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Mercury & Eschaton
Mercury
LORI FREEDMAN clarinets, NICOLAS CALOIA double bass
Lori Freedman and Nicolas Caloia have been performing their own music in Quebec, Ontario and New York since 2002. Mercury will present their own compositions and improvisations as well as music written for them by musicians in the “creative player” community. A part of the programme will include one or two works from composers such as Earle Brown, John Cage, Cornelius Cardew, and Christian Wolff, known for their use of open and graphic scores. They believe that they are on the brink of finding a new sound aesthetic: unpredictable, untempered, organic, and irregular, but none-the-less, with cadence, consonance, transparency and silence. The music they seek is dynamic and conversational in structure and has a sensitive, thoughtful quality, rich in polyphonic and gestural interplay. The music can be spontaneously explosive or discretely poised with an unforced cohesiveness. Whether they are pushing the thresholds of their instruments’ capacities by playing in modes of frenetic angularity, or working in “extended” sound worlds and excruciating stillness they are at all times exploring the norms and expectations of musical form. Mercury’s music omits displays of technique and instrumental virtuosity and instead focuses on a virtuosity of listening, curiosity and playfulness.”
Eschaton
AARON HUTCHINSON trumpet, synthesizer, electronics, percussion CONNOR BENNETT saxophones, bass, vocals ANDREW O’CONNOR keys, electronics
A fearless, soulful noise duo, Hamilton’s finest in sound exploration, made up of improvising multi-instrumentalists… creating thick textural noise with vulnerable horn expressions, narrative soundscapes that breathe, bend and distort. Come, listen to Eschaton as they offer a transformative future for Canadian music!
Collateral (Norm Adams, Tim Crofts, Sam Shalabi)
NORM ADAMS cello TIM CROFTS piano SAM SHALABI oud, guitar
Collateral was formed in 2014 at a suddenlyLISTEN concert in Halifax.The concert and recording were so strong and the shared bond between the musicians was so great, that the concert’s music was made into a CD for release.
Collateral will tour Canada to celebrate the release of its independently released recording. The tour includes concerts in Rimouski, Montreal, Toronto, Hamilton, Vancouver and Victoria in April 2018. This tour will disseminate the special live music this trio makes: There are sounds of contemporary classical music, Middle Eastern reminiscences, and free jazz fused together, with a very approachable result. The musicians play and create together with a wide variety of approaches to their instruments, from the most predictable sounds to fully extended techniques. The audience hears the full range of musical execution happening simultaneously! The result is colourful, expressive and powerful.
Sam Shalabi is an Egyptian-Canadian composer and improviser, living between Montreal, Quebec and Cairo, Egypt. Beginning in punk rock in the late 70s,his work has evolved into a fusion of experimental, modern Arabic Music that incorporates traditional Arabic, shaabi, noise, classical, text, free improvisation and jazz. He has released dozens of recordings of many projects from solo to large ensemble, and composed music for dance, theatre and film.
Tim Crofts is a true 21st Century pianist. He performs a wide variety of music in concerts clubs and recordings. However, Tim’s main focus remains improvisation & new music. His musical style combines elements of 20th century classical music with free jazz improvisation and world music aesthetics. In performance, Tim explores the full sonic capabilities of the acoustic piano through extended techniques and a wide range of piano preparations.
Norman Adams is the Principal Cellist of Symphony Nova Scotia, the Artistic Director of suddenlyLISTEN, and a cellist and improviser exploring music, sound creation and multidisciplinary performance. Norm has performed across Canada, the US, the UK and France, collaborating with many leading artists including Joelle Leandre, Eddie Prévost, Pauline Oliveros, Gerry Hemingway, and Jean Derome. Norm has released two recordings with the C/A/P Trio and currently has a solo recording in production. Norm was awarded an Established Artist Award by the Nova Scotia Arts and Culture Partnership Council, and he serves on several arts boards, including the Canadian New Music Network.
