Critic's choice

PICK OF THE DAY

Supertramp

Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow

CONVENIENTLY back in the charts thanks to a woeful "dance" update of their biggest hit The Logical Song by some faceless act called Scooter, prog popsters Supertramp return to show us what it should really sound like - an epic piece of piano pomp with endearingly silly rhyming couplets.

Supertramp’s popularity peaked in the late 1970s when their Breakfast in America album went to No 1 worldwide, but although they’ve never come anywhere near that kind of success again, they have doggedly released records, most recently Slow Motion - an introspective collection written - in his dead mother-in-law’s basement - by singer-songwriter and keyboard player Rick Davis (pictured).

Davis and friends have been trotting the globe in support of this latest offering since April, taking in Lisbon, Madrid, Paris, Berlin and Rome along the way, and when they arrive in Los Angeles in September for their final tour gig, they will have made a total of 73 appearances in 13 countries.

Their only two Scottish gigs are in Glasgow (tonight) and Edinburgh (tomorrow). The line-up will feature ’Tramp founder Davis alongside band members John Helliwell (saxophones, woodwinds) and Bob Siebenberg (drums), as well as more recent additions Mark Hart (keyboards, and guitars), Cliff Hugo (bass), Jesse Siebenberg (guitars and percussion) and Carl Verheyen (guitars). Expect a healthy dose of material from Slow Motion mixed in with hits from their previous ten records - Dreamer, Crime of the Century and, of course, The Logical Song, played as it was intended to be played.

Today, 0870 040 4000; Playhouse, Edinburgh, tomorrow, 0870 606 3424

THEATRE

Absurd Person Singular

Pitlochry Festival Theatre, 16 July (evening), 17 July (matinee), and in repertoire until 16 October

IN THE 30 years since this play was first seen in Scarborough, Sir Alan Ayckbourn’s reputation has soared. Then, his agonised studies of middle-class life in crisis were often dismissed as old-fashioned; now, they are widely recognised as brilliant in form and breathtaking in their social insight. Set in three kitchens of varying poshness over three Christmases, Absurd Person Singular is a superb tragi-comedy about the long-gone Britain of the 1970s. Ian Grieve’s well-crafted production features memorable performances from a six-strong cast, headed by Moray Treadwell and Helen Logan as the upwardly mobile Hopcrofts.

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JAZZ

Jonathan Cairney

Beat Jazz Basement, Edinburgh

IN 1998 the soft drinks company Perrier set up the Perrier Young Jazz Awards, no doubt hoping to build on the success of their annual Perrier Comedy Awards - the prize every stand-up comedian wants to win at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The fledgling competition did well initially, attracting a high standard of entries, but this year it failed to take place and only time will tell if Perrier will decide to revive it. The Young Jazz Awards may only have been up and running for four years, but in that time Scottish musicians won more than their fair share of the glory, particularly in the Young Jazz Singer category. Last year Edinburgh-based songstress Nikki King scooped the award, while in 1999 it was won by Dunfermline’s Jonathan Cairney, who will be performing at the Beat Jazz Basement in Edinburgh tonight alongside the talented bassist Mario Caribe.

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COMEDY

Laugh for Peace

The Stand, Glasgow

BRUCE Morton, Sandy Nelson, Raj, Greg McHugh, Patrick Rolink and others come together for an evening of fun and frolics in the name of Spirit Aid 2002, a festival taking place in Glasgow over the next five days to raise awareness of the plight of children in the developing world who have been victims of war, poverty and ethnic cleansing. All profits from this event go to the Spirit Aid Foundation, which has recently carried out relief projects in Kosovo and West Africa.

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