After more than 40 years on Robson Street, O’Doul’s Restaurant & Bar (1300 Robson Street), located at the Listel Hotel, is closing its doors after dinner service on June 2.

Read the entire article.

The article doesn’t explain that the restaurant will be undergoing a major renovation and reopen under a new name sometime in the fall. The jazz policy may or may not resume.

Fred Stride

Jared Burrows talks about band leader, composer, and educator Fred Stride.

Read more…

Contemporary Jazz Album Of The Year
Changing Seasons, Phil Dwyer Orchestra feat. Mark Fewer (Alma/Universal)
See Changing Seasons – Phil Dwyer In Conversation with Nou Dadoun

Traditional Jazz Album Of The Year
Verge, David Braid (Independent)

Vocal Jazz Album Of The Year
Le carré de nos amours, Sonia Johnson (Effendi/Sélect)

Instrumental Album Of The Year
Stretch Orchestra, Stretch Orchestra (Independent)

More info: Jazzblog

This week Karin Plato, well-known Vancouver jazz performer and educator, was moved to share some thoughts on Musical Openness for both Jazz and Classical Musics on her blog (available at http://karinplato.wordpress.com).  Here are her comments reproduced with permission:

There is something that I have been thinking about on the “surface” level for the past several days since hearing an interview with a beloved CBC radio host who is retiring after many years of being on air. This is a host for whom I have much appreciation. I have listened to, met in person and enjoyed speaking with her. Something was said in a final interview that has stayed with me for some reason. This is not a direct quote since I cannot recall the specific words but something to this effect was said:“classical music does nothing for me”. Yes, I know and agree that everyone has a right to have their own opinion about the music that they love. I also know that in my case I am lucky that the music I love today “came” to me after a somewhat slow start i.e. I did not like it when I first was exposed to it.

“Jazz” to me was a cacophony when I first heard it being played instrumentally in a live setting and on recordings as well. I couldn’t make sense of it and I certainly could not understand how my friends (classical musicians) were so enamoured with it. It was classical music that I loved and studied and it was the rock and pop music of my generation played on the radio that I was drawn to. Somehow over the years I did come to truly appreciate jazz in most of its incarnations and I continue to love and listen to classical music, folk music some pop and rock music and some world music. I am lucky to have had teachers and friends who kept suggesting various recordings and artists to listen to and to learn from. I’m glad I listened and that I decided to “work” on my listening and listening tastes.

I try to remember to keep an open mind and not to judge what I am hearing too quickly. The concern I have is that I am aware that both jazz and classical music seem to be failing at attracting larger audiences. I see this when I am attending some jazz concerts and classical concerts and of course I am aware that jazz clubs and venues come and go over the years with the poor club owners struggling to keep their business afloat. I observe diminishing audiences for classical concerts with fewer younger people attending.

Now, I see a new responsibility for myself as a musician and as a music teacher. I must assume that many people in the general population may feel as the radio host does, only loving or appreciating one form of music. I believe it is important to broaden ones horizons in the music that we listen to on recordings and at concerts. I believe that it is important at a cultural and community level to at least explore and experience some music and art that is not necessarily familiar or immediately appreciated by us as music lovers. That is not to say that all art or all music is good and deserving of an audience.  Certainly within each most genres the crème de la crème will rise? Is it naïve for me to think so? I hope not.

I hope that if I attend a jazz festival and listen to artists I have discovered on the radio and on recordings I have purchased that I will also then make an attempt to see new artists that I have not yet discovered; perhaps selecting a direction in the music that I am not immediately drawn to. The example would be deciding to attend an adventuresome jazz ensemble not playing traditional jazz, i.e. exploratory improvising jazz or “free form” jazz. It is my opinion that without expanding ones horizons in the area of music we purchase or go to see/hear, we cease to grow as listeners and might become stuck in believing that only John Coltrane is valid or Miles Davis or Brad Mehldau etc. and that classical music has “nothing to offer”.

As a music teacher I believe I must keep offering my students various forms of music to study and encourage them to give certain pieces some time before deciding whether or not they like it. Some may wonder why people keep playing and listening to the “old dead guys music” (classical music) but there is a reason that we do continue to study the music and perform it and work at the skills required to do so. The melodies, rhythms, excitement, emotional range, complex orchestrations, challenges in technical ability, dynamics and surprise elements are some of the reasons.

In jazz of course we have the world of improvisation, the re-invention in the moment that exists in playing in ensembles or even as a soloist. I believe great jazz musicians share some of the very same skills that classical musicians work at achieving. The “cacophony” I thought I heard in my early days of hearing jazz when I thought none of the musicians were listening to each other was in fact careful listening from each of the musicians. Perhaps I was overwhelmed with what I heard at the time and I had to learn to truly hear it and understand. Perhaps some classical music requires the same care and “practice” so that the music can make sense to the listener? I am not sure about this. I just think that both classical and jazz music are too important to be ignored or judged with a swift decision.

