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One of our summer traditions is to pile into the car, and head off to the Roots and Blues Festival in Salmon Arm BC every August. We do this for a couple reasons: 1 - It’s great festival. 2 - I grew up there & have family there. 3 - Did I mention it is a great festival?

The festival is a great family event. My parents, the nephews, aunts, uncles, and various friends, well wishers and hangers on all arrive and have a helluva good time.

Roots and Blues is a very diverse festival. Over the years it has gone beyond it’s self explanatory moniker, and seen indie rock bands (Painted Bird, and if I remember correctly, The Weakerthans) , polished radio friendly acts (Percy Sledge, Blue Rodeo, Pointer Sisters), and the unheard of. One of the big draws for me is the workshop stages. A selection of groups, or members of groups are thrown together for a 90 minute set, and sometimes magic happens.

It all depends on who is running the show, language barriers, and how many drums, keyboards and horn players can fit on a stage. Years past have yielded some amazing workshops. Two years ago with Veda Hille and Richard Underhill comes to mind…I believe there were also several members of Antibalas.

This year, TOFU and CR Avery stole the show as far as I’m concerned.

First up, CR Avery, a member of TOFU, joined Kobotown, Andy Palacio & Garafuna Collective on a workshop stage. All 3 performers were great musical story tellers, and the pale, and the slim, East Van wordsmith ignited the stage. His ability to rap while doing his own beat boxing is seamless, and the rhythm section players quickly jumped in, fleshing out his hipster hobo narrative with harmonies, riffs, and appropriate audio superlatives. You’d think they had rehearsed for days, rather than just met backstage.

Next up ( same stage - we stayed hunkered down in our lawn chairs) was TOFU, Los De Abajo, and That1guy. This was an interesting mix - 3 pale white guys, a young Mexican dance band, and someone who played a 7 foot, heavily modified, midi-fied pipe. With a mix like this it would either be a disaster or fantastic. Thankfully, it was the latter.

TOFU - Roots & Blues 2007

The artists performed in the round, each playing a tune, then yielding the stage to the next group. First up was our affable hosts, TOFU. Now, I’ve been threatening to write an article on the literary bent of Canadian music for some time now, If I ever do get up off my narrow white ass and do it, TOFU will be among my first interviewees. The rapid fire delivery of hip hop and the intricate word choices of english majors transcend all expectation.Their honest and self-effacing content was refreshing, and relatable for all of us who are chubbier and paler than we ever thought we’d be. The staccato semantics were deftly accompanied by Mr. Avery at the piano, and If anyone finds a rhyme for ‘orange,’ my money is on one of these guys.

THAT1GUY - Roots & Blues 2007

That1guy was a sight to behold. A classically trained bass player, he has thoroughly re-defined the one man band concept for the 21st century. A mighty pipe,a snare drum and a couple microphones was all we saw, but it ain’t all we heard. If he’s not a closet computer scientist, he definitely has a few on speed dial. It has long been a criticism of electronic music that it isn’t very exciting to watch. I agree, and I have software, midi controllers, and sound cards up the whazoo. this chap has found a way to make it kinetic, entertaining, and musical. His traditional chops are well represented in terms of form and melody, and, well….I dare you not to sttare at the guy playing the instrument that looks like an over grown vacuum cleaner attachment.
Los De abajo was third in the rotation, and provided a perfect apex to the performance cycle. For TOFU, we sat, listened, and smiled. For That1guy,some people stood up and watched. When Los De Abajo turned it on, the audience jumped up and danced to their high energy Mexican hoe-down. The ska influenced arrangements were a great framework for the strong 2 feel of traditional Mexican folk tunes. Yeah…I’m starting to sound like some kinda music geek.

Let’s cut to the chase - The workshop ended with all 3 acts jamming to great affect. The bass player from LDA was an excellent band leader/provacateur, prowling the stage and cueing people in and out to create a blissful and insanely enjoyable crescendo to the set.

So, how do you top that? My personal choice was mini-donuts, of course.
Of course, there was much, much more than I covered here. One of the draw backs of festivals like this is that you simply can’t see everything you want. The good news is that no matter what you catch, the Artistic Director of the festival books such quality that you are more likely to be surprised than disappointed. Our weekend was cut short due to rain and the unfortunate need to be at work Monday morning. Oh, well - there is always next year.

Technorati Tags: Concerts, Festivals, music

Between busy and lazy, this is a week late. Actually, I had wanted to blog my thoughts on each show as it happened. Turns out this was optimistic.
Something about working full time and staying out late at gigs just doesn’t leave a lot of time. All whining aside, here is a summary of the gigs I managed to catch, in brief yet hopefully informative detail.

