2003 Vancouver International Jazz Festival Diary
Day 3- Sunday, June 23, 2003
First off, apologies to mistakenly listing Paul Townsend as drummer with Sharon Minemoto’s sweet quintet in yesterday’s report. Bernie Arai was actually behind the kit for Minemoto’s gig. Gastown… day two Missed the band in Gastown that I most wanted to see on this day by staying up a little too late the night before because the music and scene was so much fun. It’s all just part of the festival experience that you’re going to miss some things at the expense of seeing others. Much as I’d like to be in two places at once, my car’s not that fast. Unfortunately it was Junction’s only gig this fest, but once again, luckily they’re from around here and chances are good there’ll be a gig not too far down the line.
Primal Orbit
I absolutely love witnessing an audience’s reaction to a big, boisterous kind of out band when hearing it for the first time. The looks of shock and thrill and amazement are such a trip. The faces at the Primal Orbit gig on the Steam Clock stage were very expressive indeed, and with a rambunctious and adventurous group like this, playing a high-octane show like they did, it’s no wonder. Caught about half the set, which included arriving to witness stunning, brash solos from trumpeter Bill Clark, soprano saxist Graham Ord, alto saxist Saul Berson. The rest of the set included a kind of bouncing, jovial piece of trombonist Brad Muirhead’s, dedicated to some friends and their cat. My apologies to his friends, but only the Rosie the cat’s name has stuck in my head. A very slow rollicking blues which had to be penned by guitarist Tony Wilson called “Blue Two” followed which had strong echoes of Mingus weaving through it beautiful stuff. Rounding out the mothership of the Orbit was is bassist Paul Blaney and drummer Stan Rogers, powering the whole thing along.
Popped briefly down to the other end for the start of Terry Hanck, but quickly realized his bluesy funk was as far into the ‘not-my-cuppa-tea’ category as one can get. Next.
Pago Libre with Peggy Lee and Dylan van der Schyff
Ah my first visit to the Western Front this fest. There’s just this vibe to that place that seemed so forboding and really kind of frightening to step into the first time I did maybe 5 or 6 years ago, crossing into a whole other world of music and dance and well, art. Sounds snobby. It’s not. What a great hall with a long history of performance and dedication to culture and the arts. And what a downhome vibe the staff give it. Nice to know some things don’t change. And nice when they do: they got new chairs! The squeaky blue ones are now a memory we’ll all cherish despite how bloody awfully squeaky and uncomfortable they were during the many quieter moments of improvisation in that blessed room. Thankfully, the wooden chairs fitted down the sides of the walls remain in place there’s something about facing the musicians from an angle, and also being able to check out what the audience is up to. It’s a great vantage point. Wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the multi-national group Pago Libre, but anything cellist Lee and drummer van der Schyff are involved with has to be good, which is probably largely why the hall was absolutely packed! I knew we were in for an incredible experience when the violinist/vocalist Tscho Theissing (Austria) came out with a little grin on his face and was attempting to make eye contact with the front rows in the dim light. It was a sign we saw frequently through the show, of the connectedness amongst the musicians, and their very evident desire to bring their audience into that communication. Pago Libre’s 90-minute set of traditional folk-music and humour-infused chamber jazz absolutely flew by with one brief exception during the second-to-last tune in the set where things got real slow and quiet for a very brief lull. It’s so hard to pick out just one or two pieces that stand out, because they literally all were special and as unique as the individual musicians seemed. That said, two obvious ones were a trio setting of Lee, Theissing and pianist John Wolf-Brennan (Ireland/Switzerland) doing a spacious follow-the-leader roundabout with sawing bows, plucking strings and Wolf-Brennan (who constantly had a delightful mischief in his eyes) stealing the show pulling strings against the strings inside his piano with an astonishing melodic and percussive effect. The sound of their exuberant, joyful music belied its complexity by zipping along at a pace of such energy that it can’t have been exactly easy for even such gifted and experienced musicians as Lee and van der Schyff to blend into, but it was an astounding success. Near the end the band gleefully announced that they’d had one 85-minute rehearsal that afternoon, a testament to the openness of all the musicians to give all into the music and make that ultimate connection. (Also featuring Arkady Shilkoper (flugehlhorn/alphorn (Russia) and Georg GranIf you’re reading this before 3-5pm Monday, June 23, get thee to Performance Works for Pago Libre’s only other gig this fest!
