We're all here because we're not all there.

I've been cautious about blogging this most recent item, because it's been something I've prematurely hyped before, and the internet is far bigger than just my circle of friends.

But it's finally here - Indigone Trio + Strings has been released by Ropeadope Digital! While oddly not available from Ropeadope's own store, if you can't wait to buy it direct from them you can currently get it from your favourite online music downloading service. A quick Google search tells me we're on iTunes, eMusic, mtraks and Blue Vault Digital.

A final reminder that our launch party is tonight at Casa del Popolo (4873 St. Laurent, corner St. Joseph). A real launch party for a virtual release - how 21st century.

High school revisited

A few months ago, I was called to do a gig where the client requested swing dance music. In preparation for the gig I pulled out a couple of albums I hadn't listened to since high school, and hearing them with new ears was refreshing.

Joe Jackson - Jumpin' Jive (A&M, 1981)
I must have bought this when the neo-swing revival was in full tilt, with "Zoot Suit Riot" and Brian Setzer's version of "Jump, Jive an' Wail" seemingly everywhere. I had just gotten into Joe Jackson, and was impressed that he had done a retro-jump-swing record about 15 years early. The energy is high, sounding like a bunch of guys at a pub reminiscing about their father's records, and the arrangements are actually surprisingly clever (especially "Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby?"). It flags a bit towards the end, and Graham Maby's electric bass doesn't have the requisite woody thump of an upright being smacked to hell, but it's an enjoyable listen nonetheless.

Gary Burton - For Hamp, Red, Bags & Cal (Concord, 2001)
My buying habits in high school were decidedly simple: look for players I had heard of and tunes I knew or wanted to learn. More often than not, this worked out. I was obsessed with this record after I bought it, but hadn't listened to it in a long time. I tend to eye jazz tribute and concept records with disdain now, but in the late-90's this seemed to be all the rage at major jazz labels and tended to succeed on some sort of creative level (cf. Herbie Hancock's Gershwin's World). I think my previous exposure to Burton had been the Like Minds supergroup record, which I don't think I ever truly "understood" in a musical sense but appreciated on a surface level. I certainly wasn't aware of his ECM heritage at all.

As for the music on the record, some things were immediately apparent - the burning groove of "Afro Blue;" the incredible unison reading of "Donna Lee" at the end of "Indiana;" and the unexpectedly simple-yet-hip reworking of "Flying Home." That record was my first exposure to Danilo Perez, and while his work on these pieces are nowhere near as creative or overwhelming as his work with Wayne or on his own, it's a treat to hear him sink his teeth into the grooves. Yeah, the marimba and xylophone pieces (in duo with Makoto Ozone) at the end are hokey, but I wouldn't expect anything else from tunes called "Dance of the Octopus."

House of the people

Next week, Casa del Popolo has a three-night run of fantastic, creative jazz-inspired music.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007 - Indigone Trio + Strings (featuring your humble host)
Thursday December 6, 2007 - Thirteenth Assembly (Taylor Ho Bynum, Mary Halvorson, Jessica Pavone & Tomas Fujiwara)
Friday, December 7, 2007 - The Engines (Dave Rempis, Jeb Bishop, Nate McBride & Tim Daisy)


I suppose this could also be called "Invasion of the Bloggers!" week. No matter.
All shows start at 9 pm. Cover varies - check with Casa.

Tropicalia - my first YouTube blog!

Thanks to Kerry Politzer schooling me on the subject in Banff, I've been on a Brazilian music kick for the past couple of years, especially the whole tropicalia and MPB movements. Hearing Os Mutantes' "Bat Macumba" during dinner last night rekindled the interest, and I decided to do some YouTube digging.

Gilberto Gil e Os Mutantes:


Gilberto Gil, 1979:


Rare Jorge Ben, 1972:


And finally, some new school. Curumin - "Guerreiro" ao vivo!:

Public Service Announcements

If anyone's wondered where I've been, the answer is - in preparation for the following:

- TONIGHT (November 14, 2007), Dennis Lee's strange brainchild Kids Eat Crayons launches our debut CD, Kids Eat Crayons is for Lovers. We're celebrating at Divan Orange (4234 St. Laurent) with our friends, jazz-rock power trio Sharcut. Doors at 8 pm, $5 entry, CDs and fair-trade T-shirts available as well.

