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Eric Boeren 4tet + Ellwood Epps
(Amsterdam)
ERIC BOEREN 4TET
Four heavy-hitters of the Amsterdam creative music scene and the New Dutch Swing sound… in Hamilton for the very first time! Ebullient cornetist ERIC BOEREN has built this burning group of alchemists, playing music based on the early works and instrumentation of Ornette Coleman’s famous quartet. Featuring veteran improvisers; American ex-pat, all reeds virtuoso MICHAEL MOORE, monster double-bassist WILBERT DE JOODE, and one of the fathers of free-jazz, master drummer HAN BENNINK!
Like Coleman, Boeren’s roots are jazz & blues, strong melodies mixed with unexpected keys to challenge improvisers. Boeren’s linguistic and tonal originality add much to his Dutch-jazz adaptations of Coleman tunes, to compositions by Coleman collaborators like Don Cherry and to Boeren’s own pieces. The 4tet assemble, deconstruct and reassemble with a rare blend of intellect, playfulness and musical virtuosity, a perfect balance of control and serendipity.
“Boeren and friends know that 1960 was a hell of a jazz year, and with Coconut they’ve helped achieve the same for 2012.”
“The music of Ornette Coleman occupies a special place in the imagination of Eric Boeren. The dynamic Dutch cornetist writes original tunes that share the puckish melodic sensibility and uncontained joy of Coleman’s music, and he often covers Coleman outright—there are two of the master’s songs, for instance, on the excellent new Song for Tracy the Turtle—Live at Jazz Brugge 2004 (Clean Feed). But Boeren is no mere copycat or tribute artist. A key fixture on the Amsterdam scene, he brings elements of Coleman’s aesthetic to the loosey-goosey, quick-change approach pioneered by Misha Mengelberg and Han Bennink in the ICP Orchestra. His terrific quartet, which released its first album in ’97, uses set lists that are really more like clusters of tunes—the musicians decide which number to play when (and at what point to jump to the next one) on the fly. Boeren has a seemingly telepathic connection with his brilliant front-line partner, reedist Michael Moore, and the rhythm section goes from cushioning the horns with a spry bounce to blowing open the sonic space with an eruption of clatter. The horn players tangle and untangle, sometimes sliding into new song by teasing bits of its melody out of the sweet-and-sour harmonies and jagged counterpoint of their ongoing improvisation. Other times the transitions are sudden—the segue from the title track into “A Fuzzphony” is a single graceful leap—but their logic feels totally natural even when it’s impossible to see them coming.
”
“Swinging easy is hard.
Swinging easy is the most elusive accomplishment in music.
Swinging easy was a constant at the Hungry Brain this past weekend.
Cornetist Eric Boeren, over two sets, didn’t lead the group so much as rode along with his ensemble. Connected by endless rhythmic variations, supplied by Wilbert de Joode on bass and drummer Han Bennink, the band rambled through a clutch of covers and as many originals.
For the assembled crowd, one of the healthier turnouts for Umbrella Music’s Sunday stand at the Hungry Brain, what passed for interpretations and what was original music became obscured by mid-composition thoughtfulness on the part of the band. Working with the most minimal of drum sets, Bennink and his snare sauntered through songs engaged with De Joode’s expansive concept of what a bowed bass should be capable of. At times, the two were tangled up in hypnotic single note, basic rhythms allowing for Boeren and reedist Michael Moore (not that one) to solo all woozy like. If Elmer J. Fudd demanded theme music while strolling drunk down the street, it would have been this.
During any given number, Boeren’s ensemble didn’t strive to move from a NOLA style group improv towards nascent free jazz sounds first posited during the fifties. It’s just where the music went.”
“This disc was taken from a 2004 concert broadcast by Belgian radio and not heard by Boeren until 2008. His quartet is in fine form, frolickingly playing with extended technique to broaden the seemingly simple music Boeren wrote with Coleman in mind.
The music is arranged to allow each player plenty of space. The 4tet seems to have a sense of how to shred a composition, only to reassemble it without a mark. Even their “Free” piece maintains the quartet’s logic. The gentle “Memo” at barely over a minute segues into Eubie Blake’s “Memories Of You,” played straight by Moore’s clarinet and Boeren’s muted cornet with all the sentiment and attitude the song deserves.
The disc ends with the 10-minute “Squirrel Feet/The Legend Of Bebop,” a part Coleman/part Boeren creation which pulls music from Coleman’s The Art of the Improvisers recording, but builds upon a 21st century band concept with 20 years of experience. The quartet is unflappable, assembling the melody before breaking it into several pieces to be reconfigured into a blues swing. Smile, Ornette, smile.”
