Preview – Toronto Jazz Festival 2009

Posted on by Mark in Concerts, Toronto Jazz Festival | 3 Comments

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Toronto – Good weather is kind of sort of almost upon us and it’s time for a summer filled with fantastic live music! The Toronto Jazz Festival (sponsored by TD Canada Trust) runs from Friday June 26th till Sunday July 5th. That’s 10 straight days of amazing music at over 40 different venues for your sonic enjoyment! Can you tell that I’m excited?

I’ve been attending the downtown jazz fest for a number years now, and I have to stay that it remains one of my favourite jazz festivals (I have to go to Newport, perhaps I’ll take this cause up with our Editor?)  In any case, there are many amazing acts coming to the city. But I’ll highlight a few of the choiciest shows:

June 26 – Sonny Rollins – Four Seasons

Sonny Rollins has been a grandmaster since the late-50’s with his seminal work Saxophone Collossus.  He is a collossus, and his sense of rythm and phrasing is simply unmatched even today. Toronto has been happy to have him play Massey Hall on on quasi-annual residency. As this grandmaster approaches octagenarian status, I wonder how much longer we will be gifted with his unique talent?

June 26 – Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings – Nathan Phillips

Sharon Jones is a modern day Soul Queen.  Here’s a review of her playing in Toronto last October.

June 27 – Medeski, Martin & Wood – Nathan Philips

MMW sits on the edge of jazz and electronic music. They produce an atmospheric electronic sound. For you electronic lovers looking at jazz from the outside, MMW is a fantastic gateway drug.

June 29-30 – Chris Potter – The Pilot

Chris Potter is one of the brightest of the avant-guarde saxophonists around. I’ve seen him live twice before and both times I walked away with brain aneurysms. Warning: Chris Potter can get crazy (read: crazy jazzy). It’s worth the effort though. Chris Potter will kick your ass. The first time I saw him live in 2004 ranks in my books as “2nd best live jazz show I have seen”.

June 30 – Madeleine Peyroux – Danforth Music Hall

Now I’m not a big jazz vocal kind of guy. Don’t get me wrong, I really do appreciate some of the late great jazz-singers: Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holliday, Sarah Vaughan. But there’s just something about the modern day jazz vocal aesthetic that just isn’t my cup of tea. Sometimes it strikes me as the type of bubblegum that gets thrown on a compilation called “Jazz by Candlelight on the Beach by The Fire” and purchased at a Starbucks near you.

But Madeleine Peyroux is no bublegum jazz. Hers is a serious and legitimate voice that is as commanding as it is genuine.

July 3 – Branford Marsalis – Nathan Phillips

Branford Marsalis has been playing with his quarter for almost 10 years now. That is an eternity in the jazz scene. He’s assembled a top-notch cast: Joey Calderazzo on keys, Jeff “Tain” Watts on drums and the bassist Eric Reeves. They’ve spent the last decade learning to read each others minds and I kid you not that seeing them live still commands the exalted position of “Best Live Jazz Show I Have Seen”.

Now there are many other artist playing at the festival. The big hitters that I have’t yet mentioned are: Dave Brubeck, Gary Burton & Pat Metheny, Jamie Cullum, Kenny Garret, and Tony Bennett.  While the big boys will certainly be fantastic, it may be worth your while to get off the beaten path and check out:

Chucho Valdés – Cuban pianist playing at the Enwave Theatre (one of the best sounding accoustic venues in the city) on July 1st.

José González – Also playing at the Enwave Theatre. Jose has been gaining critical acclaim for his latest album, In our Nature. Jose is certainly more accoustic folk rock than jazz. Think upbeat Great Lake Swimmers. So for the non-jazz fans out there, this will be an amazing show.  His accoustic sensibilities will sound ridiculously good at the Enwave Theatre.

Check out the full lineup TO jazz central.

Concert Review: Jens Lekman, June 7th, Richards on Richards

Posted on by Vik in Concerts, Tweeview | 1 Comment

jens lekman at richards on richards in vancouver

Photo courtesy of Gina Argentina

Swedish solo sensation (and Panic Manual favorite) Jens Lekman rolled into town last Sunday to what I had hoped, make up for a disappointing start to a weekend of concerts from a couple of my indie pop faves.

