Sitting at the Bookshelf with Paul Cram and just did a little interview for the podcast. Now we are off to see Steve Coleman.

I will post later about the two afternoon shows we saw, both really good. Please look later tonight or tommorrow for some more podcasts.

Drop me a line!

tim

Of course I end up billetting with the coolest person in Guelph (sorry, I guess that is not really a controlled experiment)

I feel guilty showing up after midnight, not even having met him yet, wondering if I will wake him up etc. He is on the porch, just barely beating me home from the last show I was at. Doug Minnet is a very cool guy who also is one of the owners of the Bookshelf Cafe.

After a very full day of listening to music, what else is there to do but drink scotch and listen to records till 430am. Seems ridiculous but we had a great time. (and what a stereo!)

Now I am blogging from bed which is not something I get to do back home much (ever?) I must say.

In reverse order, I heard Rob Mazurek's Sao Palo Underground, the Hard Rubber Orchestra and Joelle Leandre with Bill Dixon all after dinner last night. (btw, dinner was a treat as I got together with the amazing singer songwriter Scott Merritt and his wife Sue...sad to announce he is not rushing toward his next Cd release...but keep an eye open for a possible single or two someday for digital downloads!)

The Joelle Leandre/Bill Dixon gig was something very unique. This word is not to be taken lightly in this case. It was in a massisve church and more often than not Bill was playing half notes that would ring forever through the church occasionally leaning into the microphone and using what seemd to be a digital delay, echo type effect.

The only other sound he made in the concert was when he would blow air through the horn (later I picked up on how there were audible pitches to those sounds)

Joelle seemingly didn't have much to work with in this duo situation but I felt she was brilliant. If he was the drone she was the melody; changing constantly with everything from beautiful arco melodies to tuning down her fourth string and attacking the bass percussively. (at times the repetive and curious nature of Bill's playing reminded me of a minimalist type of James Tenney piece like To Weave)

My emotions as a listener ranged from wanting to leave early on to feeling sorry for Joelle to finally falling in love with the sound and getting into the meditative vibe of the whole concert. (early on I was wishing we were listening to someone playing the huge pipe organ that was in front of us but later both of them made huge, beautful sounds that filled the church in a similar way)

I think the thing about this show that I may have loved the most is that I doubt there has never been a concert that sounded much like that before and I wonder if it will ever happen again. Perhaps this was a true example of non-idiomatic improvised music?

Below the church we heard the other two groups. Interesting to have a somewhat typical instrumentation like a big band followed by quite an odd group that had two drummers, keyboard/electronics guy and trumpet.

Where Hard Rubber was beautiful harmonically and subtle, the Sao Palo Underground was loud, rocking and screaming.

The Hard Rubber (or Rub Harder as they jokingly refer to themselves) played many pieces including an older suite by Brad Turner that started off with some beautiful improv with him and Ron Samworth, the Underground kept going all night. (I was curious how the drummers took their cue to pause, move on to new sections etc.)

While everone including the violinst in the big band had their feauture the trumpet and drum band really had one person (Mazurek) playing solos as we know them from a jazz perspective.

I couldn't make it right to the end but I did leave quite happy to have checked out the Underground and wonder what their Cd sounds like.

Now I am heading back out there. Hope you are enjoying this.

I am much happier here at my new wifi spot. The bookshelf Cafe is one of the coolest spots in Guelph for sure. I having a beer in the cafe as I type (free wifi!!...as opposed to the Second cup) and trying to decide if I should spend the time and energy to edit down the Steve Coleman clinic from today for a podcast.

Any one out there interested in hearing that?

tim

The first Record I ever played on was Graham Kirkland's compositional collage. It featured NY violinist Mark Feldman on Violin. It was a weird session and is a weird record but I had a lot of fun hanging out with Mark.

(jazz photographer Susan O'connor and writer and Ken Waxman just walked in...lots of neat people here in the coffee shop at the Guelph Jazz fest!

Here are Mark's email responses to my questions:
----------------------------------------
-Are you performing with one of your regular ensembles in Guelph or is
this a special, maybe even debut of a new band? Who will be with you on
this gig?

It is a regular group,
a Duo with Pianist Sylvie Courvoisier


-When was the last time you performed in Guelph or even in the Toronto
area? Any memorable performances in this area?

