Montreal Jazz Festival

[Ed Swinnich]

Since I was crabbing about it, I guess I'll start this thread off.

June 26 - July 6, 2003.

I've been going to this thing since 1991. A great festival in a great city. I can't say enough good things about this event. Those of you who have been attending can attest to the excellence of this festival. One of the nice things about it is that they keep making improvements.

I'll be there again this year, this time with the whole family. Once of the nice things about going to Montreal is that there are tons of things to keep everyone busy - sites, shopping, restaurants.

By the way, I got my ticket pre-sale announcement in the mail. Wayne Shorter, Zawinul Syndicate, Dave Holland Big Band....... Not bad for a teaser.

You can check out their 4 minute promotional video here:

Montreal Jazz Festival promotional video (http://www.montrealjazzfest.com/video/fijm_hv.ram)

http://www.healthwatcher.net/Jazz/logo-dumaurier98.gif

[Pete C]

Ed who?

By the way, I think it would be nice if somebody started a thread about the Montreal Jazz Festival.

[Gary Sisco]

Hey, where'd you get my junior high graduation picture?

[Bill Beran]

Montreal seems to be closemouthed about the artists appearing in the non-featured shows. Tough for those of us whose lives literally revolve around attending the festival.

Does anyone have any idea who Jack DeJohnette will be working with for his Invitation series? He's played with everybody. I recently listened to "Special Edition" with Arthur Blythe and David Murray and was reminded what a great band that was.

Can't wait for the full schedule.

[Gary Sisco]

Bill -- They probably don't know yet themselves, I'd guess, since all of the festivals, all over the jazz world, are all busy booking or trying to book this cat or that. It must be a nightmare of scheduling,really, when you think about it, that whole season. I'm glad all I have to do is buy tix and go the shows, that's for sure.

Ed -- We've been having hangs in Montreal last several years. Keep an eye on the threads, so's you can hook up.

[Ed Swinnich]

Originally posted by Gary Sisco
Ed -- We've been having hangs in Montreal last several years. Keep an eye on the threads, so's you can hook up.

I will keep an eye on the thread. I'm heading up to Montreal July 3,4,5, and 6.

[Gordon B]

Ed, join the party. I'll be there the same days. Same goes for Captain Hate. Gary has promised us he'll me us on one of those days. Chaz Lounge, will you be there then? Anybody else?

[Gary Sisco]

chaz is *always* there during the festival.

Right now I plan on being there one day the first weekend and one day while youse are all up there.

Pete -- Are you still thinking about that first weekend?

[Pete C]

Originally posted by Gary Sisco
Pete -- Are you still thinking about that first weekend?

I doubt it. If I'm out of work I can't afford it and if I'm working I probably can't take enough time to make it worth the trip.

[Gary Sisco]

Frickin' life. Always getting in the way of music. Sorry to hear that, Pete.

[Jazzooo]

Wow--well, it looks as if Glenda and I will have a chance to meet a few of you guys, as we're planing on being there over the 4th weekend as well! It's pretty frustrating not to know the lineup, which would normally influence my travel plans. But I'm sure it will be quite amazing.

[Gary Sisco]

Cool, Doug!

There'll be nuff music, don't worry about it.

[Fred K]

I'm planning to be there for the first weekend, but that could change depending on who's playing. Some of the indoor shows should be announced shortly.

[Gordon B]

Doug, I'm looking forward to meeting you and Glenda. We'll have to discuss '24'.

Everybody going to Montreal should get on the mailing list. We need to discuss the indoor events on May 2 and May 9. Read below from the email sent out by the festival organizers today.

Get ready for a unique event!
Tickets for over 200 concerts on sale May 2 and May 9
Newsletter subscribers get first choice of seats during two days of exclusive sales.

Dear Friends of the Festival,

Again this year, fans of both the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal and Les FrancoFolies de Montréal will have the opportunity to liven up their evenings by enjoying an impressive line-up of indoor shows.

Keep checking your e-mail! You'll soon be invited to have first choice of tickets for concerts being presented at both festivals. An advance ticket sale exclusively accessible via the newsletter will take place May 2 for Les FrancoFolies de Montréal and May 9 for Le Festival International de Jazz de Montréal.

So, get ready for this unique ticket sale and prepare to see many legendary performers displaying their exceptional talents in concert!

[Captain Hate]

Be good to meet you and Glenda too, Doug. The more JC'ers the better, I hope.

[Gary Sisco]

Traditionally, we JCers and a few Montrealers) meet up for a hang at the Wyndham Hotel lobby bar, about 3:00 pm.

Thanks for the notice about the tix, Gordon. I also subbed to several other enewsletters of interest to me, as Montreal is the closest real city to where I live.

It'll be nice to save a coupla bux this year, too.

[Gordon B]

Let's hope that Montreal isn't next.

April 23 — Responding to the global spread of the deadly SARS virus, the World Health Organization on Wednesday urged against travel to Beijing, China’s Shanxi province and Toronto, Canada’s business capital. In Beijing, meanwhile, officials suspended school classes for two weeks beginning Thursday because of the outbreak.

[Gary Sisco]

Can't have a global economy without global travel and hence global viruses. I'm not going to worry about it; ain't nothing that can be done about it. It's going to spread where it's going to spread, in wholly unpredictable ways.

[Ed Swinnich]

I'm not going to worry about SARS at this point. Gary is right. The virus will spread unpredictably and there's not much we can do.

[Gordon B]

Tomorrow, we can pre-order for up to 150 indoor concerts. I'll post below the concerts that I would loosely consider to be 'jazz' that occur when Captain Hate, Jazzoo and I (at a minimum) will be there, July 3-5. Can we reach some consensus on some venues to meet at?

