Platform: A Scottish Jazz Organisation

No discussion of Jazz at the Third Eye would be complete without acknowleding the huge contribution of Platform, the Scottish jazz organisation founded in 1973. Although it enjoyed the support of the Scottish Arts Council and Musicians Union, Platform was not unlike the jazz and improvised music co-operatives emerging in English cities and regions. It took the form of autonomous local chapters rather than a central organisation, although the Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, Inverness and Borders branches often worked together to book tours. As Graham Blamire notes in his informative history of the organisation, the founding fathers of Platform Glasgow were drummer Bill Kyle, jazz critic and radio presenter Jim Waugh, and Tom McGrath, with Sandy Muir becoming involved in the mid-70s. While funded, Platform was a genuine community affair: several members volunteered their services, helping with promotion and production. We'll bring you some of their stories when the digital archive launches in October.

Platform Glasgow's first show was from Don Weller’s jazz rock outfit Major Surgery in April 1973, but the major coups were concerts by Duke Ellington and The Mahavishnu Orchestra (other important events that year, including a Miles Davis concert and a festival of avant garde music featuring Sonic Arts Union and Steve Lacy, were promoted directly by the SAC).

Platform showed its commitment to local acts with the first of its Jazz At The Galleries festivals in September 1973. The programme is a snapshot of the Glasgow scene, from the mainstream jazz of tenor saxophonist Frank Pantrini (whose bassist Rikky Fernandez had a bit part in the Clark Gable and Ava Gardner film Mogambo), to the “hard-blowing big band jazz” of Bobby Deans. Bill Kyle and Gordon Cruickshank’s jazz rock group Head, who released three albums and performed with Jack Bruce, are the best known of the contemporary acts, but the jazz/folk/classical groups Album, Syrinx, Up and Gustavus Adolphus remain obscure. The bill was completed by Proprioception, a quartet featuring Tom McGrath on Farfisa electric piano, George Lyle on bass, Nick Weston on drums, and Alex Jamieson on percussion. 

Platform’s bookings leaned towards jazz based improvisation, but their modern music remit allowed for forays into the cutting edge of free music. One of its first shows was from Derek Bailey, who played Blythswood Square in 1973. Ten minutes of his performance survive in the video archives and they're extraordinary. Bailey coaxes ringing harmonics, behind the bridge pings and percussive sweeps from a prepared Epiphone 12-string acoustic, and keening alien tones from a Gibson electric. Bailey returned to a Platform Glasgow stage later that year as part of soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy's Quintet (a heavyweight band featuring alto saxophonist Steve Potts, bassist Kent Carter, and drummer John Stevens). In 1976, Bailey would play a solo concert at Glasgow Film Theatre for Platform. 

While Platform used a number of venues, the Third Eye soon became a hub for jazz and improvised music. In 1976, the Third Eye hosted several Platform events, including the great Danish-American saxophonist John Tchicai, British outfit Redbrass, the saxophone and guitar duo of Lol Coxhill & Gerry Fitz-Gerald, and Ken Hyder's Scottish folk inflected group Talikser, supported by the Tom McGrath Trio. In subsequent years, Platform brought the likes of Archie Shepp, Roscoe Mitchell, Barbara Thompson, Stan Tracey, John Surman, Chris McGregor, Peter Brotzmann, Don Weller, Billy Bang, John Taylor, Kenny Wheeler, Tal Farlow and Red Norvo, and David Murray to the Third Eye, alongside homegrown artists such as Head, Windjammer, Atsimevu, Kyle-Keddie, Gordon Cruickshank, Jimmy Feighan, Bobby Deans, and Carol Kidd. 

Platform continued to use the Third Eye regularly until the early 1980s, and in addition to the gigs mentioned above, there were numerous informal sessions in the bar featuring local artists and the occasional touring act. Larger concerts, such as those by Sun Ra and Art Pepper, took place at the Mitchell Theatre. In the mid-to-late 80s, Henry Wood Wall became Platform's main Glasgow venue, with shows from Don Cherry's Nu and Cecil Taylor. The organisation wound down in 1988, but jazz and improvised music made a return to the Third Eye with the advent of Glasgow Jazz Festival in 1988. But that's another story... 

Platform brought a remarkable range of artists to Scotland, while nourishing the local scene. It also played a key role in establishing jazz as an art form worth funding publicly. 

We'll be sharing more stories, images and even recordings of these Third Eye gigs when the digital archive launches in late October, but to give a you sneak preview, here are a few Platform flyers and newsletters from the late 1970s and early 80s, courtesy of Edward Kitchen.