It is all music! It requires facility, commitment, artistry, interpretation, listening ability and endless practice to perfect one’s technical and artistic sensibility. Unfortunately one other thing that jazz musicians and classical musicians share is the fact neither is the “popular” form of music now-a- days.

I encourage people new to either genre to try a taste of jazz AND classical music. Try a few tastes in fact because, sometimes music could be an acquired taste. You might fall in love with a flavor you didn’t initially like at all…

Although Karin was reluctant to name the jazz radio host who prompted her to offer her thoughts, there can be little doubt (to any one familiar with retiring jazz radio hosts in Canada) that she’s referring to Katie Malloch, specifically to comments made in an interview with Michael Enright on the Sunday Edition available for listening here (she supplied the music for the interview which, as usual, is excellent).  I was also slightly taken aback at Malloch’s comment when I heard the interview but did wonder if it was made as a provocation to people who “don’t like jazz” rather than being a strongly held opinion.

Historically of course there have been many links between jazz and classical music: Woody Herman commissioned The Ebony Concerto by Stravinsky and Prelude, Fugue and Riffs by Leonard Bernstein (revived in a spectacular performance by The Hard Rubber Orchestra last year), Charlie Parker named his Yardbird Suite in homage to The Firebird Suite and George Russell responded with his composition A Bird in Igor’s Yard.  Eddie Lang and Charles Mingus both doing a Rachmaninoff Prelude. Through the Birth of the Cool and a wealth of Third Stream experiments, the cross-fertilization continued.

More recently, I’ve noticed a number of jazz performers who have taken inspiration from classical music, here’s a brief smattering.

The Bad Plus have performed their interpretation of Stravinsky‘s  The Rite of Spring at selected recent performances (unfortunately not at their Vancouver performance at the Rio last week):

Susanna Wallumrød (in Vancouver at the 2010 Jazz Festival as Susanna and the Magical Orchestra) has recently turned to interpretations of Henry Purcell (her most recent recording on ECM If Grief Could Wait has several), here’s an earlier favourite:

Phil Dwyer‘s recent Juno-nominated recording Changing Seasons is loosely patterned on Vivaldi.  On bassist Dave Young‘s most recent (also Juno-nominated) CD Aspects of Oscar,  he’s included some Bach interpretations (by way of Oscar Peterson).

Besides his many New York-based groups (including a long-standing duo with Lee Konitz), pianist Dan Tepfer has recently released an acclaimed take on Bach via his Goldberg Variations Variations in which each of the original variations (played straight) is followed by an improvised variation on the variation.  Here’s a taste:

And finally bassist and former Vancouver-ite Michael Bates has offered up his excellent recent Sunnyside release Acrobat: Music For, And By, Dimitri Shostakovich -

Not to mention Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey doing Beethoven (their project entitled Ludwig), Chick Corea doing Mozart, Gerald Wilson paying homage to Claude Debussy, the list is seemingly endless.

Discuss in the Jazz Forum. (Katie Malloch, are you out there?)

Balkan Beat Box plus special guests Geoff Berner
Wednesday, June 27 @ 9pm Vogue Theatre

The Cookers with George Cables, Billy Harper, Billy Hart, Cecil McBee, Eddie Henderson, Craig Handy and David Weiss
Friday, June 22 – Two Shows @ 7:30 & 10pm Performance Works – Granville Island

Eliane Elias Brasileira Quartet
Sunday, June 24 – Two Shows @ 7:30 & 10pm Performance Works – Granville Island

Eivør / Yggdrasil
Monday, June 25 @ 7:30pm Performance Works – Granville Island

Terje Rypdal “Crime Scene” featuring Palle Mikkelborg, Ståle Storløkken, Paolo Vinaccia & Bergen Big Band
Tuesday, June 26 @ 7:30pm Performance Works – Granville Island

Terrell Stafford Quintet – This Side of Billy Strayhorn
Friday, June 29 @ 7:30pm Performance Works – Granville Island

Jill Barber
Saturday, June 30 – Two Shows @ 7:30 & 10pm Performance Works – Granville Island

Ndidi O plus special guests Copilots
Monday, June 25 @ 9pm Venue

Kyprios and The Chaperones plus special guest SonReal
Tuesday, June 26 @ 9pm Venue

The Sway Machinery plus special guests BADBADNOTGOOD
Wednesday, June 27 @ 9pm Venue

Get The Blessing plus special guests The SSRIs
Thursday, June 28 @ 9pm Venue

More info at http://www.coastaljazz.ca

The stated plan is to digitalize some recordings, but the timeline for disposal in one fashion or another does not allow anywhere near an adequate appraisal of the provenance or cultural worth of each artifact. Many of these recordings were rare to begin with and are impossible to acquire in any format today. Thousands were donated by erudite collectors and hosts. Album covers and liner notes will disappear.

