Day Six

By Ken Pickering

Peter Knight, Erik Griswold, Vanessa Tomlinson (Erik/Vanessa are Clocked Out Duo and the masterminds behind The Wide Alley - the groundbreaking collaboration between Chinese traditional and Australian jazz/contemporary musicians). Peter is the trumpeter in the project and was last at the festival 2 years ago with "Way Out West".

(photo: Christine Fedina)

Members of "The Wide Alley" with KP
(photo; Christine Fedina)

"The Wide Alley" in performance at the Roundhouse, June 30, 2010.
(photo: Christine Fedina)

Members of "The Wide Alley" backstage at the Roundhouse
(photo: Ken Pickering)

Brasstronaut @ the Commodore Ballroom
(photo: Cyrielle Flosi)

Edo Van Breemen - vocals, keyboards and Bryan Davies - trumpet
from band Brasstronaut @ Commodore Ballroom
(photo: Cyrielle Flosi)

Brasstronaut @ the Commodore Ballroom
(photo:  Cyrielle Flosi)

Brasstronaut and Isabel Proell and Cyrielle Flosi
(photo: Emily Walker)

Ken Pickering and the 3 interns Isabel Proell, Max Harland and Cyrielle Flosi (Photo: Christine Fedina)

June 30, 2010 ... Posted by Brad Winters

Han Bennink, Wilbert de Joode, Eric Boeren Han Bennink, Wilbert de Joode

Dutch Invasion The Monday June 28th gig  at Performance Works  featured a meeting of Dutch drummer Han Bennink and bassist Wilbert de Joode with Vancouver’s François Houle on clarinet and Gordon Grdina on electric guitar and oud.   With the irrepressible Bennink involved I knew that things were going to get weird and, indeed, there was a good deal of madcap humor throughout the performance.  Flying sticks,  the threat (never fulfilled) of applying a hammer to drum head, comic glances and antics were present in abundance.  As François played his clarinet in the manner of a shakuhachi  (sans mouthpiece), Wilbert and Gordon (on oud)  began a quieter  rather romantic tone poem as the silver-haired savant bent down to take a piano bench on a little tour of the stage behind and beside them.  Of course, as much as this was visual schtick it also inserted a low level texture to the proceedings with the sound of the bench legs softly scraping along the stage.  These antics didn’t last long and he was soon back behind the drum kit  sensitively accompanying the others as they worked their way into a middle eastern mood which slowly built itself up to a modest intensity. The last piece of the first set found the drummer relentlessly accelerating the pace of the music until it reached a mad, frenetic level.  Wilbert was strumming wildly, Francois shrieking and pushing his clarinet higher and louder into the mix and Gordon picking away at the electric guitar to the point of almost burning his fingers.  The effect was like watching a wagon driver in an old west film mercilessly whipping on his train of horses as the enemy charges after.  Whew. The second set settled down a bit and even saw Han leave the stage to the others so they could work out some music among themselves without drums. Most in attendance, though, will probably focus on the moment when he got out from behind the trap set and, came to the front of the stage to keep time while lying on his back.  Although he remained an active member of the proceedings here, the image of him fully prone on the stage was somewhat corpse-like and inspired François to put a pot of flowers on the drummer’s chest.  So, yes, it was a crazy gig and not, generally, one of focused improvisation.  But some good music ensued as well and a splendid time was had by all. The next afternoon Han presented an hour-long workshop at Tom Lee Music Hall.  Mixing it up with some drumming and a series of short question/answer sessions this proved to be a truly enjoyable and insightful experience.  The high-jinks and humor were, generally put aside and the master drummer offered up a chance for the audience to get a sincere and straight forward look into the experiences and insight of one of the greatest improvisers ever to walk this planet.  I’ve known Han personally for a number of years so it is not exactly surprising to see him in this light.  He is by nature a thoughtful and sincere person and capable of deep observation and insight.  But to the general audience he is often perceived and misunderstood as merely an outrageously talented class clown so it was wonderful to see the eager audience  get a more intimate and nuanced  look at the man himself. Of course I am writing here about Han (freaking) Bennink so something was, inevitably, going to hit the fan and this occurred when he invited a young pianist to join him onstage.  She was apparently a visitor from Montreal and had asked if she could accompany him some time.  She came up with a bag full of all sorts of ephemera and earnestly set about preparing the piano.  Han looked over at her with some amusement and commented “So, you’ve been out shopping”.  As she continued to place various items onto the strings  he decided to look into his own bag to see what goodies he might find therein.  A little green ball was produced and bounced off of the floor tom and the bag itself was upended and shaken so that various lengths of fabric fell to the stage floor. It turned out that she was a good pianist with a pretty good grasp of  improvisational technique and the two engaged in a couple of short musical dialogues which gave the drummer a bit of room to display some light humor.  But for the most part this was a serious, though never dry, casual master class and at the conclusion was met with appreciative applause and a frantic rush to the stage to admire and acquire merchandise (ICP 50) from this Dutch master Later that night Bennink and de Joode were performing at the Roundhouse Performance Center as members of the Eric Boeren 4tet.  The Dutch trumpeter is an unflagging acolyte of the music of Ornette Coleman and his band focuses on this American master’s compositions and on originals by the leader himself.  The fourth member of the group is American saxophone/clarinet master Michael Moore who has resided in Holland for several decades.  I’ve always enjoyed Eric (and Michaels) forays into the world of Ornette.  They give his rich playful compositions deserved respect and reverence but are ever-willing to have a go at re-arrangement and knowing reference.  In this setting Han restricted himself to a single snare drum and generally kept the funny stuff out of the mix.  There were a couple of short exceptions to this reserve one of which featured a couple of minutes  where he sat still behind the snare with a towel over his head.  Given his universal recognition as a frenetic drumming machine the resultant enigmatic/static image was droll in and of itself.  But for the majority he stuck to being a simple and effective sideman amply accenting and accompanying the tunes presented.  As expected de Joode was the perfect deep string man for this project, adding a smart mix of pizzicato and arco accompaniment.  At one point  he crafted a rough muscular soliloquy  which was unlike any I’d experienced from anyone on the instrument before.  It’s always a joy to be knocked out by some truly fresh approach and  this singular musician is capable of just that and often at the most surprising moments. The horn tandem is a great one.  Eric has a nice tone but it is the strength of his lines and joyful energy which mark his playing most.  Michael has always possessed one of the sweetest most refined tones and sensibilities on woodwinds and he is truly a romantic player, in the best sense, with a seemingly infinite capacity for melodic invention. Certainly capable of getting down and (somewhat) dirty the  group’s signature is a loose but flawless approach to these bouncy and beautiful compositions.  Real jazz, really out and really satisfying. A fine night indeed. Several opportunities remain to catch these awesome Netherlanders:  On Wed. June 30th   Han Bennink and Wilbert de Joode will meet Vancouver’s own singular piano genius Paul Plimley  for an 11pm show at the IronWorks.  And the next night (Thurs. July 1st) the same venue will host Eric Boeren, Wilbert de Joode, Tony Wilson and Peggy Lee at 8pm and Michael Moore, Peggy Lee and Dylan Vanderschyff  following at 11pm.  Also (earlier on the 1st) Bennink will be Performing in a trio, again with Plimley and with German saxophonist  Frank Gratkowski.  This latter gig will take place at CBC Studio 700 at 4:30 pm. If  you’ve yet to experience the phenomenon often called “new Dutch swing” you’d be well advised to take a taste of one or more of these events.  If you’re already familiar with these guys I’ll most likely see you there.  HAPPY CANADA DAY.