“Eric Boeren’s quartet from Holland played four Ornette Coleman tunes and some by Boeren that just might (but not really), have also been written by Coleman. It swung in the unique Ornette way – one of the great contributions to the rhythmic language of jazz. It broke into joyful collective improvisation – sometimes lightly, sometimes with an explosive starburst effect. Sometimes it achieved real counterpoint, sometimes just startling instants of simultaneous exclamation.
Boeren played a long narrow cornet, rather like the first trumpet that Louis Armstrong played after changing from cornet, and he got an exceptionally clean bright sound – so clean and bright that it sounded silvery, like the plating of his instrument – which was deployed at times in the kind of pond-skipping skittery interval jumps we associate with the late Don Cherry. It jumped at times to impressive heights and seemed to glance down at us from up there for a moment, like a mirror flashed in the sun.”
“They whizzed and screeched and buzzed and sawed and thumped and thundered and flew and laughed all through that set with the same manic energy I’ve seem them all display at every single other gig I’ve ever seen most of them play in the days and years prior. They love playing and they love playing with each other. No flagging energy in that room.”
“No slavish repertory music here, no gimmicks, a salvation from the dreary shit promoted by the US American mainstream. A new meaning to the description Hot Jazz. A wonderful version of “Beauty Is A Rare Thing” – Indeed it is. Thank you Eric, Ornette would love this band.”
(Montreal)
Ellwood Epps
Our Artist in Residence, trumpeter ELLWOOD EPPS will open the final night’s festivities with a short solo set
See Through Trio + Chris Palmer + Dale Morningstar
(Toronto)
See Through Trio
TANIA GILL piano KAREN NG saxophone PETE JOHNSTON bass
See Through Trio is composed of TANIA GILL (piano), KAREN NG (saxophone), and PETE JOHNSTON (bass). Based in Toronto, the members of the trio share an interest in collective improvisation and collaborative composition. See Through Trio’s music encompass a diverse range of influences, from the 1960s jazz avant-garde of Carla Bley and Ornette Coleman to psychedelic British folk. These distinct sounds are connected by the playful deconstructionist spirit of jazz. See Through Trio performs frequently in Toronto, and has toured the East and West coasts of Canada. Their debut CD Our Own Devices was released in June 2007; Lines and Spaces followed in 2009 and Near Northern Static in 2012 . Their newest album, titled Parallel Lights was released in October 2014.
“See Through Trio offers the listener a refreshing mix of improvised interaction blended with beautiful, clever compositions (and clever titles). Music worth hearing in your mind’s ear.”
Formed in 2004, the trio’s primary musical influences are the free-jazz innovators of the early 1960s, especially Jimmy Giuffre, Carla Bley, and Ornette Coleman. The subsequent free improvisation scene that developed in Europe is also an important touchstone, as is the psychedelic folk music and progressive rock that emerged from the UK in the 1960s and 70s. Each member of the group has played in many bands – a wide range of musical styles, including: traditional jazz, math rock, folk, New Orleans-style party music, singer/songwriters, big band swing, indie rock, country, progressive rock and more. These distinct sounds, all of these influences have space to percolate through ensemble improvisation in See Through Trio. Throughout performances and recordings, the playful, deconstructionist spirit of jazz provides the foundation for their music. Parallel Lights is See Through Trio’s fourth record, and the first with saxophonist Karen Ng, who joined the group in 2013… with Jean Martin as producer and engineer on this recording.
(Wellington/Hamilton)
Chris Palmer
A truly original improvising guitarist with a keen sense of adventure, humour, fire, curiosity and mischief, New Zealander / Hamiltonian CHRIS PALMER can easily rock a house party or stun a literary audience, hypnotizing them with his charm and chops.
(Hamilton)
Dale Morningstar
Producer, engineer, multi-instrumentalist artist, one of the founders of 90s avant-rock band The Dinner Is Ruined, DALE MORNINGSTAR plays a rare solo set for us on guitar, keyboards or… if we’re really lucky, a taste of the infamous, amplified stationary bicycle! This very creative force has a slew of exciting tricks up his sleeve, as evidenced on well-known Canadian indie-rock recordings he has produced and played on, both others’ and his.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dale_Morningstar
TICKETS: $15/12 students, seniors, artists, un(der)employed
Not the Wind, Not the Flag + Brodie West + Ellwood Epps
(Toronto)
NOT THE WIND, NOT THE FLAG
Not the Wind, Not the Flag is a fascinating project by two deep players, COLIN FISHER (guitar, bouzouki, ney, tenor saxophone, guzheng, hulusi, misc. percussion) and BRANDON VALDIVIA (trap set, mbira, slit drum, percussion), in some ways, their life’s work. Music is a way of accessing the divine. Vibration is the echo of our creation. For Colin and Brandon the experience of music is a transformative tool. A conduit for gnosis and discovering the true self. On any occasion their music could echo the traditions of Balinese music, West African music, Persian or Turkish music or it could be devastatingly loud post-hardcore, noise, free-jazz eruptions. Or all of the aforementioned at once! The music refrains from being derivative but comes from a place of deep respect for the music that has lifted and guided their spirits.