KEC is: Jean-Philippe Major - vox; Steve Reid - alto saxophone; Ben Henriques - tenor/soprano saxophones; Craig Sauvé - guitar; DRR - keyboards; Scott Kingsley - bass; Dennis W. Lee - drums/vocals/compositions/treachery. With special guests!

- TOMORROW NIGHT (November 15, 2007), CKUT celebrates "20 years between your ears" with a birthday blowout at La Sala Rossa (4848 St. Laurent). The evening starts at 9 pm, featuring DJ Tashish, Andy Williams, the WeFunk crew, and turntable scientists Microtone Kitchen. Trumpeter/co-host Sean Winters and I were charged with forming the PHAZZ EUJORIUM Birthday Big Band, featuring Erik Hove, Gary Schwartz, and Jim Doxas, among others.

- WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 5 marks the return of Indigone Trio + Strings at Casa del Popolo (4873 St. Laurent). There will be some new faces and new music, and more announcements involving this group are coming shortly.

- I'm honoured to have a very smart musician ask me to be in even more esteemed company on an IAJE panel regarding jazz and blogs. I've also booked a gig to coincide with it at Trane Studio (964 Bathurst, north of Bloor) on Saturday, January 12, with my "Toronto trio" of Michael Herring - bass; and Nick Fraser - drums.

Nice work if you can get it

The Quartier des Spectacles here in Montreal, known more commonly as Jazz Fest central, has received $120M in funding from the city, province and federal government. While I'm impressed that our leaders have been nudged awake into realizing how important arts and culture is to the identity - and tourism revenue - of Montreal, I can't help but feel that it's too little, too late. The new plan is eerily similar to the old plan of Bernard Landry that, for whatever reason, was forgotten by Jean Charest and swept under the rug, thus contributing to the buy-out and demolition of Spectrum into a big box store and office complex. The empty gravel pit above Jeanne-Mance and Ste-Catherine (officially known as Balmoral Island) will house "Place du Quartier des Spectacles," a building again derived, if not entirely jacked, from the Landry plan that will house a Spectrum-like club. Under the Landry plan it would have also been the new home of the OSM, in a concept similar to Lincoln Center. The other empty lots on Ste-Catherine near Clark will be revamped with cultural exhibition spaces.

It is imperative to the history and character of this city that a room like Spectrum be replaced - not only was it the hub of both Jazz Fest and Francofolies, but it hosted various different artists throughout the year and was easily the best sounding room in the city. Sure, Salles de Gesu on Bleury sounds fantastic as well, but it's tiny compared to Spectrum and it cannot properly deal with electrified instruments. Its central location downtown was accessible to tourists - the only comparable venues in size are out in the Gay Village (Theatre National) or on the northeastern corner of Parc Lafontaine (Cabaret La Tulipe), certainly off the beaten path of most festival-goers.

At the latter venue, I saw Sharon Jones & her Dap-Kings on Sunday evening. Having seen her before on the outdoor mainstage of Jazz Fest and a sweaty, tiny basement club on St. Laurent, I know her vibe and enjoy every retro-soul-revue second of it. As Mwanji commented on her Belgian appearance, Jones is no pretender. She has always been a legitimate heir to the soul throne, and while retro, her sound isn't a nostalgia trip or whimsical props to the masters. The sound is delivered with conviction and strength and therefore rendered current. The theatrical production Mwanji referenced took place here, with the added bonus of some of the dancers Jones brought up on stage being local Montreal b-boys (and b-girl). Sharon was thoroughly impressed and even relinquished the spotlight briefly to showcase these dancers. I have to say though, that sound was an issue all night, with Jones forced to work monitor instructions into her stage banter, and the opening tenor sax solos were all but inaudible. How do you forget to put the horns - in a SOUL BAND - through the PA?

School's out

I realized I'd fallen behind in my blogging when Scott C came down to Toronto for a couple of days and called me out on it. The truth is, once the Red Bull Music Academy studios got wired up, there wasn't a lot of time left for blogging. Between the lectures and the related gigs, we all tried to cram in as much studio time as possible.

Lots of memories have been made in those rooms: from the live room housing a beautiful Suitcase Rhodes which I played fairly often, to the smaller computer-based studios that hosted all sorts of technological experiments. The final tally of projects I personally worked on over the past two weeks:
- A Milton Nascimento-inspired tropicalia-techno tune with Heliponto
- A droney, noisy post-rock epic with Dead Leaf & Lumi
- Bata meets funk with a "cosmic house" interlude with Sarah Lahey, Torreblanca and Kez on drums (this one was my pet project)
- Mellow soul jazz with Kez, Mara TK on bass, and Randy Muller (Skyy, Brass Construction) on flute
- Laying down Rhodes for a couple of hip-hop beats from Marks
- Playing Rhodes on a multinational drum 'n' bass rave-up from Makoto and Denius, with Om'Mas singing on top.