ZERO POINT
Daniel Carter flute, clarinet, trumpet, soprano, alto and tenor saxophone Marius Duboule classical and electric guitar Michael Bates double bass Deric Dickens drums and percussion
What started as a simple New York session quickly developed into a collective quartet featuring the great improvisers Daniel Carter (US), Michael Bates (CA), Deric Dickens (US) and Marius Duboule (CH/FR). “From the time we started playing together,” remembered Bates “there was always a specific commitment to dynamics”. Carter added, “I feel like the band, the guys in the band, are very spacious. It can be very nuanced but at the same time very articulate.”
The use of space, simple textures and constant counterpoint, are the key elements of this group. The calm and quiet energy of their album “Thoughts Become Matter” mysteriously seduces the listener without falling in the stereotypes of jazz or contemporary music. Duboule adds “It’s very interesting to see how the music shifts from one point to another in a matter of seconds” and Dickens to develop “Because we all come from different generations, from different regions and became interested in different types of music at the first place, we’re all bringing these different spices in to the same meal”.
Zero Point’s music is entirely improvised, sometimes giving the impression of a known melody or a sound mass, similar to what the spectral music can evoke. Or just like Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler and Eric Dolphy the musicians of this band can also be deeply anchored in the tradition of blues and bebop, which resurfaces in a pictorial way. Zero-point energy describes the lowest form of energy a system may have. In the vacuum, when all the particles have been taken away, there remain oscillations and movement. This energy and the theories connected to it have sometimes been used as a common ground where the scientific and spiritual worlds meet. Thoughts Become Matter is a reflection on the influence our thoughts have on the world we live in.
“A potent meeting of generations, an amalgam of free musical talents”
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“Carter’s charisma elevates this set of a dozen uncharted but restrained encounters beyond the ordinary.”
“This is not sixties free jazz energy music but a refined brand of freedom which tastes like some contemplative medicine here to help soothe our souls.”
A Celebration of the Music of Ken Aldcroft
March 2018 will see a vanload of adventurous musicians from both sides of the 49th parallel travel from Montréal through Southern Ontario in celebration of the late guitarist Ken Aldcroft (1969 – 2016), a long time leading figure in Canada’s creative music community.
Two Hours Early, Ten Minutes Late
saxophone and guitar duo music by Ken Aldcroft
Jason Robinson & Eric Hofbauer (USA)
A celebrated international figure in American jazz and experimental music (“rugged and scintillating,” New York Times), saxophonist Jason Robinson has teamed with acclaimed guitarist Eric Hofbauer (“a significant force in Boston’s improvised-music scene,” Stereophile) to perform and record a collection of sophisticated and virtuosic original music for guitar and tenor saxophone that Aldcroft and Robinson worked closely to develop through numerous performances over seven years throughout Canada and the U.S. “Two Hours Early, Ten Minutes Late,” a title drawn from an Aldcroft composition, is a celebration of Aldcroft’s music for saxophone and guitar and a culmination of the project the two began together.
Mars People
music by & for Ken Aldcroft
Emily Denison, Daniel Kruger & Joe Sorbara (Montréal/ Toronto)
Riding shotgun is Canadian trio, Mars People—which also draws its name from an Aldcroft composition. Trumpeter Emily Denison, acoustic guitarist Daniel Kruger, and drummer Joe Sorbara—all long-time Aldcroft friends and collaborators—will perform “Music By & For Ken Aldcroft” as an extension of an ongoing series in celebration of Ken’s life and music that takes place monthly at The TRANZAC, the de facto home for Toronto’s creative music scene for many years.
Of course, once five creative souls begin talking about spending time together, those souls can hardly resist imagining the possibilities inherent in making music as a quintet. We all look forward to hearing where that journey will take us as well.
Scandanavian Jazz Powerhouse ATOMIC
Fredrik Ljungkvist reeds Magnus Broo trumpet Håvard Wiik piano Ingebrigt Håker Flaten double bass Hans Hulbœkmo drums
Norwegian and Swedish jazz quintet ATOMIC (reeds, trumpet, piano, bass, drums) is made up of some of the most accomplished and exciting 2nd and 3rd generation Scandinavian/European free jazz artists, inspired by American and European jazz/free/contemporary music, exploring adventurous works written by its members. Explosive, retrospective, joyous, contemplative, fiery, intense performances leave audiences in awe. Their strengths lie in ethereal, visceral musicianship as a tight unit with a deep focus on original, creative compositions …improvisational prowess to spare!