(Hamilton)
Brodie West
BRODIE WEST is an alto saxophonist and composer currently living in Hamilton and has been an active member of Toronto’s creative music scene for the past 20 years, having played with many of Toronto’s finest musicians. Notably he was a member of Drumheller, Deep Dark United, The Woodchoppers Collective and Zebradonk. He has toured and recorded with international musicians Getatchew Mekuria, Han Bennink, The Ex, Ken Vandermark and Mohammed Jimmy Mohammed. He plays with The Lina Allemano 4 and The Ryan Driver Sextet. West leads his own ensemble Eucalyptus (since 2009) and performs solo. He is currently working in collaboration with Andrew Zukerman in a duo setting and Evan Cartwright also as a duo. West has toured extensively throughout the USA, Europe and Canada. He has also made several trips to Ethiopia. He has appeared at several international music festivals and has made guest appearances on many recordings including Jennifer Castle Pink City, Nifty Pity Slash Love, Tenderness The Axe is Ready, The Ryan Driver Quintet Plays the Music of Steven Parkinson and Broken Social Scene You Forgot it in People.
(Montreal)
Ellwood Epps
Our Artist in Residence, trumpeter ELLWOOD EPPS performs a short solo set
TICKETS $15/12 students, seniors, artists, un(der)employed
IMPROVISATION WORKSHOP
The focus of this workshop will be…improvised! That is to say, it is open to players and listeners of all persuasions. Depending on who you, the participants are, the workshop will involve playing, discussing the life of an improvising musician, and the practicalities of the creative trumpet player in the year 2015. Musicians should bring their instruments. Ellwood Epps founded the Studio d’Improvisation de Montréal in 2009. This series of workshops has welcomed dozens of players of all ages and backgrounds, and many of its participants have become active members of Montréal’s improvised music community. Ellwood has also been a guest workshop leader across Canada.
TICKETS: this was a free event
Oswald/Malone/Lee/Fraser + Aldcroft/Thomson + Ellwood Epps
(Toronto/Hamilton/London)
OSWALD/MALONE/LEE/FRASER
JOHN OSWALD alto-saxophone DAVID LEE bass TERRY FRASER percussions MIKE MALONE trumpet
World-renowned Toronto composer, sound artist improviser, alto-saxophonist JOHN OSWALD of Plunderphonics fame and the ever-fluid, nimble London free-jazz percussionist TERRY FRASER meet two talented Hamiltonians; adventuresome improviser, bassist DAVID LEE and versatile jazz trumpeter MIKE MALONE. First encounters are often the most precious and exciting, especially, for creative forces with such disparate backgrounds!
(Toronto/Montreal)
ALDCROFT/THOMSON
KEN ALDCROFT guitar SCOTT THOMSON trumpet
Fresh off a European tour and a recording (Red & Blue on Trio Records), this dynamic duo have a decade of playing, recording & touring together in a variety of settings and it shows! KEN ALDCROFT (guitar) and SCOTT THOMSON (trombone) have been playing together since 2003, when Scott joined Ken’s Trio + 1, a group that eventually evolved into the Convergence Ensemble, which has toured and recorded extensively since 2005. In addition, they have worked together as co-founders of the Association of Improvising Musicians Toronto (AIMToronto), a musicians’ collective that hosted many exceptional visiting musicians, including Evan Parker, William Parker, Eddie Prévost, Joe McPhee, and Urs Leimgruber, always in collaboration with Toronto musicians. Likewise, they have both played in the AIMToronto Orchestra, a group formed to play Anthony Braxton’s music in 2007.
Following this considerable shared experience, Ken and Scott recently opted to pursue performing as a duo, and recorded Red & Blue (Trio Records, 2015). In this context, through open improvisation, they explore their dynamic musical rapport; Ken contributes the carefully crafted dissonances that refract his post-Abercrombie jazz guitar vocabulary through, for one, Derek Bailey’s technical extensions, while Scott marries the Ellingtonian vocalization of his teacher, Roswell Rudd, with more extreme technical revisions by Paul Rutherford and Günter Christmann. Together, their music is always improvised, bound to surprise.
(Montreal)
ELLWOOD EPPS
ELLWOOD EPPS trumpet
Our Artist in Residence, trumpeter ELLWOOD EPPS opens the festival and the evening with a short solo set.
TICKETS $15/12 students, seniors, artists, un(der)employed
