in this year's International Songwriting Competition, a competition judged by the like of Tom Waits and Youssou N'Dour. His majestic Farewell My Love also received an honourable mention. "It's obviously great to be recognised like that," Steele says. "I just want to be heard, get into the arena, get into the ball park, you know."

Besides, he admits, you have to keep it in perspective. This week he faced his greatest critic in six-year-old son, Louis. "It's his birthday party coming up, so his Mum said to him: 'Why don't we play musical statues. Dad can get his trumpet out.' He looked up horrified," says Steele with a laugh. "Until a year ago he really loved my music; now, all of a sudden I've been relegated to the dustbin of uncoolness for the world of pop and High School Musical. Sometimes, you've got to take the compliments where you can get them."

Stramash, the album, is released 13 July. Stramash will play at Edinburgh Jazz Festival, 7 August, The Hub, www.colinsteele.com