Since its inception in 1999, Atomic has focused on converting their deep knowledge and love of the history of jazz and free music, along with well-honed chops and artistic vision, into beautiful, fresh, creative music -without emulating. Atomic plays original music, mixing grooves and modes with a distinctive approach to free playing. Think classic Miles Davis meets late-period Coltrane meets Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers, filter through Albert Ayler, Andrew Hill, Ornette Coleman influences and you’ll get an idea why their joyous, life-affirming sound has spurred collaborations with leading contemporary jazz musicians, such as Ken Vandermark, Chris Potter, Iain Bellamy and Per ‘Texas’ Johansson.
This event was a part of Hamilton Winterfest.
The Cluttertones
LINA ALLEMANO trumpet ROB CLUTTON bass, composition RYAN DRIVER human voice, analogue synth, piano TIM POSGATE banjo, guitar
Bassist Rob Clutton has been a generous and inspiring contributor to Toronto creative music for decades. Cluttertones is a chamber jazz quartet that exquisitely synthesizes his diverse interests – song, long-form composition, lyricism, extended improvisation, extreme textures, and more – through his seasoned bandmates, Lina Allemano (trumpet), Ryan Driver (analogue synthesizer, piano, voice), and Tim Posgate (guitar, banjo). Cluttertones music reveals itself slowly, making countless subtle, mysterious insinuations in place of bold declarations. Disarmingly gorgeous melodies emerge from the fog of thorny group playing, often evoking the simplicity of folk music.
The group has been playing together for nearly a decade, and each of the members have long associations with the others in various projects. This music plays at the edges between known/unknown, concrete/abstract, solo/group, expression/process. Drawing from a broad range of experience—which includes jazz, European classical music, electronica, improvisation, folk, singer-songwriter, experimental—the Cluttertones play what some have called “otherworldly chamber music.”
Peggy Lee’s Tell Tale + Josh Zubot’s MendHam
PEGGY LEE OCTET: TELL TALE
PEGGY LEE cello • MEREDITH BATES violin • KEVIN ELASCHUK trumpet CHRIS GESTRIN piano • RON SAMWORTH guitar • TORSTEN MÜLLER • bass ANDRÉ LACHANCE electric bass • DYLAN VAN DER SCHYFF drums
Peggy Lee Octet will present music from its debut CD, Tell Tale (Drip Audio 2016) at the 2017 Guelph Jazz Festival and venues in Montreal, Brooklyn, Toronto and Hamilton, September 12-17.
The music for Tell Tale was first conceived in 2009 as Film in Music, a response to writer/creator David Milch’s HBO series, Deadwood. The eight-piece band of improvisers drawn from Vancouver’s rich creative music community is understood as analogous to a cast of characters in a story––within the framework of a composed musical suite, each improviser contributes to the unfolding musical drama through small ensemble improvisations and solo ‘monologues’.
The seven composed sections imply the arc of a story and act as launching pads for extended improvised statements that take the listener on a journey that is never the same twice. The musical narrative travels from lush, tender beauty to stark abstractions–from playful exchanges to dense confrontations–always ending with a wild, off kilter parade. The ensemble features some of Vancouver’s most well-known improvisers, all of whom are master musical story tellers capable of conjuring up rich sonic atmospheres and landscapes. Peggy Lee and her band take listeners on a cinematic ride inside the music. Tell Tale has garnered rave reviews locally and internationally.