Researching the gig beforehand I read that comedienne Tig Notaro would be opening the show, unusual for an indie act, but it did seem fitting given Jens quirky nature. We arrived early enough in the hope of catching Tig’s act but instead were introduced to what looked like a frat boy wearing white jeans rolled up to his shins playing an acoustic guitar. I can’t say much about how he sounds because every song sounded the same if you’re just playing a guitar and it’s nearly impossible to vocally compete with all the audience chatter.

Jens and the crew hit the stage just before ten, all wearing red and white in varying outfits and matching key necklaces. Despite not having all the instruments one would expect to hear he did compensate with a added synth and electro beats via laptop, a small issue for some perhaps but with his songs so intricately woven together, the use of a laptop to compensate for missing instruments was essential.

After a polite greeting and a “naïve request” requesting the audience not to post any video of their performance online, Jens and Co. kicked into ‘I’m Leaving You Because I Don’t Love You’ and from the first strum he had the audience in the palm of his hands. The rest of the set consisted of mostly songs from his latest effort Night Falls Over Kortedala with Jens encouraging the fans to hum the melody for ‘Kanske Ar Jag Kar I Dig’ to the entire band breaking out into sweeping airplane like motions and circling the stage during ‘Sipping on the Sweet Nectar of your Memory’. Not surprisingly the crowd favorite was ‘A Post Card to Nina’, a perfect example of Jens does best, tell stories. His spoken word monologue in between each verse gave the audience a little more context to this quirky tune about a lesbian presenting Mr. Lekman as her fiance to her parents. The evening ended with 2 encores, the first and perhaps the song most fans are familiar with ‘Sweet Summer Night On Hammer Hill’ after which he introduced the members of the band, two of which were Gary Olson and Julia Rydholm The Ladybug Transistor.

The set ended just after 11 after a quick 12 song set and the crowd although audibly disappointed the show was over, gave a resounding ovation to which Jens promised to return later in the evening to have a chat with anyone who wished to stay. Needless to say my heart was going Bomp-a-bomp-a-bomp-a-bomp-a-bomp-a-bomp-a-bomp after perhaps one of the most entertaining shows I’ve attended in a long time.

Setlist

I’m leaving you because I don’t love you
The opposite of Hallejuah
Black Cab
Your arms around me
Kanske ar jag kar i dig
The end of the world is bigger than love
Postcard to nina
Maple leaves
Into eternity
Sipping ok sweet nectar of your memory

Encore#1 – Sweet summer night on hammer hill
Encore#2 – Sylvia

5 out of 5

Special thanks to Gina for providing photo’s from the show. Check out a few more at rocksellout.com

Concert Review: Camera Obscura, June 5, Commodore Ballroom

Posted on by Vik in Concerts, Tweeview | 16 Comments

camera obscura live vancouver commodore

Vancouver – With the recent heatwave Vancouver has been experiencing, it would seem fitting to have a band like Camera Obscura adding to it with their warm pop sounds but their performance on Friday night was enough to to have any twee fan cower deep within their anoraks only to peep out occasionally to see if it was all over.

The show kicked off with Sacramento trio Agent Ribbons and they managed to keep the crowd entertained throughout the entire set with their power-folk-cabaret sounds complete with vintage costumes and prancing tambourine player in a masquerade mask. A bit too dark for my taste but an enjoyable performance nonetheless.

Camera Obscura finally hit the stage a little after 10 to resounding applause from the near capacity crowd, and with a brief acknowledgment they kicked off the show with a track from their latest album ‘My Maudlin Career’. The rest of the set consisted of all the favorites from their 3 album back catalogue but as the show progressed it felt like the band was just going through the motions and nothing annoys me more than bands that put on disinterested performances.