And there's so many other projects that never got started and people I ran out of time to work with. The sheer amount and quality of music that got produced in those two weeks is stunning. I'm a big fan of Kat! Heath!'s first-ever production with Torreblanca and Sarah ("Que Esperas," on Juan's MySpace) and DJ Shiva's Niagara-inspired "Sunset" (not online yet). The gigs and afterhours parties were equally awesome - Kat's poppy party rockers; Denis' high-octane drum 'n' bass set; Kazuki's musically omnivorous set; Maritina's disco gems; and Mara TK just owning the stage with a guitar and laptop. The biggest surprise was Belfast's Defcon, whose productions run closer to Prefuse 73 and Madlib, going all indie on us with an epic tale of psycho lovers. Never mind the closing night madness with Zinc & Makoto going insane with d'n'b and dub-step, and then moving on to Om'Mas busting out some Sa-Ra joints after a killer DJ set.

It's always a thrill to re-examine how I think about music and to see how others conceive of it. I've come out of this with new friends and new collaborators from all over the world, and I already miss them dearly.

Wheels of Steel

Just a quick update before I go see my fellow RBMA participants DJ Shiva, Tufan Demir (Sensible Sucker) and Kat Heath spin tonight. The Academy's been off to a ripping start, despite the construction and setup still ongoing around us. I jammed on some Stevie Wonder tunes last night with Om'Mas from Sa-Ra on bass; he's part of the Studio Team. All the computer gear is Apple, which is good in one sense because I get to muck around with the Logic plug-ins, Sculpture and EXS24 and the like; and on the other, it's an additional hurdle for me, being a PC boy and not the most music-tech savvy of the bunch.

Premier last night was crazy. He lived up to his lecture and his pronouncements about keeping it real despite the advent of Serato and various virtual turntable software developments. His cutting and scratching was top-notch. The opening DJs (I didn't catch their names) stepped up their game accordingly, and played a lot of great tracks. They dropped Dead Prez's "Hip-Hop" really early in the night, I thought, and they cut to the next song before the second verse.There were a few hip-hop show rituals that didn't sit well with me (i.e. overzealous hype men), but I chalk it up to it being a tradition I'm not totally immersed in.

I don't know when I stopped being able to deal with crowds, but I left around 1:30, before DJ Scratch from EPMD and DJ Dummy did a three-man merry-go-round with Premier. Damn.

PS: Props to RBMA for syndicating this. I'm honoured to be a surrogate member of the Content Team.

Hogtown Syncopation

(blogging from my room at the Gladstone Hotel)

I arrived in Toronto on Friday afternoon, and have spent the weekend before the Red Bull Music Academy kicks off (re-)discovering the city. It's been nearly a year since my last visit, and three-and-a-half had passed before that. I suppose it's technically "home," but it doesn't feel like it. I left when I was sixteen, and therefore always underage, so I never went out on Queen West or in Kensington Market when I lived here. My downtown experience was more around the Royal Conservatory, University of Toronto, the Bloor/Avenue area, with the occasional foray into Steve's. This is a side of Toronto I haven't really experienced in-depth before, and I have to say my feelings on the city are starting to change. I still despise the suburban sprawl of the GTA, but Queen West, College St. and the Market aren't so bad. There's still something about Montreal that serves as an inspiration and muse for me, but I can't really put my finger on it at the moment.

I'm quite excited for the Academy to begin this afternoon; the weekend has been spent meeting and hanging out with my colleagues from all over the world, enjoying the selections of Jake One at Supermarket on Friday night and the organic soul blowout last night courtesy of Georgia Anne Muldrow, Dudley Perkins, and DJs Jason Palma and Sean Sax. I've listened to Palma's show on CIUT for years, and it was a treat to finally see him spin.

I'll attempt to do a fairly thorough live-blog here for the next two weeks, but surf on over to the RBMA website for constant updates on the whole thing. Tonight: the first workshop/meeting and DJ Premier's party at Revival.

