to jazz

TO Jazz Review: Spanish Harlem Orchestra, June 26, Metro Square

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Mark in Concerts, Toronto Jazz Festival | 3 Comments

Toronto – The first thing I noticed about the Toronto Jazz Festival this year is that it has moved. I can easily detect these kind of things because I’m a detail-oriented kind of guy. Also, I’m a quick study. You can’t easily slip things like a major venue change past me. No sir. Especially after a few meandering circles around and through the old venue at Nathan Phillips Square, and then confusing the jazz fest for a homeless man on Queen Street, and then listening to him yell and sing at me while tending to his pet rats. Like I said, quick study.

As a hard-nosed amateur music journalist, I know that you expect me to ask the tough questions. This is why when I finally arrived at the new venue at Metro Square, I found the very first person with a staff badge and asked, “but, but, why did you move?” This man with a hat told me that Nathan Phillips is in the midst of a facelift. Apparently these renovations will make the new square better for every day use, but not so good for festival use. I for one believe him. Did I mention he was wearing a hat, and hats are inherently reputable? Well they are.

“With salsa music, you could be singing about the holocaust and it would still make you want to dance, smile, and wiggle your butt.”

Anyway, the Spanish Harlem Orchestra played Sunday evening at the Toronto Star Stage. This is the Toronto Star Stage at Metro Square, not the Toronto Star Stage at Nathan Phillips Square, which no longer exists. Let’s try and keep up people. Opening for them was Dubmatix, which consisted of two DJ’s, a saxophonist, and a bass player. It was chill reggae beats with some occasionally feisty horn playing. Creatively mixing beats is no small feat. However, it’s interesting how much a difference a charismatic vocalist can make. They play such a crucial role as a focal point for a band. Without one, I just didn’t know who or what to focus on.

Next up was the Spanish Harlem Orchestra. Not only did they have one vocalist, they had three. This made it very easy for the crowd to focus. The singers would sing, and we would look at them. Problem solved. They were backed by a hefty brass section, and some top-notch percussionists. It was tight, upbeat, happy salsa music. At least I think it was happy. I don’t speak Spanish so I can’t  tell if the lyrics were happy or not. Still, with salsa music, you could be singing about the holocaust and it would still make you want to dance, smile, and wiggle your butt. By the end of the show, the band had succeeded in getting most of the people in the tent up and dancing. Not bad for a Sunday evening.

Dubmatix: 

Spanish Harlem Orchestra:

TO Jazz Preview: Interview with Eric Krasno of Soulive

Posted on June 24, 2011 by Mark in Concerts, Toronto Jazz Festival | Leave a comment

Toronto – Today marks the start of the Toronto Jazz Festival. For the next ten days, the city will be teeming with fantastic musicians playing venues large and small. You can check out some of the highlights of the line-up here.

In anticipation of the festival, I had a chance to chat with the guitarist of soul/jazz/funk outfit Soulive, Eric Krasno. We talked about their latest album, Rubber Soulive, and also dove into how new technologies like do-it-yourself studios, grassroots record labels, and the internets are changing the the face of music.

Mark: Soulive has been doing jazz, soul and funk for over a decade. This latest album, Rubber Soulive, is a funkified Beatles tribute.

Eric: It’s kind of a take on the Rubber Soul album that they did. In London [white guys playing soul music was called rubber soul]. We ended up calling it Rubber Soulive based on the Beatles album, but ended up taking other Beatles tunes as well.

MJ: What was the motivation behind this album?

EK: We had talked about doing a covers album. At first we were talking about doing a British Invasion thing, where it was different British groups, this was right around when they did the re-master of the Beatles stuff. Originally it was going to be an EP. The first session we just sat and listened to a bunch of tunes and talked about which ones would translate best into our instrumentation and our style, and then we just recorded them live in the studio pretty quickly and organically.

MJ: Over the last decade, you’ve worked with a number of different record labels. You were involved in Velour, a couple of years with Blue Note, and a brief stint with Stax. Now you’ve gone your own route with Royal Family. I’m curious about how the record label has influenced your sound and how you make music over the years.

