* Contact Cem via cem@zulapresents.org to reserve space and receive co-ordinates. Suggested Donation $15 or PWYC.
Respite, enlightenment, variety, joy, closure, celebrating the seasons…. thanks to the generosity of Guelph Jazz Festival (September 12-15) in encouraging visiting artists to play in the vicinity, we are excited to present in Hamilton some of our favourite visiting artists from Amsterdam, France, Chicago and Montreal, in the cozy, lush confines of Zula House Backyard, as the first instalment of our Something Else! Creative Music Series this fall!
NAIL is Nicolas Caloia (double bass), Ab Baars (shakuhachi, clarinet), Ig Henneman (viola) and Lori Freedman (clarinet, bass clarinet), a quartet combining two solid duos (Mercury from Montreal & Baars Henneman from Amsterdam), each with a distinct and identifiable sound of its own.
Revered Chicago percussionist Hamid Drake, a Hamilton crowd favourite, joins forces with Breton Erwan Keravec, an adventurous bagpipes specialist to play for the second time ever (and this day) as a duo, following their noon performance in Guelph.
There will be at least 4 short sets of music performed; one quartet set and 3 duets. BBQ, food and beverages will be provided, available by donation. In case of rain, or for acoustic considerations, we may move the event indoors.
NAIL is the coming together of two acclaimed duos, Duo Baars Henneman and Duo Mercury. Representing the height of Dutch improvised music Duo Baars Henneman is a musical collaboration which is immediate and honest yet full of contradiction. Omitting displays of technique and instrumental virtuosity the Duo Mercury (Québec) instead focuses on making music with an unmistakable virtuosity of listening, curiosity and playfulness.
The textures created by four wooden instruments, two reeds and two strings are as alluring as they are abundant. This group provides a remarkable vehicle for the creation of new music, adventuring on the divides between exciting and disastrous constructions, creating baffling harmonies between the four singular voices. NAIL’s music is a result of investigating form and inventing possible ways of shaping the perception of time in sound.
Also on the bill are Chicago percussionist Hamid Drake, a Hamilton crowd favourite, with Breton bagpipes specialist Erwan Keravec.
Erwan Keravec is a Breton piper (Scottish bagpipes) whose eclectic path ranges from traditional to contemporary music and improvisation. This encompasses free improvisation with Mats Gustafsson, Beñat Achiary, Jean-Luc Cappozzo, etc.; writing and playing music for modern dance companies (Boris Charmatz, Emmanuelle huynh, Gaëlle Bourges…); a traditional duo with his brother Guénolé Keravec; playing solo pieces written for him by such contemporary composers as Wolfgang Mitterer, Oscar Bianchi, Oscar Strasnoy, Philippe leroux, José-Manuel lopez Lopez, etc.
Lastly, in ‘Urban Pipes’ Erwan presents his work as a composer and an improviser.
Hamid Drake is an American jazz drummer and percussionist, living in Chicago, but spending a great deal of time touring worldwide. Widely regarded as one of the best percussionists in jazz and avant, improvised, free music, incorporating Afro-Cuban, Indian, and African percussion instruments and influence. An immense contributor to the world of sound science, Drake has collaborated with: Don Cherry, Pharoah Sanders, Fred Anderson, Adam Rudolph, Bill Laswell, The Heptones, Michael Rose, Peter Brotzmann, The I-tals, Iva Bittova, Ken Vandermark, David Murray and many more.
Big thanks to the Guelph Jazz Festival for helping make these tours feasible and the Performing Arts Fund NL for helping Duo Baars Henneman cross the Atlantic. Erwan Keravec appears with financial support from Spedidam, Adami, Spectacle vivant en Bretagne and Consulat général de France à Québec.