Repertory reputation

Dave Douglas, as usual, has posted a thought-provoking blog on the role of repertoire in the pedagogy and history of improvised music. I agree with him that freedom, in musicmaking, is the freedom to pursue a given musical direction at any given time. And while I also hasten to give one methodology be-all and end-all status, I think the idea of "learning tunes" can be broadened. It boils down to figuring out why music works the way it does. One fellow jazz camper many years ago once said that if a certain harmonic progression doesn't appear in the Great American Songbook or the respected jazz canon that follows (Wayne, Herbie, Mingus, Wheeler, etc. etc. etc.) then it doesn't work, and the reason it doesn't work is because it's not there. It's an immature and circular argument, but it leads to analyzing the craft of composition: why/how do certain harmonic combinations work, and why/how do others lead to dead ends?

I don't think it's necessary to be a walking fakebook, either, though having thousands of tunes at recall is useful for some gigs, I'm sure. I do think it's necessary to have spent time with the material - be it the jazz canon, or classical repertoire, or pop music - and check out its elements. That can be done through careful listening or score-reading. What is the Motown sound? Why does Berg sound different than Schoenberg and Webern? I find I often learn more from picking out certain elements from records and pieces than I do from intensive instrumental practice. And whether or not certain musicians know tunes, they've put in the time learning the nuts and bolts of the musical vocabulary. It's very difficult to have a long and creative artistic career without really knowing, even on an intuitive level, what you're doing.

Pat Donaher provides an intriguing tangent, reminiscent of something Greg Osby said at Banff - the idea that music should be a communicative practice, and that there's something alienating in the machismo of inserting the Countdown matrix or chromatic 2-5s everywhere. Osby used the example of Duke Ellington - if he sat down and played one of his ballads, he could attract women. But "Lush Life" and "Sophisticated Lady" are not simple tunes. Sexist framing aside, this hinges on the balance of accessibility manifest in some musical form, and fulfilling, satisfying artistic practice. On a local level, there's a vast audience for someone like Patrick Watson or a band like Karkwa, and the fact that the songs can be in 7 or 15 doesn't put the audience off. Because the songs aren't about being in 7 or 15.

Pat and Kris Tiner thus lead to the identity of an improvising musician. Some practitioners shun the term "jazz" because they find it limiting. I'm not going to argue with Duke or Mingus. Myself, I embrace the term "jazz" and proudly call myself a "jazz musician." Even though I play other genres and do approach them on their terms, I still view everything through the lens of my jazz training. The way I hear harmony is coming from a jazz background, and is different than if I had spent more time playing in rock bands. The way I feel a groove comes out of my jazz rhythmic practice and training. I don't intuitively structure music the way a house producer like Osunlade does; I still like to hear song form, or at least two distinct sections of verse and chorus.

Tiner mentions the crossover word, and I think the best "crossover" projects arise out of a true respect for all the stylistic elements involved. With Indigone Trio + Strings, for example, I dove into the Debussy, Ravel, Bartok and Beethoven string quartets, as well as some of Arvo Part's music, the Mark Feldman/Sylvie Courvoisier duo recording of Masada Book Two, and the string arrangements of Paul Buckmaster on the early Elton John recordings. I wasn't trying to write strictly classical music; I wasn't trying to get the strings to swing, either. the goal was to write music that embraced the strengths of our trio and the strings, individually and as separate ensembles, and then pushed our collective comfort levels. It's not so much an act of crossing over as it is trying to locate the common ground.

Remembering Zawinul

I'm late on the Zawinul memorial train, but as a keyboard player it's hard to avoid his influence. I've never been a huge Weather Report fanboy, but I remember when I bought 8:30. I was blown away by the orchestral scope of sound four musicians created live, and attracted by the balance of strong melody, lyricism, and almost pop-like triadic harmony with intricate rhythmic interaction. Zawinul's choice of synth patches always struck me as more vocal (even leaving his penchant for the Vocoder aside) than Chick or Herbie which, as great as they are, reflected a sort of guitar envy. I still can't fathom playing a keyboard backwards; Zawinul's WR rig famously contained an ARP 2600 with a reversed voltage control to allow him to play the keyboard backwards.

Given the majority of his reputation was made in his electric settings, it's a pleasant surprise to listen to his early work with Cannonball, before the Rhodes and Wurlitzer made an appearance on his frontier. His accompaniment work on the Nancy Wilson/Cannonball Adderley record is sublime.