Tierney Sutton: Impressive vocalist, and that’s coming from someone who is not that big a fan of vocal jazz. Imaginative arrangements, a sensitive, yet powerful band, and Tierney’s impeccable rhythmic accuracy and pitch made for a good show.

CuongVu /Sten Sendell Trio w/ John Butcher: I already went on about his one. Now that all is said and done, I stand by my decision in a previous post declaring Cuong Vu my Festival Fave.

Derek Trucks Band: The guy can play. Undoubtedly a masterful slide blues player, Derek and the band really soared on the south Indian inspired tunes. Derek has proven himself as player with a musical vocabulary well beyond the blues, and I think this is where his strength lies. There were many in the audience who were there due to his relationship with The Allman Brothers, but I look forward to Derek and his band developing a distinct voice beyond the Blues diaspora.

Dhafer Youssef: Ya can’t go wrong with a string quartet (this is part of that ‘highly subjective’ qualifier above). Where Cuong Vu was exciting and energetic, this performance was beautiful and mesmerizing. Dhafer played Oud with some processing and looping along with the string quartet and a tabla player. Once again, I play the subjectivity card - love the tablas.

Lubo Alexandrov & Kaba Horo Ensemble: I’m a bit of a music geek and spend a fair chunk of time off the beaten path. When a band comes along that is completely off my radar, I am pleasantly surprised. Such is the case with this crew. Comprised of Bulgarians based out of Montreal, these guys packed the dance floor with their infectious Eastern European/ Gypsy/ Up tempo Balkan hoe down sets. The obligatory twirling hippies, dignified old ladies, belly dancers, bankers, and even those that, to all outward appearances looked too cool to even smile, got up and shook their groove thang - sometimes in 11/8 (at least I think thats what it was…). Definitely a festival highlight.

ICP Orchestra: These folks have been together more or less as long as I’ve been alive, and it shows. Ellingtonian grace, the bombast of Charles Ives, and the hyper kinetic lunacy of Hans Bennink all at once. And who holds it all together? The quiet, unassuming man at the piano who walks on stage in a fishing hat.If I was the curator of Vonnegut’s Tralfamadorian zoo, these guys would be the house band. Best big band ever - so there!!

Matheson/Roper/Mollerup: Full Disclosure - 2 out of the 3 performers here were instructors of mine at music school. With that out of the way,let us discuss a very important aspect of performance - enjoying it. These three guys looked ridiculously happy playing their tunes. They made it look fun and effortless, and made me want to dust off my bass and re-fresh my ailing musical chops.

The only real bummer was a set I caught at David Lam park on the final Sunday of the festival. Lets just say if you can’t even cary a tune in a bucket, getting a bigger bucket is not the answer.

Technorati Tags: Concerts, Festivals, Jazz, Vancouver Jazz Festival

Sten Sandell w/ John Butcher
Two of the key components of a good improv group are listening, and knowing when to lay out. Sten, drummer Paal Nilssen-Love, bassist Johan Berthling, and brit saxophonist John Butcher committed themselves to a fine balancing act. Sharing the sonic spectrum, and leaving each other space to strut their respective stuff, they never lost sight of the the fact they were were there to play as a group and support each other.

I wouldn’t mind hearing these guys sonically molest some traditional jazz or pop material. I’ve always enjoyed the tension created when an artist takes the listener expectations inherent in a well known tune and treats them to an aural taffy pull. Monk Re-Thunk, perhaps? Prince De-Throned?

This show featured great players doing great things, yet somehow left me feeling a little flat. I see two main reasons for this: 1) Coastal Jazz and Blues has an enviable knack for presenting impressive and daring acts, and 2) I keep going to see these acts. I think I have simply been spoiled by the Vancouver Jazz Festival to the point that music that was once remarkable and exciting has become joyously common place.

Cuong Vu Trio
With no shortage of technically innovative players these days, the trick seems to be creating a group that balances skills, aesthetics, and egos in pursuit of a common sound. This group succeeds, and in doing so brings the jazz trio into the 21st century. The subtle and well groomed electronic processing of Coung and his super-hero electric bass player Stomu Takeishi, hung admirably from the various and sundry rhythmic gestures of drummer Ted Poor.

Sans piano or guitar, the trio fleshes out it’s aural palette with looped phrases, delay, and a host of other appropriate and beautiful sonic manipulations. While some eschew melody for impact, this trio blends the two admirably. While not exactly hummable, there was ample form and melodic material to hang onto while careening through the arrangements.

I’ve always had a fondness for trios. It seems to me they work a little harder on arrangements, phrasing, and dynamics in lieu of the bombast and timbral palette of a larger group. The bar has been set for this years festival, and I am declaring this my fave festival gig. Granted, it’s only day three as I write this, and there is plenty more to come. Tune in again in a week and see if they have been bested….

Technorati Tags: music, Jazz, Festivals, Vancouver restaurant reveiw