EK: We’ve been pretty fortunate that labels didn’t really tell us what to do. The difference really is when you have a big budget. As we decided to do it on our own, we had to be a little bit more aware of what we’re spending. We have our own studios now, so we’re able to record a lot easier, but we’ve been fortunate in that we could pretty much record and hand in what we wanted to put out and they’d put it out. It’s a lot different if you’re a pop singer on a major label where you don’t have a lot of influence over what you do.

MJ: So what was the prime motivation then to break out with the Royal Family?

EK: We had [wanted to enter into a subsidiary deal with labels, but it didn’t pan out so we started our own]. Now we’re doing all of our other projects as well. We can put out live recordings every night. We actually offer our recording of our shows live at the show that night, so you can leave with a copy of the show that was just played.

Things like that we weren’t allowed to do on major labels: being able to put out as much music as we want, and put stuff out for free on the internet. For the number of albums we were selling, it made more sense to do it ourselves.

MJ: Things are moving very quickly in the music industry with technology and the movement online. It sounds like with the Royal Family you’ve got a little more freedom to embrace the change.

EK: Absolutely, that’s exactly what we’re trying to do.

MJ: How has the Soulive sound changed over the last decade?

EK: It has evolved in that we’ve got better as a group, as far as communicating and improvising, and [we’ve also] allowed other influences to seep in. It started out just organ, guitar, and drums, and now … our palette has expanded.

MJ: From a guitar point of view, what are some of your influences? I don’t want to load this question, but there are certainly some people that pop in my mind when I listen to you.

EK: I was a huge Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page fan; a big rock & roll fan as a kid. Stevie Ray Vaughan was a good one, and then later on I found Grant Green and Wes Montgomery. It’s a combination of all those things really.

MJ: I’m glad you said Grant Green, because that’s definitely what I had in my mind when I was listening to Rubber.

You seem to be doing a lot of studio work and live touring. Do you like the mix?

EK: I kind of need the mix. I’ve also produced a lot of records over the last ten years; everything from hip-hop, to pop, to African music. It’s nice because I can try all sorts of different things when I’m in the studio. But then after a while, I like to get out and play, and then when I’m out on the road, I get sick of the road too, so I definitely dig the balance.

MJ: So if you were heading to a deserted island and you had to pick one Beatles album, which one would you have to take?

EK: For me it’s Abbey Road, I have to say.

MJ: Nice.

Soulive plays this Monday (June 27th) at the Horseshoe Tavern at 9:30 and 11:30.

Soulive – Drive My Car – Rubber Soulive by royalfamily

TO Jazz Review: Dave Brubeck Quartet, July 1, Nathan Phillips Square

Posted on July 3, 2009 by Brian in Concerts, Toronto Jazz Festival | 2 Comments

brubeck-quartet

Once in a great while you may be watching a show of some sort, and at any given moment, maybe even after the show is over, it’ll hit you: you’re witness on this night to something that’s truly special.

On Canada Day in Nathan Phillips Square, there were many moments when I sat in slack-jawed amazement watching Dave Brubeck and his quartet – saxaphonist/flautist Bobby Militello, bassist Michael Moore, and drummer Randy Jones – and even more such moments when they were joined on stage by Brubeck’s son Matthew on cello. But my real “holy sh*t” moment came when I went home and looked up just how old Dave Brubeck is now. And I was struck by this question:

How can a man who’s pushing 90 years of age be that incredibly good, lead a quartet/quintet that incredibly tight, play for nearly two solid hours in the not inconsiderable humidity, and end with two of his most recognizable tunes that were recorded 50 years ago that still, incredibly, sound just as fresh and cool as they ever did?

Brubeck’s list of accolades is ridiculously long. Living Legend Award from the Library of Congress. Presidential Medal of the Arts. The Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame. Named Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts. Induction to the California Hall of Fame. It goes on and on. Besides jazz suites, he’s written cantatas, ballet scores, a jazz opera, TV soundtracks and for orchestras and choirs. He’s one of the most influential jazz pianists ever for his improvisations and experiments with different time signatures.

And despite having done all this and being 88 years old, he’s still touring. And his show is, in a word, sensational.