As usual, Darcy's got the compendium of tributes. My heart sinks for Zawinul's family, and for Wayne Shorter.

Indigone Trio Setlist - Diese Onze 09/05/2007

(Sorry for the belated update... the setlist was fairly fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants; this is a rough idea of what we played)

Set I:
First Impressions (David Ryshpan)
Solar (Miles Davis)
Pleasure is all Mine (Bjork)
Round and Round (Alex Mallett)
Enumeration (David Ryshpan)
Dupla Traição (Djavan)
Erghen Diado (Peter Lyondev)

Set II:
Bella (David Ryshpan)
Visions (Stevie Wonder)
Law Years (Ornette Coleman)
Love Is the Reason (Alex Mallett)
As of Now (David Ryshpan)
Ramblin' (Ornette Coleman)
Encore: The Boxer (Paul Simon)

Checklist

Apologies for the slow blogging around here, but life's been getting pretty hectic. There's been many things to prepare for, including Indigone Trio's hit at Diese Onze (4115-A St. Denis) tonight. We'll be playing two sets of our usual mix of originals by myself and bassist Alex Mallett, and selected covers. Phil Melanson plays drums. The setlist will go up here after the gig for all the long-distance readers. We haven't played together in a long time, and it felt quite refreshing to get back to playing trio after a year of writing for big band.

It's back-to-school time, which at McGill means the return of Open Air Pub (OAP), two weeks of frosh delaying their transition to university life and upperclassmen reliving their frosh years. There's also music provided by DJs and live bands. Kids Eat Crayons will unleash our madness on an unsuspecting Lower Field Thursday September 6, at 6 pm.

At the end of the month, I'll be headed back to my old stomping grounds of Toronto for two weeks to participate in the Red Bull Music Academy. It's a workshop generally geared towards producers and DJs, I guess, though past lecturers have included arranger/composer David Matthews, drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie and the production team of the Mizell Brothers. I don't really have much specific information about this edition, aside from the fact that there will be producers, musicians, DJs and MCs from far-flung nations, and that it'll be a hell of a party. Check the RBMA site for a whole host of goodies including archived lectures from years past and streaming radio shows. I especially enjoyed this master class from producer/keyboardist Mark de Clive-Lowe. It's not everyday a broken-beat legend name-checks Mark Levine's Jazz Piano Book, and then gets into an improvised hip-hop frenzy with Jneiro Jarel.

There's other, bigger stuff under way for the winter. But that shall be revealed later.

Innumerable losses

It's the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and while the news networks play for ratings with commemorative specials and pay lip service to the victims and survivors, very little is actually being done (except providing shelter with toxic chemicals). I hope there's a large turnout at the Essence-organized Day of Presence. My heart goes out to all those who have been and still are affected by this disaster. I never got to visit NOLA pre-Katrina, and as the mecca for most of my musical interests, it pains me that it may never be rebuilt culturally. Structurally it may well be impossible to build a city on that ground again, but to me it's the cultural environment that defines New Orleans, and the fact that artists are scattered with no means to get back or places to return is a travesty.

My friend, the great organist Vanessa Rodrigues has passed on word that Canada's Dr. Music, Doug Riley, has passed. For anybody who loved straightahead jazz in Canada, Doug was one of the leading figures in the national scene. His tremendous musicality and great spirit was evident at every gig he played. I never officially "met" him, though I saw him play both piano and organ a few times, and I was always incredibly humbled. Playing B-3 with Alex Dean's "Tenor Madness" band (5 tenors, Doug, bass and drums), he could have easily indulged in Hammond tricks and upped the showboating ante, but each solo was well-crafted and wonderful. His contribution to the Canadian jazz landscape will be missed.

More from the Toronto Star and blogger Mark Federman.

Tonight I'm hosting Jazz Euphorium on CKUT, and the plan is now to feature music from NOLA, music from Doug, and an interview I did with Kurt Rosenwinkel during Jazz Fest (which I had been previously planning to air tonight). The Rosenwinkel interview may have to wait.

RIP Max Roach

Steve Smith broke the news, at least in my blog reader. One of the last living connections to the bebop era, the last surviving member of the Massey Hall Quintet, has passed. He, Kenny Clarke and Roy Haynes laid the groundwork for all drummers after them, much like Bud Powell is the root of most pianistic developments.