About 10 Years ago in Guelph with Ned Rothenberg in Duo,
With Dave Douglas and Charms of the Night Sky one time in
Toronto
with John Zorn and Bar Kokhba one time in Toronto
with Joe Lovano and his Frank Sinatra Project in Toronto

All the above took Place Sometime in the past 10-12 years I think

-Do you have any plans for what will be discussed/performed at your
workshop in Guelph?
I don't think we are doing a workshop but a concert, at the concert
Sylvie and I will perform Pieces from John Zorn's Malphas
(Massada Book two The Book of Angles) From our duo CD of the same name


-What is the name of your latest recording and what other Cds
might be the most definitive of your work up to this point. (any
suggestions where to get your recordings?)
My Latest Recording is Called "What Exit" the release date is Sept 26 it is on ECM records
It is with John Taylor Pno, Anders Jormin Bass and Tom Rainey Drums

Sylvie Courvoisier's Latest Recording has the release date of January and is Called "LonelyVille" on Intakt Records of Switzerland
The Musicians are S Courvoisier Pno , Ikue Mori Live Electronics, Gerald Cleaver Drums
Vincent Courtois Cello and Mark Feldman Violin

Both CD's Should be found on AMAZON .com

Thanks,
Mark Feldman

Sunday Sept 10
10:30am, GYMC • DOUBLE BILL
Mark Feldman and Sylvie Courvoisier
Xu Fengxia & Joe Fonda (GERMANY/ USA)

It was a beautiful moon this morning as I took the streetcar eastbound along Dundas Street to the bus station. I really wanted to catch the 9am Steve Coleman workshop here in Guelph at the Festival and I made it.

Good to see him again and interesting and informative to hear Eve-Marie Breglia speak of the Documentary she made about Steve’s world travels and music called Elements of One.

Steve and Eve both spoke about the same amount and focused mostly on the documentary which was fine with me. (I was especially interested as there is talk of a documentary being made about me…stay tuned)

I did a podcast interview with Jen Shyu, the vocalist for Five Elements too. Hopefully that will be online soon after you are reading this.

Soon after that we had a really nice lunch provided by the festival and then went downstairs to hear Ravi Naimpally, Oliver Schroer and Tanya Tagaq Gillis. The combination of tabla, fiddle and throat singing was a great idea and with these three great artists it was never anything less than vivid. If I had a budget to make other people’s records at Guildwood Records this would be high on my list of priorities.

I also caught part of the percussion workshop that included Paul Plimley Jesse Stuart and Le Quan Ninh among others.

The question of what makes an improvised music concert “happening” was on the table and this became quite interesting. Personally I was glad to hear Paul and Le Qun Ninh agree that it is not always happening. (I find some folks in the improvised music community are unwilling to analyze or compare shows, records etc.)

Paul Plimely went as far as saying that with the people he is put together with it is rarely “happening”. Then he added that if he is immediately transported somewhere else or the music starts to play him that it is a good clue that things are going to go well.

Nice to hear some discussion as well as playing at a workshop. (this is not always the case)

I think I will go and find my accommodations here in Guelph, and get ready for this evening’s concert featuring Hard Rubber Orchestra and Joelle Leandre with Bill Dixon.

I look forward to any comments from others attending the festival! I will return asap.

Tim

p.s. I was a little weired out about being here as a media person but I was almost immediately over that as people continually come up to me to talk to me about my music.

Peggy Lee is one of our busiest Canadian improvisers and the Guelph Festival has been supportive of her work over the years. I saw her group perform there a few years back and it was fantastic. (a double bill with Mark Dresser's trio)

Here are Peggy Lee's answers to my email questions:
----------------------------


--Are you performing with one of your regular
ensembles in Guelph or is
this a special, maybe even debut of a new band? Who
will be with you on
this gig?
.
I'll be performing with Larry Ochs(sax) and Miya
Masaoka(koto) in a trio.This is Larry's group,his
music and concept.

--When was the last time you performed in Guelph or
even in the Toronto
area? Any memorable performances in this area?



The last time I performed at this festival was a
couple of years ago in the fairytale.The year before
that I did my band and D.D. Jackson's opera.

-Do you have any plans for what will be
discussed/performed at your
workshop in Guelph?


I'm not aware that I'm doing a workshop!As far as I
know it's just the trio gig but I guess I'll see when
I get there....

--What is the the name of your latest recording and
what other Cds
might be the most definitive of your work up to this
point. (any
suggestions where to get your recordings?)

The latest recording under my name is the Peggy Lee
Band"Worlds Apart" on Spool but that's a couple of
years old..A more recent release is Wayne Horvitz's
Gravitas Quartet featuring Ron Miles on trumpet,Sarah
Schoenbeck on bassoon ,Wayne on piano and me on
cello.That just came out on Songlines.

Well I guess I'll see you out there.All the best,
Peggy

Saturday September 9
2:30 pm, GYMC • DOUBLE BILL
Larry Ochs, Peggy Lee & Miya Masaoka (USA/BC)

FAB Trio (Joe Fonda,Barry Altschul & Billy Bang) (USA)
General $27; LW/ST/SR $22

When the short list of jazz musicians who have changed the history of jazz in the last thirty years is drawn up Steve Coleman is rarley left off. I know I am looking forward to hearing his band again. (I last heard them ten years ago at the Bamboo in Toronto. I also was at the Banff School of the Arts when Steve was running the jazz program.

Here are the answers to my email questions from Steve Coleman:
--------------------------------

> Are you performing with one of your regular ensembles in Guelph or
> is this a special, maybe even debut of a new band? Who will be with
> you on this gig?

