Ugetsu
 Live at The Cellar Bernie Arai - drums 01 Backstage Sally Recorded on: May 13 and 14th, 2005 at The Cellar, Vancouver, BC "One of the most rewarding things about owning The Cellar is watching and listening to how a band matures and grows. UGETSU is one such band that I have had the pleasure experiencing this with. When you use phrases such as ‘tribute’ or ‘plays the music of’ it presents a marketing angle that can sometimes mean the difference between an empty house or a full one. Having said that, it takes a lot of care and respect to give justice to someone’s musical legacy and UGETSU handle the music of Art Blakey brilliantly. The band became an instant hit at Vancouver’s Jazz Festival and from UGETSU came TO BE ORNETTE TO BE playing the music of Ornette Coleman. "A couple of years ago UGETSU grew by a few members and performed the music of Theolonius Monk’s Town Hall Concert. The co-leaders of UGETSU, Jon Bentley and Bernie Arai, have also taken part in tributes to organist Larry Young and saxophonists Wayne Shorter and Joe Henderson. "With a band so chalk full of talent it was an obvious choice to record, but with a focus on compositions from the band members rather than trying to duplicate and expand on material that already holds quite a legacy. The resulting CD is a wonderful display of musicianship on all levels. It is also another reminder of how lucky the city of Vancouver is to have so many talented musicians with so much depth that stay in Vancouver and carve out niches for themselves on a relatively small jazz scene. UGETSU was firing on all cylinders on these two nights and SNAFU is another addition to the wonderful performances caught on tape that make up the Cellar Live catalog. Enjoy!" - Cory Weeds Audio samples and information at: |