I don't have much Max in my personal collection, but I've heard what must be a small sampling of the classic records countless times, and his sound is quite clear in my head. The Clifford Brown records offer definitive, textbook versions of tunes that have been studied by countless musicians. Money Jungle is an underrated piano trio recording of the highest calibre. The legacy and discography are too numerous to detail here - WKCR will have a marathon starting at noon EST. His willingness to embrace the developments of new music and of African music, his exploratory nature, is something we should all cherish and adopt.

I can't say I'm stunned - his health had been in question for some years, going back at least to his last appearance at Massey Hall commemorating the historic concert.

Under Pressure 2007 photoblog

Scaffolds and murals
Originally uploaded by Dr Keys

The 12th edition of Montreal's Under Pressure block party/festival was as colourfully vibrant as ever, and better organized, with caution tape designating a clear area for the b-boy battles. For whatever reason, the crowd didn't seem to be as hyped as last year. It was also fascinating to see the changes in DJ technology, from WeFunk's Professor Groove and godfather DJ Kool Herc rocking 45s, to CDJs and now the world of laptop DJing with time-coded vinyl systems like Scratch, which DJ Mana used for his set.

More photos here, with more to be added to the set in a short while.

Pouts' Over (and the Day's not through)

On a whim today, I picked up the Keith Jarrett 1968 record Somewhere Before, one of the early trio sessions with Charlie Haden and Paul Motian. Jeff Johnston had recommended this to me while I was studying with him (along with Life Between the Exit Signs) but both had been relatively hard for me to track down. This album is the one with the relatively incongruous cover of Dylan's "My Back Pages," a repertoire choice that fits in with the folky Jarrett that was to follow in the next decade, but the idea that Jarrett ever got anything out of Dylan baffles me somehow. For someone that disdains the Montreal Jazz Festival for all the extraneous noise and belligerently insists on perfection, the rough-hewn nasal delivery of Dylan seems at odds. Ah well.

I suppose this is a good entrée for me to comment on the recent Umbria hoopla that has circled the interweb. I had a similar discussion with guitarist Greg Amirault during the festival, when our beloved Mr. Jarrett unleashed a similar tirade (equally unfounded and unprovoked) in Place des Arts. Greg went to the show, and even with my press pass I bowed out of requesting the ticket. I saw the trio at their last appearance a couple of years ago, when Jarrett was the recipient of the Miles Davis prize. It was sublime, save for a buzz in the PA which occasioned an abrupt start to intermission, and served as the butt of a recurring joke through the second set. But given the standard behaviour of a festival audience and Jarrett's reviled temper, I have very little interest in going to see him live again. I'm not willing to shell out that kind of ticket price ($80-$100, depending on the seat) and risk an uninspired set, a walk-off, or an extemporaneous rant. Especially not when Jarrett records almost exclusively live these days (save The Melody At Night With You). I would much rather remain in the comfort of my own home, put on Whisper Not and bliss out, not worrying whether some schmuck is going to turn off his cell phone or not, cough, sneeze, or whip out his digital camera.

Some argue that we should separate the artist from the individual. And I have no problem doing that in some cases - Elton John's past addictions and recent tantrums don't detract from my enjoyment of his early records. Miles' carefully cultivated "fuck you" attitude and history of usurping credit and publishing from his collaborators doesn't diminish the masterpiece status of his work. However, Sir Reg keeps his temper in check onstage, and doesn't unleash on the audience. Jarrett's forums aren't punk rock, with mutual abuse between performer and concert-goer; he has long abhorred the give-and-take of performer and audience. He doesn't thrive on the audience's adrenaline or reaction for his creative consciousness, and it's really the audience member's privilege to watch Keith work. External reaction doesn't filter into his equation. So I think it's kind of disingenuous for him to dismiss the role of the crowd, and then go postal when one person in the crowd is doing something that could potentially, maybe, be distracting.

Again, it's not like I'm about to go torch all the Keith that I own - once I warmed to him, he has been a key influence on my playing and is quite rewarding to listen to. I just have no desire to be in the room when he detonates - I know that the magical moments will be captured by ECM.

We be blogrollin'

Some really belated additions to the blogroll:

Taylor Ho Bynum's SpiderMonkey Stories
Jeff Chang's Zentronix
Aurgasm (mp3 blog without your usual indie leapfrogging)
Oliver Wang's Soul Sides

Under Pressure's 12th edition is this Sunday in the alleys behind Foufounes Electriques. Expect the usual mind-bending graffiti, killing b-boys and b-girls, and killer tracks galore from the likes of The Goods (Andy Williams & Scott C), WeFunk (Professor Groove & DJ Static), Mossman, DJ Mana, and the one and only Kool Herc. 11 am-10 pm, free. Afterwards the party moves inside with Narcicyst, Accrophone and other hip-hop talent from across the country.