(For more information, see: http://bit.ly/AFlvUi  and  http://bit.ly/AoAiRf.)

The quality of future radio and television broadcasts will be impoverished by this loss of both informational and music resources. Moreover, digitalized music does not accurately represent nor compare in quality to that etched in vinyl, which is why many musicians have resumed putting out vinyl releases.

The CBC, as our national broadcaster and historical purveyor of radio since its advent in this country, has an obligation to act as the protective custodian of these physical recordings.

Please sign a petition calling on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to stop its dismantling of this historic and invaluable collection and to resume its role as curator of this cultural heritage, for future generations.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/save-cbc-music-archives/

George Benson
Saturday, June 23 @ 8pm Orpheum Theatre
Tickets Advance $75/70/65 + SC
10-time Grammy award winning superstar George Benson is both a matchless jazz guitar legend and an extraordinary vocalist with a lush soulful tenor that draws comparisons to Nat King Cole. During his early days he played with the likes of Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, and Frank Sinatra while leading his own bands. In the 70s he surged to cross-over stardom with the triple-platinum album Breezin.’ A track from the album, “This Masquerade,” was the first song in history to reach #1 on the jazz, R&B, and pop charts. The decade also brought chart busters “Nature Boy,” “Give Me The Night,” and “Turn Your Love Around.” Since then Benson has consolidated his global reputation as one of the giants of music—no matter what the genre. http://georgebenson.com

The Avett Brothers
plus special guests The David Mayfield Parade
Tuesday, June 26 @ 8pm Orpheum Theatre
Tickets Advance $40/35/30 + SC
The Avett Brothers have found that sweet spot where Americana meets the pop savvy of Nick Lowe. – Chicago Tribune.
Exquisitely blending fraternal harmonies and a sense of songcraft that’s a brighter shade of Townes van Zandt, the Avett Brothers have fully embraced their shared birthright of melody and passionate performance. Their latest album, produced by Rick Rubin (Johnny Cash, RUN DMC), is a propulsive, foot stomping “punkgrass” folk master- piece that filters CSNY countrified boogie through the Brothers’ early neo-punk roots. Like their contemporaries in Mumford and Sons, these rowdy but sensitive brothers are hitting their stride with their stunning folk-pop songwriting and rousing live shows. http://www.theavettbrothers.com

Bill Frisell plays John Lennon “ALL WE ARE SAYING”
plus special guests The Pugs & Crows Band featuring Tony Wilson
Friday, June 22 @ 9pm Vogue Theatre
Tickets Advance $45 + SC
The most innovative and influential jazz guitarist of the past 25 years. – Wall Street Journal. Reflective and lyrical, Grammy Award winning guitarist Bill Frisell (Jack DeJohnette, Elvis Costello, Norah Jones) selects notes and textures with the same care and unparalleled taste he uses in selecting his high-calibre collaborators. For this project, Frisell applies his soulful arcs and rootsy undertones to an exploration of the music of John Lennon, alongside some of the most broadminded and expressive musicians on the planet including longtime John Zorn accomplice Kenny Wollesen drums, Lounge Lizard and Willie Nelson sideman Tony Scherr bass, and string-master Greg Leisz steel guitar. http://www.billfrisell.com

An Evening with Dianne Reeves
Saturday, June 23 @ 9pm Vogue Theatre
Tickets Advance $45 + SC
You may have seen Diane Reeves in George Clooney’s “Good Night, and Good Luck”, performing recently with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra or singing at the 120th Anniversary Gala of Carnegie Hall. The four-time Grammy winner seems to be everywhere. Recognized as one of the world’s pre-eminent jazz vocalists, Dianne belongs to the pantheon of great jazz singers such as Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan. She engages audiences with her strong, multi-octave voice, rhythmic virtuosity and powerful storytelling style. Reeves combines all her influences to create a jazz-world-pop-bop synthesis that the Boston Globe calls “breathtaking.” http://www.diannereeves.com

Spectrum Road featuring Jack Bruce, Cindy Blackman-Santana, John Medeski & Vernon Reid
Monday, June 25 @ 9pm Vogue Theatre
Tickets Advance $45 + SC
A sensational jazz-fusion supergroup, Spectrum Road features Jack Bruce (Cream) bass, Vernon Reid (Living Color) guitar, keyboardist John Medeski (Medeski, Martin, and Wood), and Tony Williams protégé Cindy Blackman-Santana (Lenny Kravitz, Santana), channeling Tony on the drums. Originally conceived as a tribute band to the late great jazz drummer Tony Williams’ Lifetime project, Spectrum Road has evolved into a cohesive group incorporating original tunes into their fiery reworking of pieces from the famed fusion group. The ridiculously talented musicians who make up this group are now guided more by using the musical spirit of Tony Williams as a starting point for new explorations in sound. www.ny1.com

