Coastal Jazz and Blues Society present, The Vancouver International Jazz Festival, June 24th- July 3rd, 2011- 1800 musicians, 400 concerts, 40 venues, spread out across Vancouver for 10 days of listening pleasure.
“No other event offers the range of artistic diversity and top tier talent”. John Orsyik, Coastal Jazz and Blues
The Vancouver International Jazz Festival is regarded as one of the best on the planet by those in the know. Over their 26 year history they have built a reputation for being the most diverse programmers in jazz, so wide ranging are they, that some would say they need to drop the jazz part of their name.
I’ve selected a few video samples of the diverse, and cutting edge programming, that the festival has come to be known for, which can be found below. For full listings go to coastaljazz.ca
Free Concerts are happening all around Vancouver over the next days 10 days. Gastown will have multiple stage free shows this weekend, and next weekend, the Roundhouse in Yaletown will have 4 stages of free music. Something for everyone, guaranteed!
Group Doueh
Tuesday, June 28, 2011 8:00pm. and 10:30pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyStrt0f5cQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzfnyUE8NQc&feature=related
If you think you’ve heard all the great electric guitar styles in the world, think again. This Saharan sand-blizzard of passion and virtuosity will blow your mind. Group Doueh play raw and unfiltered Saharawi music from the former colonial Spanish outpost of the Western Sahara. Doueh (pronounced “Doo-way”) is their leader and a master of the electric guitar. The music is based on the same modal structure as Mauritanian music, however, Doueh’s style is a looser appropriation infused with a western guitar scope, one that relies, in his words, as much on Jimi Hendrix as it does traditional Saharawi music.
In The Country
Saturday, June 25, 2011 7:00pm, and 9:00pm
Roundhouse - Performance Centre - Ticketed
In The Country is a piano trio consisting of piano player Morten Qvenild, bass player Roger Arntzen, drummer Pål Hausken and sound designer Ingar Hunskaar.
The new orphans of modern jazz from Norway! In The Country is the jazz outfit that seems impossible to decide to which musical world it belongs. Is it jazz or is it just plain music that contains inspiration from a lot of different fantastic genres?
Eivind Aarset and the Sonic Codex Orchestra
Tuesday, June 28, 2011 7:00pm, 9:00pm
Roundhouse - Performance Centre - Ticketed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAIzR3sYR8c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWDuoTNUt9E&feature=related
With: Audun Erlien (bass), Wetle Holte (drums), Erland Dahlen (drums, perc).
In-demand Norwegian guitarist Eivind Aarset (Nils Petter Molavaer, Dhaffer Youssef, Jan Garbarek) debuted in 1998 with Électronique Noire, an album that deftly blended electronica, metal and jazz into a riveting new sound. Fast-forward to 2011 and his latest release, Live Extracts. Here, he’s further enriched his compositional palette with everything from delicate, soft electronic hums and occasional jazz-horn flourishes to atmospheric percussion and dramatic, guitar-driven crescendos. A revelation!
Jaga Jazzist
Saturday, June 25, 2011 8:00pm
Venue - Ticketed - Doors 7PM - Show 8PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ws25EyTGdTg
With: Mathis Eick (Trumpet, upright bass, keyboards, vibraphone), Marcus Forsgren (Guitars, effects), Even Ormestad (Bass, Keyboards), Andreas Miøs (Vibraphone, guitars, drums, electronics), Peder Simonsen (Tuba, percussion), Martin Horntveth (Drums, Drum-machines), Lars Horntveth (Tenor saxophone, bass-clarinet, guitars, keyboards), Øystein Moen (Keyboards), Erik Johannessen (Trombone, Percussion)
Norway-based Jaga Jazzist dissolves boundaries while synthesizing elements of electronica, jazz, dub, and avant-rock into a lush listenable stew that’s all their own. It’s a brilliant, multi-textured sound, rooted in the dynamics and instrumentation of jazz (lots of brass, woodwinds, a Fender Rhodes) but able to access the blazing rush of dance music and the arms-in-the-air abandon of rock.With infectious beats and cool arrangements Jaga Jazzist create timeless music that’s melodic, hypnotizing, delicate, and subtle.
Peter Brotzmann’s Full Blast Trio
Friday, June 24, 2011 7:00pm, and 9:00pm
Roundhouse - Performance Centre - Ticketed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlAnBtlItn4&feature=related
Swiss drummer Michael Wertmüller and Greek electric bassist Marino Pliakas, Peter Brotzmann, reeds
FULL BLAST is one of his most explosive groups, built on the ferocious metal wallop of Swiss drummer Michael Wertmüller and Greek electric bassist Marino Pliakas. The unit expresses Brötzmann’s unshakeable belief in the sheer physical power of sound to transform the listener—"intense yet paradoxically blissful music". This is not for the faint of heart, if you have any sort of cardiac concerns do not try this, the pace is just too intense, and may lead to hospitalization or worse. Hardcore athletes, this for you!
The Thing
Saturday, July 2, 2011 7:00pm, and 9:00pm
Roundhouse - Performance Centre - Ticketed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8Uu-XupUhU
This Scandinavian threesome features one of Sweden’s leading sax players, Mats Gustafsson, and the ubiquitous and brilliant Norwegian rhythm section of drummer Paal Nilssen-Love and bassist Ingebrigt Håker-Flaten.
All three musicians play with remarkable energy, fire, and spirit with The Thing mixing free-jazz ecstasy with garage-rock intensity. The acoustic trio’s unusual repertoire is a combination of post-sixties new jazz (Don Cherry, Peter Brötzmann, Joe McPhee) and hard-rock wail (White Stripes, P.J. Harvey, Sonics). But this ain’t no watered-down hybrid. The Thing takes the most uncompromising aspects of both genres and turns up the heat, not to mention the volume.
Blonde Redhead
Saturday, June 25, 2011 9:00pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7FqUNlEdwA
With: Kazu Makino (vocals/guitar), Amadeo Pace (vocals/guitar), Simone Pace (drums).
“They are some of the most uncompromising, wildly original music makers in America.”—New Music Express
New York-based art rockers Blonde Redhead continue to produce mesmerizing, double-edged compositions that are simultaneously bewitching and sublimely disquieting. And unlike other avant experimenters whose music often comes across as overly intellectual, this trio’s output is immersed with powerful, lava-hot emotions. Consisting of Italian brothers Amadeo Pace (vocals/guitar) and Simone Pace (drums) with Kazu Makino (vocals/guitar) from Japan, Blonde Redhead has built a near-fanatic following. Consequence of Sound calls new release Penny Sparkle “a rewarding continuation of the band’s pop elegance, sensuality and otherworldliness.”