Metalwood / Medeski, Martin & Wood
Back downtown to “The Centre” for the band we’ve had to wait a whole year for and two years for a new album (“Chronic”, released June 11). Always worth the wait and never ever yet disappointing, Metalwood’s short set (although it turned out to be an hour by the clock) was a fast-boil cooker at five tunes long, including “Roadie”, “Chronic”, “Time Being” and “Venus”. Despite a little technical difficulty with the drums (mid-set foot pedal replacement surgery), and a little bit of humourous pre-song band discussion, the fantastic foursome (Brad Turner/trumpet, keys; Mike Murley/tenor and soprano saxes; Ian Froman/drums; Chris Tarry; electric bass) who have been together from a distance going on a decade jumped right in and powered through the all-too-short gig. My only complaint was that it did not seem nearly loud enough, and once again the lighting, while smashing from a distance as a backdrop, left the musicians in the dark down front. Oh, I guess that’s two complaints. Oh alright, let’s go for a nice, round three: unfortunately that’s the only gig this fest folks, unless you count the early-morning CBC radio performance they did that morning with the always up-for-it drummer Bernie Arai sitting in for a travel-snagged Froman. Sure would like to hear that recording. Caught a bit of MMW, who were preceded by a comedy act of one drunken guy who, amazingly, was not kicked out of the place despite yelling from the foot of the stage and halfway up the aisle, knocking over the band’s gnome and staggering about like a classic fool. Their ‘bag of tricks’ is not unlike other jazz musicians experimenting and looking for new sounds, but there’s no denying they are the masters of the groove domain, and are incredibly skilled on their chosen instruments. Keyboardist Medeski set an energetic pace from song one, and bassist Chris Wood yikes, that guy is so solid and deep. Wish there could’ve been more, but the soul was calling me across town.
e.s.t.
With churning stomach entered the Cultch for the anxiously anticipated return of the dark, moody Swedes who steamrolled me last year at the Vogue with an astonishing performance. Was it a fluke? Were they just ‘on’ that night? What would they sound like in the Cultch? There was so no need for worry, as it turned out. e.s.t. is also known as Esbjörn Svensson Trio, and combines the elements that both those names connote. They are a piano trio in the sense that they are piano, bass and drums. But they’re also an experimental, electronic unit that plays those instruments non-traditionally often all within a single song, to stunning effect. On their recent disc “Somewhere Else Before”, each player is listed as playing percussion, in addition to their main instrument, clearly conveying their focus. Pianist/leader Svensson seems to become his instrument, his head hovering close to the keys as though listening for some signal or sign from within; but it’s bassist Dan Berglund who stupefies with his command over his instrument and huge, heavy sound. When he bows it into sounding eerily like a guitar and takes the lead melody (as he often does with more traditional bass sound, in harmonic tandem with the piano), one can only sit in wonder at what you’re hearing vs. what you’re seeing. In fact, it would seem to me that each of these musicians seem to disappear into their instruments and the instruments, in turn, into what they’re creating, leaving only the music permeating the air. I can’t say enough how absolutely floored I am by these guys, and how wonderful it was to share that experience with the traditionally respectfully silent packed house at the Cultch who rose quickly to their feet for an overwhelming standing ovation and demanded an encore. (The band didn’t seem to want it to end, either.) Absolutely the highlight of the festival (like last year), though I will try to keep an open mind to what’s still to come. Am once again thanking the musical gods for this amazing trio that gets under my skin, invading every pore, every cell, causing my breathing to go into a deep, slow, heavy, chest-heaving state and making me once again glad to feel alive and awake and amongst the living. Got to get over to Europe again soon and scope out what permeates these Northern Europeans with this dark edginess that is so prevalent.
Ron Samworth/Tobias Delius/Dylan van der Schyff
Stopped in to 1067 to check out some of the great improvisers, but arrived to the final notes of this trio’s set. The point here is that it’s nice to know it’s happening, that within and concurrent to the fest there are gigs going on where a lot of the visiting musicians can come together with our very own in jams and improvised settings. There’s more going on late-night this year than ever before, and all that choice is a beautiful thing for music fans. Check the festival programme and this site’s calendar section for more details on O’Doul’s, Studio 16, 1067, and the Sugar Refinery happenings.
P.S. Listened to The John Scofield Band’s “Up All Night” (twice) while writing this. It’s very much Scofield, of course, but it’s lots of grooves and samples and maybe not so guitar-heavy despite what one might think. On the Verve label.
Also listened to the aforementioned e.s.t. disc, which isn’t them live, but since they’re not here with me in person, I’ll take what I can get. Besides, it includes the driving “Dodge The Dodo”, which hits you from note one with its darkness and anxiety and doesn’t let go until the abrupt finish. People at the show last night will recognize it as the final tune of the night, which included a lengthy improvised section in the middle by Svensson.
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Diary Day 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
Writer/Photographer Josephine Ochej is a regular contributor to The Jazz Review, the Westender, Planet Jazz, and Coda Magazine.