Wayne Shorter Quartet
featuring Brian Blade, John Patitucci and Danilo Perez plus special guests Brad Turner Quartet
Tuesday, June 26 @ 9pm Vogue Theatre
Tickets Advance $55 + SC
Legendary saxophonist Wayne Shorter is widely acknowledged to be jazz’s greatest living composer, possessed of a rare combination of technical mastery and boundless creative energy. His output as a leader for Blue Note records, as well as his work with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and the second classic Miles Davis Quintet of the 1960s, may arguably be the finest and most productive ten-year stretch in the history of music. In the ’70s he co-led Weather Report, a unit that helped define the fusion movement of the era. He then went on to collaborate with the likes of Herbie Hancock, Santana, Joni Mitchell and Steely Dan. Today, with pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade he leads an acoustic powerhouse band that critics and fans are calling “the best small group in jazz.” http://www.wayneshortermusic.com

Destroyer
plus special guests Inhabitants
Friday, June 29 @ 9pm Vogue Theatre
Tickets Advance $25 + SC
Indie rock’s idiosyncratic and sometimes inscrutable crown prince, Dan Bejar, has transformed his critically- acclaimed Destroyer project once again, this time letting his trademark lyricism take a back seat to extended smooth grooves, reverb-drenched horn solos and yacht-invoking synth pads. The Polaris Music Prize nominated album Kaputt sees Bejar, the unorthodox singer/songwriter, standing back and letting the musical interplay have a far more significant role than on any previous releases. Bejar’s relationship to the confident soft rock sonics of his band evokes a wise and winking outsider poet, wandering the neon streets of a vibrant cosmopolitan city, bemused, a bit detached, but enthralled by the pulse of the night. http://www.destroyersongs.com

Robert Randolph & The Family Band
plus special guests Rich Hope & His Evil Doers
Saturday, June 30 @ 9pm Vogue Theatre
Tickets Advance $40 + SC
Randolph’s latest album—the T Bone Burnett-produced “We Walk this Road”—is a celebration of African-American music of the past one hundred years, from gospel to early blues, to good old rock and roll. Named one of Rolling Stone’s Top 100 Guitarists of All Time, Robert Randolph learned to play the pedal steel (aka “Sacred Steel”) in Church, and this upbringing is reflected in his musical mission to bridge generations and uplift audiences. Flying without a set list, an onstage dance party always on the verge of outbreak, Robert Randolph and the Family Band deliver their message of hope with virtuosic playing and a wickedly funky beat. http://www.robertrandolph.net

Los Amigos Invisibles
Sunday, July 1 @ 9pm Vogue Theatre
Tickets Advance $25 + SC
Be it Brazilian techno, Afro-jazz flavored pop, soul-samba or tropical disco, it’s all about hip-shaking beats. Imagine a world music party with a Latin flavor; (LAI) is the band filling the dance floor. — San Antonio Express. Latin Grammy award winners Los Amigos Invisibles have been spreading their fiery dance band grooves around the world ever since they roared out of Venezuela in 1995. The band actually got its first break when David Byrne discovered one of their albums in a record shop and shortly after signed them to his label, Luaka Bop. Years later, these Latin alternative kingpins continue to electrify audiences with their explosive live shows. http://beta.amigosinvisibles.com

Visit http://www.coastaljazz.ca

For further info see the VIFF website

MAY, Arni We are deeply saddened by the passing of Arni May on Tuesday, December 13, 2011, in Vancouver. He will be greatly missed by his loving wife of fifty-five years, Anne Angert, sons and daughters-in-law, Mark and Janette, Stephen and Ikuko, Shayne and Shannon, beloved grandchildren, Harrison, Kevin, Malia (Devin), Aaron, Brigitte, Sammy and Miki. Loving son of Anne Mayberger Blair, and the late Hyman Mayberger. Loving brother and brother-in-law of Shelly and Morris Schachnow, Linda and the late Morty Mayberger, Ruthy Eliesen, and the late Charlotte Kuttas. Loving uncle to his many nieces and nephews. Arni was a brilliant jazz musician, a man who participated and gave so much to so many, namely Sunny Hill Health Center for Children and Linton Garner Scholarship Foundation. In the eighteen years of his family restaurant Rossini’s, he created a Jazz haven and home for so many. He will be forever missed. Funeral service on Thursday, December 15th Schara Tzedeck Cemetery, 2345 Marine Dr. New Westminster. Donations in Arni’s honour may be made to the Sunny Hill Health Center for Children c/o BC Children’s Hospital Foundation, 604-875-2444, or to the Linton Garner Scholarship Foundation at Capilano University, (604) 984-4983.

Published in Vancouver Sun and/or The Province on December 15, 2011