Funky Revolutions playlist

August 4, 2007. Due to some miscommunication, the mighty Moonstarr dropped in to spin a set as well. Good hang, good times, and a couple of tech glitches in the beginning.

Rahsaan Roland Kirk - "Volunteered Slavery"
Antibalas - "Battle of the Species"
Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson - "Third World Revolution"
Positive Black Soul - "Boul Ma Mine"

Moonstarr takes over...
Bill Cosby - "Get Out My Life, Woman"
Lowell Fulson - "Tramp"
The Meters - "Ease Back"
Eddie Bo - "Hook and Sling"
Bill Doggett - "Honky Tonk Popcorn"
Vanessa Kendrick - "90% of Me is You"
Marlena Shaw - "California Soul"

The Pride set
Lila Downs - "La Cumbia del Mole"
Nina Simone - "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"
Meshell Ndegeocello - "Love Song #1"
Scott Free - "Another Day of the Cruelty"
Femi Kuti - "Beng Beng Beng"

Linton Kwesi Johnson - "Di Eagle and Di Bear"
K'Naan - "Soobax"
Stainless Steele/DJ Image - "Salt Water"
Blackalicious - "Paragraph President"
Vijay Iyer/Mike Ladd - "Cleaning Up the Mess"
Bernard Purdie - "Hapnin"
Les McCann/Eddie Harris - "Compared to What"
Roy Ayers - "Funk in the Hole"
Charlie Parker f/ Miles Davis - "Moose the Mooche (Quantic remix)"
The Ravens - "(Give Me A) Simple Prayer"
Domenico +2 - "Telepata"

Chaque petit cerveau a son propre château

Firstly, my condolences to anyone affected by the collapse of the Minneapolis Bridge. A similar incident occurred in Laval, just north of Montreal, a few months ago and has resulted in an investigation and repair of many overpasses and bridges across the province. One structure that has been earmarked is an entrance to the Ville-Marie expressway, the main highway to downtown Montreal. Very frightening, indeed.

I just came from seeing Ariane Moffatt at FrancoFolies, and she never ceases to impress me. The last time I saw her was about three years ago, while she was still touring Aquanaute, a record of textural, albeit comparatively one-dimensional, trip-hop. Live, the music started to expand, with various English-language covers. The newer disc, La coeur dans la tête, and the live show, sheds the trip-hop for house, glitch, and chirpy faux-reggae on the single "Montréal." The latter has become ubiquitous; I remember the first time I was in a pharmacy and heard that song come on the radio. Tonight, the tune dissolved into a feature for drummer Jean-Phi Goncalves. I was struck by the balance Ariane and her bands have achieved between improvisation, tight pop songcraft, and inventive electronic textures and production. No surprise, given that both Goncalves and keyboardist Alex McMahon are in electro-whiz trio Plaster, and Ariane has collaborated with bands like Motus 3F and Karkwa. The electronic touches enhance the songs, as opposed to defining them - the tunes themselves are often strong enough to exist even in a bare piano/voice setting. Moffatt & co. are not beholden to definitive versions of songs, either, as evidenced in a radical electro-dancehall-funk revisioning of "Fracture du crâne." Apparently, the tour for this record is winding down, and I look forward to what she offers us next.

Various announcements:
- I'll be filling in for Funky Revolutions on Saturday, August 4, 2 pm ET on CKUT. Per regular host Khalid M'Seffar's request, there will be a portion of programming surrounding Montreal Pride (Divers/Cité).
- Spectrum officially closes its doors Sunday, August 5th, with a free bash featuring Michel Rivard and DJ Ghislain Poirier. It'll be a strange evening for sure, with dancing feet and a few wet eyes. I'm still in shock that it will no longer be the nexus of Jazz Fest, or anything else, for that matter.
- ElectroJazz Spaceship touches down again at L'Absynthe Monday, August 6. Expect originals, a couple of covers, and open funky improvisations.
Ben Henriques - saxophones/effects; Olivier René de Cotret - guitar/effects; David Ryshpan - keyboards; Nicolas Bédard - electric bass; Kevin Warren - drums/percussion.