This is my normal group and it is called 'Steve Coleman And Five Elements'.

Steve Coleman And Five Elements

Steve Coleman alto saxophone
Jonathan Finlayson trumpet
Tim Albright trombone
Jen Shyu vocals
Thomas Morgan bass
Marcus Gilmore drums

> -When was the last time you performed in Guelph or even in the
> Toronto area? Any memorable performances in this area?

I never performed at Guelph to my knowledge. I’ve done many performances over the years in Toronto as I have been traveling and performing since 1978. For me all of the performances are special so I don’t know how to answer that part of your question. I don’t concentrate on individual performances as much as I focus on the entire direction of where I am going. I focus on the journey itself, not on rest stops.

> -Do you have any plans for what will be discussed/performed at your
> workshop in Guelph?

Not really, I improvise at workshops, panels, concerts, etc., I rarely go in with a plan. Much of it will depend upon the vibe of the people present, but in the end I am always focusing on the nature of creativity.

> -What is the the name of your latest recording and what other Cds
> might be the most definitive of your work up to this point. (any
> suggestions where to get your recordings?)

Any of the recent CDs would be good in terms of looking at where we are at the moment. The last CDs from newer to older are:

Weaving Symbolics
Lucidarium
On The Rising Of The 64 Paths
Elements of One (DVD Documentary)
Alternate Dimension Series I
Resistance is Futile

The Elements of One documentary you can get online at elementsofone.com
Alternate Dimension Series I you can downloaded from http://www.m-base.org/sounds.html (when the link is working, the server is overloaded frequently)
The others are on Label Bleu Records and can be found at http://www.label-bleu.com/artist.php?artist_id=48&lng=e&c=d

I hope that answers the questions you had.

Peace,

Steve Coleman and Five Elements will be performing Saturday, September 9, 8pm, River Run Centre.

Also doing a free workshop on Friday Morning at 9am at the MSAC with Eve-Marie Breglia (Director: Elements of One)

Hello and welcome to my blog!

I am going to focus on previewing and reporting live from the Guelph Jazz Festival for the next five days. Usually in this space you can count on a stream of consciousness type journal ranging from kids to hockey to music, music and more music. I will try to "keep with the program" until the festival is over.(hopefully as the weekend progresses I will have some recorded interviews on my podcast.)

I sent a short set of gig preview-type questions to five of the artists that are performing this week and was pleased to receive some replies promptly. (thanks to the artists!)

I first saw Bob Ostertag with Pierre Hebert at the Images Festival here in Toronto. I have told anyone willing to listen that this was some of the greatest work I have ever seen performed live. Bob has created software that allows the two artists to interact with sound and animation.

I am quite disappointed that I won't be able to make this show. Perhaps any of my blog readers can post some comments regarding the show after they attend.

Here are Bob Ostertag's responses to my email questions:

------------------------------------------

-Are you performing with one of your regular ensembles in Guelph or is this a special, maybe even debut of a new band? Who will be with you on this gig?

I am playing with Pierre Hébert, a film maker from Quebec who specializes in animation. Our project is called Living Cinema. We create movies as a live performance. We have been doing this all over the world for some years, and have released two movies.

At Guelph we will be doing something completely new, a new piece where we both play game controllers form computer games.


-When was the last time you performed in Guelph or even in the Toronto area? Any memorable performances in this area?

I have never performed at Guelph,. Pierre and I were schedule to play here 2 years ago, but I had to cancel at the last moment when my partner got hit by a car.

Our first performance as Living Cinema was at the Toronto Film Festival some years ago.


-Do you have any plans for what will be discussed/performed at your workshop in Guelph?

Not that i know of. Better ask the festival people.


-What is the the name of your latest recording and what other Cds might be the most definitive of your work up to this point. (any suggestions where to get your recordings?)

I recently put all my music on my web site for free download, so it could hardly be easier to find. Just go download it. On the home page you will find a brief essay on why I chose to do this.
www.bobostertag.com

my favorite pieces are Verbatim and Sooner or Later.

cheers,
-bob

Bob Ostertag and Pierre Hebert
Wednesday September 6
8pm, MSAC
Bob Ostertag & Pierre Hébert (USA/QC)
General $20; LW/ST/SR $16
Presented by Macdonald Stewart Art Centre

Just back from Parry Sound. A fun 24 hour trip. What a great venue the Stockey Centre is.

I am glad I have stuck to my guns with performing almost exclusively in concert settings with Howard and the Hornband as we really shine in a good venue like this.

It was the first time we have ever used a sub and David French did a great job. Thanks DF!!

As usual, Howard was telling some great stories. (many new ones I had never heard)

Now that that is over I am looking forward to digging into my Guelph "assignment" and getting some interviews up both here and on my podcast.

Also school starts for the kids in two more days...hurray!!
tim