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Thursday, 17 May 2012
Saxophonist Zakari Frantz sees free jazz as growing out of jazz's tradition of improvisation – not as a wildly different type of music.
Together with guitarist Tim Bedner and drummer Mike Essoudry, he's presenting the first Peace & Rhythm concert Friday night at GigSpace. And while the trio's music that night will be completely improvised, there still will be melody and harmony and rhythm – all those aspects that listeners enjoy in regular jazz.
"There's so much about music that all of us get; it's that common language. I think that language can still be used in free music."
Frantz plays alto sax in a wide variety of groups in Ottawa, including The Souljazz Orchestra (AfroBeat/jazz), Slim Moore and the Mar-Kays (soul), the Kelly Craig Sextet (modern jazz), the Jivewires (swing), and his own Curiosity Killed the Quartet every Monday night at Le Petit Chicago (standards, modern jazz).
But not so much free jazz.
"I've always been interested in free jazz, but it wasn't really something I thought was 'me'. But I've always been mostly into just improvising freely as a soloist. It's pretty much how I practice now, rather than going through any routine, I just spend a lot of time improvising freely. And I know that Tim does that when he practices, and so does Mike. So the idea was that just 'isn't that free jazz at its essence?', and to really come in as a trio and see if it works with three people doing it together."
He said he had been wanting to try a free jazz concert for a while. "I just wanted to throw the book out the window, and say well, in terms of the things that we already feel as musicians, the three of us: everything from song form to creating a good melody to creating an underlying beat. We understand form, and rhythm, and harmony in melody. Does it need to be written down? Can it just be created on the spot?"
And Bedner and Essoudry were natural partners for that, since Frantz had played with both many times in many different combinations. Essoudry in particular is known for his free jazz partnership with alto saxophonist Linsey Wellman and for his participation in many IMOO concerts.
Read more: Peace & Rhythm: free jazz that sustains the melody
The Kelly Craig Sextet plays Adam Daudrich
Friday, May 11, 2012
National Arts Centre, Fourth Stage
The connections among jazz scenes in different cities are often very personal. It's often who's previously played with whom, where musicians have studied, who happened to move and brought their contacts with them.
And the interactions that result can often lead to cross-pollination and compelling music.
Ottawa trumpeter Kelly Craig's current sextet is a perfect example: two musicians from Ottawa and four from Montreal, one of whom is formerly from Ottawa. Their concert at the NAC Fourth Stage on Friday, May 11, showed off the music they've been working on since the New Year, and the strength of the connections that can develop between cities.
Central to the band is ex-Ottawan pianist and composer Adam Daudrich. He composed all the material showcased at the concert – almost all of it in an intense period over last Christmas to New Year's day. He also brought along the other two members of the rhythm section, with whom he has a steady trio: bassist Alex Bellegarde and drummer Alain Bourgeois, both also from Montreal.
Read more: Kelly Craig Sextet plays Adam Daudrich at the NAC 4th Stage (review)
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
GigSpace (part of Alcorn Music Studios) has generously donated a pair of tickets to hear Peace & Rhythm with Zakari Frantz, Tim Bedner and Mike Essoudry on Friday May 18, 2012 from 8:00 pm to 10:30 pm. The concert will be a great way to wrap up your week and start your long weekend.
The collaboration of saxophonist Zakari Frantz, guitarist Tim Bedner, and drummer Mike Essoudry is a parallel journey towards ‘peace & rhythm’ within the realm of free improvisation. Each live performance is a new experience, with no learned music or preconceived set list.
Read OttawaJazzScene.ca' interview with Zakari Frantz about the concert and music
The draw is open until noon on Friday May 18, 2012. To enter, simply email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with your name, email address, phone number, and the correct answer to our skill testing question:
Thursday, May 17, 2012 - 8 p.m.
Tickets: adults $30, seniors $27, students $25
Tickets can be bought at a kiosk at Gatineau's City Hall, or online at http://www.ovation.qc.ca/gatineau/jean-desprez/, or over the phone at 819-243-8000
- Térez Montcalm - vocals
It's never an accident when a singer records an album in tribute to another singer. If Térez Montcalm launched herself into Here's To You - Songs For Shirley Horn, it is obviously because Horn is, as she says, her "all-time favorite singer". Her mastery of ballads is what fascinates Térez Montcalm the most: "She was the only one able to sing such slow ballads, give them such a laid-back tempo, slow the swing down this way."
A real challenge for Térez Montcalm, whose two first albums (Voodoo in 2007 and Connection in 2009) thrilled her audience and the critics with the raw energy inherited from her jazz, rock and funk influences. Thus the warmth of her resonant voice finds new depth in these ballads of a troubling clarity: "One At A Time" on a melody of Michel Legrand, "Isn't It a Pity" by the Gershwin brothers, "A Song For You" by Leon Russell, "How Am I To Know", a famous adaptation of a poem written by Dorothy Parker, sung by Frank Sinatra and Billie Holiday before Shirley Horn.
C'est à l'âge de 17 ans que Térez Montcalm s'est procuré l'album Travelin' Lights de Shirley Horn et depuis, ses chansons ne l'ont jamais quitté. Bien des années plus tard, son étiquette en France, Universal Jazz, lui propose de choisir douze chansons du répertoire de Shirley Horn et de les enregistrer avec quelques grands noms du jazz américain, notamment Steve Williams qui a accompagné Shirley Horn à la batterie pendant près de 27 ans. Shirley disait que les chanteuses de jazz étaient des passeuses de ces merveilleuses chansons devenues grâce à elles un peu immortelles. Aujourd'hui, c'est au tour de Térez de lui rendre un respectueux hommage, sobre, lent qui respire!
www.vegamusique.com/terez_montcalm/
Jean-Despréz Hall
Maison du Citoyens du Gatineau
25 Laurier Street
Gatineau
Thursday, May 17, 2012 - 7 to 10 p.m.