Composer, cellist and band leader Peggy Lee makes her home in Vancouver, B.C. where she records and performs with long-time music associates including Tony Wilson, Ron Samworth, Dylan van der Schyff, Wayne Horvitz and Robin Holcomb. Peggy also leads or co-leads a number of music projects: The Peggy Lee Band, Film in Music, Echo Painting, Handmade Blade with JP Carter and Aram Bajakian, Waxwing with Tony Wilson and Jon Bentley, and Beautiful Tool with Mary Margaret O’Hara. Peggy received the Freddie Stone Award for integrity and innovation in music in 2005 and the Vancouver Mayor’s Arts Awards for music in 2013.
JOSH ZUBOT’S MENDHAM
JOSH ZUBOT violin • JASON SHARP baritone saxophone NICOLAS CALOIA double bass • ISAIAH CICCARELLI drums
MENDHAM is a high-energy avant-jazz group led by violinist Joshua Zubot (Sam Shalabi, Lori Freedman). Melding swing, new music, free improv, speed metal, and noise, the Montreal group is known for its propulsive and beautifully ecstatic mayhem. MENDHAM spontaneously feed off of one another, grabbing and throwing out ideas at an alarming rate. Jason Sharp’s raging baritone sax crashes into Isaiah Ceccarelli’s machine gun drumming and bursts the music wide open. Nicolas Caloia’s bass balances the group while Joshua Zubot’s hyperactive violin keeps the music teetering on the thrilling edge.
Until his 2016 move to Vancouver, violinist Josh Zubot was a ubiquitous presence in Montreal’s music scene with groups like the Subtle Lip Can, Ratchet Orchestra, Quartetski, In the Sea, as well as pop bands like the Barr Brothers. Equally at ease with classical playing, bluegrass fiddling, and the scrape and pluck of extended improvisation, Zubot is one of the most impressive improvisers at work in Canada. MendHam is his Montreal quartet, a band of massive intensity that can turn on a musical dime and – underpinned by the simpatico bass-drum pair, Nicolas Caloia and Isaiah Ceccarelli – loves to swing. Baritone saxophonist Jason Sharp is a powerful soloist who, in the thick of group playing, is almost akin to a rhythm guitarist at points. A dazzling band.
“Imagine a modern-day Duke Ellington combo spiced up with shards of noise, and you’d be on the right track; it’s music that combines the timeless and the otherworldly in equal measure.”
“ Elite Vancouver musicians join Lee exploring deep cinematic textural journeying and Zen-like moments. Haunting solos transcend from the rapturous Lee.”
“This entire disc is more like a journey or series of stories, moving gracefully from scene to scene. Another winner from the ever-expanding Vancouver scene. Don’t miss it.”
“ …. strongly tonal, even tuneful, and there’s a kind of drifting feeling that suggests the Old West touched by a certain dissonant grit, the combination strongly suggestive of Bill Frisell’s off-kilter Western themes…”
Huge thanks to Guelph Jazz Festival for not only helping create the opportunity for these talented artists to tour our region, but also for encouraging us in the vicinity to present said artists… thank you for the support and the generosity, Guelph Jazz Festival! Their line up this year is out of this world and we should all support festivals so rich in cultural value in our vicinity… let’s support one of the finest festivals anywhere, by attending!
FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS
ANDRÉ ROLIGHETEN saxophones/clarinets • THOMAS JOHANSSON trumpet • JON RUNE STRØM double bass • TOLLEF ØSTVANG drums
FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS represents a new generation of bands from the Norwegian jazz scene. The music can be described as energetic and melodic free jazz inspired by musicians like Ornette Coleman, Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders and John Carter. On their debut album No Beat Policy (2011), Friends & Neighbors created an authentic and acoustic atmosphere that refers back to the political roots of free jazz. Through original and strong compositions, this has resulted in a band sound with strong identity, crystal clear presence and personality. The quintets members can also be heard in bands like Paal Nilssen-Love Large Unit, Frode Gjerstad Trio, Albatrosh and Cortex. Their second release Hymn for a Hungry Nation was received with 4 1/2 out of 5 stars in DownBeat Magazine.
Fire Music from Norway
“The spirit behind the phrase suits the quintet beautifully, and in terms of both historical stylistic precedent and a certain, strong and palpable ensemble identity…Â Call it a neo-“New Thing” sensation.”