June 13, 2011
Artistic Director - Ken Pickering’s festival picks: Part One
A question that always comes up at this time of the year goes something like, “so what are you excited about in this year’s festival lineup and what are your don’t miss picks”? Of course I have my faves and I’m always happy to talk about some of our key programming threads; yet at the same time it’s clearly very difficult to cover all of the worthy music that deserves recognition in a festival of the breadth and magnitude of the VIJF. What I’m going to do here is split my picks list into two parts – the first one will focus on artists that are in the more traditional jazz and world music styles and the second will key in on the Innovation Series and it’s offshoots.
Most music fans are aware of the obvious so called “household” or big names in the Marquee series so I won’t delve too much into that area and will instead focus on artists that might not be as widely known to the general public that need to be heard.
Of course there’s always an exception and in the case it’s Spain’s Paco de Lucia & Band (Paco is also featured on Wynton’s latest with Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra “Vitoria Sutie”). All I’ve got to say is that this one has been a long time coming; we’ve been hoping to get this masterful flamenco guitarist back to Vancouver (and Canada) for years now and this is finally the year of reckoning. The maestro is iconic in the flamenco world and a superstar in Europe having played at all of the important festivals on the continent. This truly presents a rare opportunity to hear a musical legend and I can’t emphasize enough that this very special concert (Orpheum – July 3) shouldn’t be missed particularly if you love the sounds of the acoustic guitar being played by a flamenco master. Once in a lifetime!
Everyone loves a great singer. Among the top tier artists and most widely known fado stylists in Portugal is the fantastic Ana Moura. She’s got illustrious fans, having sung on stage with the Stones and hung out with Prince. Ana Moura’s impeccable vocal tone and melancholy fado style is stunning – truly one of the most beautiful singers in the world today (Vogue - June 29). She’s a wonderful new discovery that we’d like to share, so please don’t miss this knock out concert.
How about some jazz? In my opinion one of the top-drawer jazz ensembles in today’s jazz world has to be Christian McBride’s Inside Straight. The name tells the story, but I’ll tell another story anyway (though Christian’s bandstand stories are second to none and always worth the price of admission). This wonderful bassist has been around for 20 years and he’s played with many legends in his career to date (Sonny Rollins, Freddie Hubbard, McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea and even James Brown), and he’s still only in his 30’s! Amazing. Inside Straight takes him back to his straight ahead roots and let me tell you – it’s a great band. When I was in NYC last November I was lucky enough to hear the band (with my colleague Jan Ole Otnaes from the Molde Festival in Norway) at the wonderful “Jazz Standard” club (along with the legendary Village Vanguard, my two favourite clubs in the city). The band tore it up and I’ve got to say we were dumbfounded – it really was that good. As a reference, think Bobby Hutcherson’s great late 60’s quintet (the one with Harold Land) on Blue Note. The young vibes player (Warren Wolf) was fantastic and squarely in that tradition. Hard swinging rhythm section on great material with excellent soloists. That’s Inside Straight. This will undoubtedly be one of the best “traditional” jazz concerts of the festival. (Vogue – July 1st)
I’ve been listening to Richard Galliano’s unique and intoxicating accordion music for a few years now and have always hoped an opportunity would present itself to get him from France to Vancouver. Logistics always seemed to be difficult, but this year proved to be different. When the idea was presented (by Richard’s manager) to bring this magical duo comprised of superb Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Richard Galliano we just had to say yes. This was one of the last festival bookings before we closed out the program and it’s a gem. Gonzalo has performed at the festival on various occasions in past years (always stunning) but never in such an unusual or intimate context. This concert will be a gorgeous evening of intricate chamber jazz. (Vogue – July 2)
Wrapping it up - a couple of piano trios that are definitely worthy of your attention are the virtuosic Jean- Michel Pilc’s Trio – Pilc Moutin Hoenig (2 shows at Performance Works- June 29) and Blue Note recording artist Robert Glasper (2 shows at Performance Works – June 25) a fine player that has been crossing over through his work with Mos Def. Two different styles for sure, but both of these trios swing hard and are emotionally direct in their presentation.
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