I’ve been to enough concerts in my time to know when a band is or isn’t enjoying performing live and Camera Obscura’s performance on Friday night was perhaps one of the more irritating shows I’ve attended in a long time. One could blame the old stigma that Canadian’s aren’t the most lively concert attendees but I’ve always believed that it’s up to the band performing to do what they can to keep the crowd engaged. This definitely was not the case on Friday night. Everyone at the show seemed to be enjoying themselves with loud cheers after each song and the odd dancer closer to the stage. Fairly typical. CO did nothing to encourage the rest of us to clap or sing along and during one track closer to the end of the set, Traceyanne had the gall to take a seat and pan the crowd with a solemn look on her face. I can understand that bands have a unforgiving touring schedule and may not be always on their a-game for every show, but I and every punter in the crowd expect that they at least make an effort.

Hey Camera Obscura, I like you. I’ll still buy all your albums, recommend you to friends and play your songs till no end during sunny (and rainy) days but I think you should take a step back and take a look at how your elders Belle and Sebastian approach live performances. They’ve been around for much longer and always go out of their way to put on a fantastic gig with zero pretension. I’m just sayin’….

Here’s the setlist I had created on the fly during the show. I didn’t remember the names from all the tracks played and was going to go back and listen and add them but I think I’ll put the same amount of effort as CO did and just leave it as is. Enjoy!

#1- new album (intro track?)
#2 – new album
#3 – teenager
#4 – just can’t see 2nd album
#5 – James
#6 – new album mellow
# 7- French Navy
#8 – new album I’m going date tonight
#9 – new album ???
#10 – eighties fan
#11 – songs written for girls
#12 – looks could kill

Encore

Lloyd I’m ready to be heartbroken
Razzle dazzle rose

Photo’s from the gig can be found here.

1.5/5

Concert Review: A Camp, June 1st, Mod Club

Posted on by Mark in Concerts | 6 Comments

nina-perrsons

Toronto – Last night brought Cardigans singer Nina Perssons and her solo project A Camp to Toronto’s Mod Club. Nina is on tour with her band to promote their latest release, Colonia. You can read my review of this album based on Colonialism here. The show was fun, and it was great to see Nina in such an intimate venue.

Opening for A Camp was the indie rocker Gentleman Reg. The band seemed to be happy to be back on home turf after spending some time south of the border. Apparently they hated playing in Washington, a fact that Reg mentioned perhaps 5 or 6 times. In any case, it was a solid opener, and set the tone for A Camp.

Contrary to (my own) popular belief, A Camp, is NOT pronounced like “A Team”. It’s literally just “a camp”, as in “if you look around that tent, you will see a camp.” I learn things every day.

When Nina finally hit the stage a little after 10, you couldn’t help but notice her stage presence. This is a woman who has owned the spotlight ever since the Cardigans broke out in the late 90’s and it’s apparent that she is comfortable being front and centre. Her stage banter was relaxed and playful, often with fists endearingly planted on her hips. She was wearing a black dress; both Nina and the stage were adorned with colonial themes.

Contrary to (my own) popular belief, A Camp, is NOT pronounced like “A Team”. It’s literally just “a camp”, as in “if you look around that tent, you will see a camp.” I learn things every day. In any case, A Camp played songs predominantly from their latest album and on the whole the live show was more enjoyable for me than their studio album.

By the time they truly hit the the end of their set, A Camp had already used up their A List material.

I have to admit that “Golden Teeth and Silver Medals” is one of the tracks on the album that I typically skip; it feels like a trundling tune and the male vocals seem wonky and out of place. The live version of the song was spiced up with a cameo by Gentlemen Reg, not to mention feeling more upbeat than the recorded version. It ended up being a highlight of the show, along with the more standard singles: My America, and Chinatown.

If there is one thing preventing this show from getting a 4.5/5, it was the ending/encore. There was a period near the end of the set where Nina left but the band kept playing and did a bit of an instrumental thing before she returned. This was cool, but it wasn’t clear if it was the actual end of the first set. But that wasn’t an actual ending; Nina came back and played her hits. By the time they truly hit the the end of their set, A Camp had already used up their A List material. As such, their encore consisted of two new tunes. The first was a slower song and it sounded OK. The second was a rocker, but just wasn’t terribly catchy and no one was familiar with it. I felt the crowd lose their gumption for the song a few minutes into it.

The ending could have been a littler better planned. But all in all this show was a solid show.