Read more

 

icon for podpress  Dave Brubeck – Three to Get Ready: Play Now

TO Jazz Review: Delerium, June 27, Church of the Redeemer

Posted on June 28, 2009 by Brian in Concerts, Toronto Jazz Festival | 5 Comments

delerium-church-to-jazz

Toronto – A seasoned and talented jazz quartet with a couple of critically acclaimed albums under their belt. An intimate venue with great acoustics mere steps from the subway line. A reasonable ticket price as part of the Toronto Jazz Festival. So why were there only about 10 people in the crowd for Delerium’s wonderful show at Church of the Redeemer on Saturday night?

It certainly wasn’t the band’s fault. I love jazz shows because it’s a treat to see a talented jazz musician on stage, the way they can play at a level that seems otherworldly to those, such as myself, who are distinctly lacking in musical talent. It’s an even greater treat to see a jazz group of great musicians who’ve been playing together for a long time; the way they’re able to read and play off each other, to send cues to one another with the merest nod or wave. And Delerium are exactly that: a quartet of great musicians. Every band member had the chance to shine with multiple solos throughout the night, and never missed a beat when they played in concert, especially Mikko Innanen on sax and Kasper Tranberg on cornet, who often went from extended solos straight into perfect harmony.

During their 70-minute set Tranberg charmed the crowd with his playing, switching between multiple bells and mutes, going from soft, mourning sounds to loud wails in an instant, and with his between-song banter. Tranberg had some interesting things to say about every composition, particularly one who’s lengthy title I can’t remember enough of to do justice that he said was written by the composer as he walked down the street and inspired by, among other things, “the Dorsey brothers, as in Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra; of course, by mosquitoes; and by ZZ Top.” And damned if every one of those influences weren’t easily recognizable, especially the mosquitoes. Tranberg (seen on the far right of the picture above) certainly charmed me, but I may be a sucker for a slightly nerdy looking cornet player with a Danish accent. I smiled, looked on in wonder, and tapped my feet through the band’s entire set. My lovely companion, meanwhile, who would certainly describe herself as less of a jazz fan than I, thoroughly enjoyed the show, and was also struck by bassist Jonas Westergaard’s massive hands. When Tranberg introduced a composition by Westergaard as being “inspired by the territory of North America,” she was inspired to reply from our spot in the front row “that’s an awfully big territory,” which seemed to give the band a good laugh. “Maybe after listening you can help us narrow it down,” suggested Tranberg.

Their sound is remarkably varied. Sometimes they invoke the slightly abstract solos of an Ornette Coleman or perhaps Sun Ra, but at others invoke the more melodic stylings of someone like Charlie Parker. With the mention of the Dorsey brothers as an influence on one song and Tranberg telling us another was a tribute to both Thelonious Monk and Tomasz Stanko, Delerium is a band with a clear understanding of their jazz history, while still managing to create music all their own.

Fortunate as I feel to be one of the few who saw them, I felt a little bad for the band for playing to such a small crowd. Can I explain the low turnout for Delerium’s show at the beautiful Church of the Redeemer, an Anglican church right at the corner of Bloor and Avenue Road? I wish I could. Maybe people didn’t know where the venue was. Maybe more and more people expect more mainstream acts in their jazz festivals. My companion remarked, though, sometimes it’s nice to see a jazz band at a jazz festival, especially one as talented and polished as Delerium.

4_5

This is Delerium’s first tour of North America. They’re on the jazz festival circuit, with their stop in Toronto coming after festival dates in Rochester and Ottawa. Some bands might be discouraged by such a small turnout early in their tour, but bassist Jonas Westergaard wasn’t.

“It would be [discouraging] if it was our only show over here,” he said after the show. “It would be a long way to come for almost nothing.”

I just hope the low turnout doesn’t sour them on coming back to Toronto. See their shows during the rest of their tour, many of which are free as part of other jazz fests, so that they come back to North America some day.

North American Tour Dates:

June 28: Coastal Jazz, Vancouver BC
June 29: Coastal Jazz, Vancouver BC
July 1: Jazzfest International, Victoria BC
July 2: Saskatchewan Jazz Festival, Saskatoon

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