DUNDEE JAZZ FESTIVAL - SUMMER 1988

July 1988 saw another installment of the annual Dundee Jazz Festival.
Here is the events list published in Street Life magazine.
There were 3 parts to the festival - the main big acts with the likes of Remmy Ongala, Donald Byrd, Humphrey Lyttleton etc. Then there was a secondary late night line up featuring local acts such as Dougie Martin and Jimmy Deuchar. Finally there was the Jazz Village which was basically lots of gigs taking place around the city pubs.
Being spoilt for choice was courtesy of the reliable Platform Jazz team.
If I was still in Dundee back then, I'd have been along to the Rep like a shot to catch Donald Byrd!

ROYAL HOTEL (Teazers etc) - 70's & 80'S

The old Royal Hotel building in Union Street was quite a busy place if you go back 2 or 3 decades.
Here's the lowdown on the mid 70's to mid 80's period.
Well "Teazers" was the name of the night club they ran upstairs. The disco in the main lounge was quite roomy, and being a typical city centre club, it was always chock-a-block at weekends.
However, more interesting things were going on in the other rooms in the hotel...
In one of the smaller lounges they put on occasional jazz acts. I remember attending a few back then. Jazz-funksters Morrissey Mullen, and jazz-rockers Soft Heap, are 2 that spring to mind.
In another area of the hotel there was a larger hall that also had a stage. Dundee's alternative music promoters "Dance Factory" used this venue to put on gigs. Although these were usually advertised as being at Teazers, it wasn't the main disco room.
Needless to say, I went to lots of those too. Some of the acts who performed were, Big Country - Aztec Camera - The Fall - Durutti Column - Death Cult - Fischer Z, and on it goes.
This hall was also the place where they had a go at running a regular reggae disco. It was a bit hit & miss attendance-wise, even if the music was great, so unfortunately it only lasted a few months. Shame because it was the only place in Dundee where you were likely to hear Junior Murvin's classic "Police & Thieves" - so it got my thumbs up at the time!
When the Dance Factory moved to their permanent home in Fat Sams in 1984, Teazers started up a new club night called the Rock Machine, and this showcased both the alternative scene and rock music.
The top picture is the main Royal Hotel building's location on the corner of Union Street.
The photo under it shows the entrance area to Teazers Nite Club (the black & white doorway structure behind the pole) which was roughly halfway down Union Street.
Underneath that is the main lounge bar in Teazers disco.

The Teazers advert is a typical example of the kind published in the local press - this one here dating from December 1978.
And below, is a clip of the Royal Hotel entrance which was a separate area to Teazers doorway, and captured on film in 1985.
Although the building itself is till there today, it's no longer in use as a hotel.

PLATFORM JAZZ - 1980's

PLATFORM were a promotional organisation who, in the 70's & 80's, put Jazz concerts on in Dundee.

Tickets were usually purchased from Forbes music shop on the corner of Commercial St & Dock St.

Some of the acts I can recall going to see were Morrisey/Mullen, Billy Cobham (with Mike Stern), Allan Holdsworth, Stan Tracey, Soft Heap, Gary Boyle and, as my 1984 ticket on top shows, Dollar Brand, featuring a pretty intense Abdullah Ibrahim performance.

Gig venues included the Bonar Hall, Angus Hotel, The Rep, Royal Hotel, Whitehall Theatre and Tay Hotel.

The 3 items under the ticket are all from old Wire magazines I have and are good reminders of the scene at the time.

The Dundee Jazz Festival article dates from June 1985 and featured Gil Scott-Heron as one of the main acts that year.

That's followed by a small announcement about the launch of a new Jazz Club at the Tay Hotel - and this is dated November 1985.

The final item is an ad from October 1987 and has a couple of gigs in Dundee in amongst the Scottish shows - Bobby Watson Quartet at the Rep and Don Cherry's Nu playing at the Whitehall Theatre.