$3 entertainment charge for diners, $5 for non-diners
Reservations recommended
Roddy Ellias will be playing a month of Thursdays in May at Café Paradiso.
- Roddy Ellias - guitar
Guitarist and composer Roddy Ellias began improvising on his grandmother’s piano from the age of six and started playing the guitar at age twelve. His music draws from so many musical influences it defies labels. Roddy has performed with and written music for many internationally acclaimed jazz and classical artists including Lee Konitz, Kenny Wheeler, Tom Harrell, Lonnie Smith, Nat Adderley, Cleo Laine, Pepper Adams, Anne Akiko Meyers, I Musici, the Montreal Symphony, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Michel Legrand and many more.
“Positively brilliant.” Bill McBernie, Planet Jazz
“… from the start (Ellias) delivered insightful solos treading the inside/outside line, and demonstrated a huge set of ears capable of picking up on virtually everything that the others threw his way.” John Kelman, All About Jazz
His current projects include a new solo CD to be recorded this spring, concerts and recording with the Walrus Guitar Quartet, a duo with flute virtuoso Guy Pelletier, a new ensemble with pipa, flute, harp, marimba and guitar, and the Roddy Ellias Trio. Roddy is also currently composing new music commissioned by Germany’s Meininger Trio, music for pipa virtuoso Yadong Gaun, as well as new music for his own ensembles. Professor Emeritus at Concordia University in Montreal, Roddy currently teaches part-time at Carleton University in Ottawa as well as privately and on Skype.
Café Paradiso
199 Bank Street
613-565-0657
www.cafeparadiso.ca
See OttawaJazzScene.ca's coverage of Roddy Ellias:
Thursday, May 17, 2012 - 8 p.m.
Cover: $5/ $10
- Tom Richards - keyboards, composition
- Peter Lutek - clarinet
- Scott Peterson - bass, vocals
- Jake Oelrichs - drums
Riverrun is an acoustic/electric chamber jazz quartet made up of some of Toronto's strongest musical personalities:
Tom Richards, leader and composer, has played with The Hidden Cameras, Dan Mangan, Spoon, and The Wooden Sky, among many others. In this project, he brings his cross-genre compositional style to the forefront - navigating through diverse worlds of sound using a combination of nimble technique and envelope-pushing electronics.
Peter Lutek has been a pillar of the contemporary music scene in Toronto for decades. A virtuosic multi-instrumentalist, Peter tends to make his own rules: For Riverrun he plays an esoteric Turkish clarinet which allows him to split the octave into 48 parts. His sound is transformed electronically through homemade computer hardware and software.
Scott Peterson is the mystic of the group. While exploring the Peruvian jungle, he spontaneously learned to throat-sing in the traditional Tuvan style. He tunes his bass in fifths and employs a wide palette of electronic signal-processing which he controls with his feet.
Jake Oelrichs is one of the most sought-after drummers in Ontario. Anyone who has ever seen Jake play, with groups such as Run With The Kittens or Muskox, has had their understanding of the drums changed forever. His deep sense of groove underpins every moment of Riverrun's sonic exploration.
www.insoundmusic.com/weblog/errunriv
Avant-Garde Bar
135 1/2 Besserer Street
Ottawa
613-321-8908
www.avantgardebar.com/
OttawaJazzScene.ca talked with Ottawa Hard Bop Association co-leaders Richard Page and Ed Lister about the group's music, at their first recording session. We also made some video of them playing during the recording session.
If you like what you hear in the video interview, listen to some online tracks.
Read more: Ottawa Hard Bop Association co-leaders speak about their music
Monday, 7 May 2012
The Canadian Creative Music Collective (CCMC) was one of the first Canadian professional free improvisation groups. Formed in the mid-'70s in Toronto to “play music that is fluid, spontaneous, and self-regulating”, it's never stopped.
The CCMC will make a rare appearance in Ottawa on Thursday, May 10, at the NAC Fourth Stage. The concert will also feature British experimental jazz vocalist Phil Minton, here both to play with CCMC, and to create an Ottawa version of his own Feral Choir project for a concert later in the week.
The only remaining founding member of the CCMC is Michael Snow. Although Snow has been playing jazz piano professionally for more than 60 years (his last appearance in Ottawa was in 2010 with percussionist Jesse Stewart at the National Gallery), he's far better known as a ground-breaking and world-renowned film-maker, sculptor, and visual artist, and for successfully defending his moral rights against the Toronto Eaton Centre when they tried to put Christmas bows on his sculpture Flight Stop.
imdb.com describes him as a “Central figure of the American avant-garde”. He has been awarded the Order of Canada (Officer in 1981, Companion in 2007), and the Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts (Film) in 2000.
OttawaJazzScene.ca editor Alayne McGregor spoke with Snow on May 4 about the upcoming concert and what listeners can expect, Snow's own introduction to free jazz and free improv, and how the CCMC helped introduce free improvisation to Canada.
OttawaJazzScene.ca: What was your first introduction to improvised music?
More Articles...
- It's Déjá Vu with Steve Berndt and Brian Browne
- Making the most of great songs (review)
- The benefits of experience (review)
- Brandi Disterheft Quartet brings an energetic vibe to the Fourth Stage (review)
- Alex Moxon talks about his new 4tet and his music
- Brandi Disterheft: "you can only be who you are, on stage"
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