Artistic Director Speaks: Random Thoughts

Artistic Director Speaks: Random Thoughts  
by Ken Pickering - Artistic Director / Co-founder
June 21, 2014
twitter: ken_pickering
all photos by Chris Cameron except where noted

Paul Plimley at Performance Works 

I'd hoped to get a few thoughts on the festival up this morning but the website was down - so here I am in the late afternoon - better late than never.

Our opening Friday was potent - maybe one of the hottest opening day and nights we've had in years. First gig I had the opportunity to attend was Paul Plimley - Tommy Babin - Joe Poole at the early afternoon show - Performance Works on Granville Island. I must say it was great to see so many friends from both in Vancouver and up and down the coast - Cascadia some call it - like when Big Dave from Eugene is in the house, festival time has arrived.

It's always a pleasure to hear Paul stretch out on the piano (has been for nearly 40 years) at length; he's developed a personal language built to some degree on his life long love of Cecil Taylor, however that's a bit of a simplistic way of thinking about it - he clearly does not sound at all like CT today having synthesized a very broad range of influences and interests over so many years, moreover today he's completely and unmistakably his own man with his own sound. With quite a full house for the first indoor show, the trio was rolling and tumbling. With no time to rehearse because Tommy was driving up from San Diego, this was in fact their first performance as a trio together with Joe Poole - a fine drummer who functions somewhat like a modern young Billy Higgins. As Paul recounted, it was Tommy's suggestion (they've performed together since 2005) that they each take the opportunity to ponder the cosmos (in lieu of a proper rehearsal), so that's what they did. Although I loved Tommy's arco work and Joe's brushes and the trio sounded very good indeed,  over all I was left with the sense that I'd really love to hear them again after they've got a couple of gigs under their belt.

Next up was the double big band extravaganza at Performance Works with John Korsrud's Hard Rubber Orchestra and Darcy James Argue's Secret Society. There's just nothing quite like the power of an amazing big band in full flight. Last night we had two of them. First up was HRO in a set that included pieces by Kenny Wheeler, John McLaughlin (from the Mahavishnu era) with Darcy added on electric keys - a piece that appropriately featured guitarist Ron Samworth and some scorching violin from Cameron Wilson. Mr. Korsrud also revisited White Hot Core from a collaboration 20 years ago with Kokoro Dance - it was wild to hear that again. Seems like yesterday. The piece de la resistance was his commission for Darcy - Tensile Curves. A 35 minute piece that was inspired by Duke Ellington, 12 tone music and beyond, that required some heavy listening from the the musicians - some complex counting. Francois Houle (by Darcy's request) was the featured soloist on clarinet - burning - with additional great solos by Korsrud himself and a young Eli Bennett on tenor. Not often you hear such incredible non-traditional writing in the jazz big band genre.

John Korsrud

Then came Darcy's Secret Society - out of the gate with ferocious energy, but harnessed and racing like a thoroughbred - the piece was Transit from his first album with an unbelievable solo from trumpeter Ingrid Jensen. They also performed a piece dedicated to the late trumpet guru / teacher Laurie Frink who passed away last year called all in. Plus music from his latest opus Brooklyn Babylon - music that was successfully funded through Kickstarter. It was indeed a powerful kick ass evening, epic really - and it's so cool that more and more people are becoming aware of his prodigious talents in his home town of Vancouver. Along with Maria Schneider and fellow Canadian Christine Jensen (also from BC), John Korsrud and Darcy James Argue are reinvigorating the jazz big band tradtion. Darcy is touring Canada (Toronto, Ottawa) and will also be performing some important concerts at some of the best European Festivals - Istanbul, Gent, North Sea, Vitoria-Gastiez and then back to the USA to perform at the 60th anniversary of the hallowed Newport Jazz Festival.

Darcy James Argue

Then it was a quick trip over the bridge - unfortunately too late for Gordon Grdina's Trio set - but Tommy told me they were on - and I'm sure they were. I did manage to catch a nice chunk of Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood - sounding funky and comfortable in that down home soulful kind of way that comes from years of playing together (at least for MM&W) and their shared history with Sco going back to the late 90's - A Go Go was a treat that the capacity audience clearly loved! Feel like I didn't hear enough.

John Scofield

Melissa Aldana

Final stop of the night was Melissa Aldana's Crash Trio with Pablo Menares and kickin' drummer Francisco Mela. Melissa is a talented tenor saxophonist (Thelonious Monk competition winner) that we'll all be hearing a lot more from. Her sound is a kind of amalgam of Joe Henderson and Charlie Rouse (as I friend noted), maybe even some Hank Mobley. The parts of the set I heard were mostly in ballad and medium tempos, so lacking in opportunity to catch the band in full flight. Would've love to hear  Mela really stoking the fires. Nevertheless her approach to the music is sophisticated; she delivers her lines with a keen attention to detail without resorting to unnecessary bravado, certainly in possession of a maturity that belies her young age. Clearly one to watch.

So that's it - time to head back downtown to hear Lady, Norma Winstone, Susanna, Film in Music (Peggy Lee) and more. Please don't miss the free performances at Downtown Jazz - Sunday's program is particularly inspired. See you at the shows! 

kp (june 21, 2014)