The days and scheduled times are listed below each entry.

Should we buy some tickets as a block? Are the seats assigned?

KONITZ-BLEY-MORAN-WERNER *JAZZ
MONUMENT-NATIONAL(L.-DUVERNAY) [info]
7:00 PM
Thursday July 3, 2003
G ALLEN - C CHESTNUT *JAZZ
MONUMENT-NATIONAL(L.-DUVERNAY) [info]
9:30 PM
Thursday July 3, 2003
KENNY WERNER TRIO *JAZZ
LE GESU [info]
10:30 PM
Thursday July 3, 2003
KONITZ - SPRING STRING *JAZZ
MONUMENT-NATIONAL(L.-DUVERNAY) [info]
7:00 PM
Friday July 4, 2003
ABDULLAH IBRAHIM *JAZZ
SPECTRUM [info]
9:30 PM
Friday July 4, 2003
EGBERTO GISMONTI *JAZZ
MONUMENT-NATIONAL(L.-DUVERNAY) [info]
9:30 PM
Friday July 4, 2003
JASON MORAN TRIO *JAZZ
LE GESU [info]
10:30 PM
Friday July 4, 2003
DAVID SANCHEZ *JAZZ
PDA - THEATRE MAISONNEUVE [info]
6:00 PM
Saturday July 5, 2003
YANNICK RIEU *JAZZ
LE GESU [info]
6:00 PM
Saturday July 5, 2003
LEE KONITZ NEW NONET *JAZZ
MONUMENT-NATIONAL(L.-DUVERNAY) [info]
7:00 PM
Saturday July 5, 2003
STEVE COLEMAN *JAZZ
LE GESU [info]
10:30 PM
Saturday July 5, 2003

[Pete C]

The Spectrum is table seating, first come, first served. Most of the concert halls are reserved seats, except that events at Gesu have been sold both ways. If I remember correctly, it's easier to order by phone than online because I think the Admission website treats each concert as a separate order rather than creating a shopping basket for multiple shows (unless they changed it). Also, on the phone you can discuss seating preferences.

[Gary Sisco]

I'll have to check the website. At the moment, I'd be leaning toward Abdullah Ibrahim, of the choices listed here. I'd like to hear Steve Coleman, but it would make way too late a night, driving back. Same with Jason Moran.

[Gordon B]

Gary, I've never seen Ibrahim so maybe we can meet up on the 4th and have a Canadian hang. CH is also interested in Ibrahim. I'd like to see the first concert because I've never seen Bley, Konitz, or Moran. That concert is all duets with Konitz.

Anybody know the skinny on Yannick Rieu?
I guess it's impossible to catch both the Ibrahim and the Moran trio.

[Ed Swinnich]

I've got three discs by Rieu. He's clearly a Coltrane influenced tenor player but not a Coltrane clone or wanna-be. He's got a nice tone, lots of creativity in his solos and lots of intensity. Personally, I like him a lot. But I'm not really good at comparing artists and I know a lot of you guys here are into the avante more than mainstream. As a result, I'm very hesitant to characterize his playing as on the more adventurous side even though that is what I think of it.

For me music falls into two categories - that which I enjoy, and that which I do not. I enjoy Dexter, Henderson, Coltrane, Rollins, Greg Osby, David Murray, Sam Rivers, Donald Harrison, Chris Potter. I guess if pinned down I'd say his stuff is slightly more adventurous than your average post bop mainstream tenor type, but not avant or free.

I've picked up a ton of discs of local and Canadian artists while going to Montreal over the past 10 years or so. Rieu's are among the best.

[Ed Swinnich]

By the way, if he's playing at the Gesu, that means the price is reasonable and the venue is nice. I'd say he's definitely worth checking out.

[Gary Sisco]

I think Gesu is the best room around, but Le Spectrum is our favorite club. We like hearing music there and the doormen always make sure Bronwyn gets a good seat.

Gordon -- I've only heard Ibrahim once live. Unless something comes up of which I'm not aware, that will probably be the day we're in Montreal. Haven't checked the website (or received any enewsletters, though I did sign up) yet, as my computer's barely functioning at the moment.

[Captain Hate]

Hey guys (Gordon, jazzoo, Gary, Ed and anybody that I've inadvertantly left off), should we be getting tickets as a group? I don't know if anybody is coordinating it or not but I'd hate to go there and be shut out of something that I wanna see. Not to sound too much like a weinie or anything.

Ed, thanks for the synopsis of Yannick Rieu; I'm pretty interested in checking him out.

[Bill Beran]

Are y'all only going to be there the tail end of the festival? I was thinking of coming up maybe 6/26 (would love to see the Shorter concert), because I can't get time off from work around the Fourth, and staying for a couple of nights.

I was a little disappointed that the festival is a little light on the free-jazz end, seems to be the way it's been going the last few years. But just being able to walk the streets of Montreal would be reason enough to come, it's probably my favorite city in the world with some of the nicest people, whether French or English speaking.

[Gary Sisco]

Bill -- I'm hoping to be there on the 29th to hear the Dave Holland Big Band. Will you still be there? I *may* try to hit the 26th as well to hear DeJohnette at Gesu. Depends on funds and how much work is happening.

Capt -- It's kind of early to worry too much about tix but I'll probably be buying mine soon, anyway.

A.g.'ers: Keep your eyes on the calendar here: http://casadelpopolo.com/casa/casa.htm.

[Bill Beran]

GS: given my limited funds I'll be lucky to squeeze in 2 nites, so will probably have to leave on 6/28. The Shorter and Jack D. shows conflict, unfortunately, and I think I have to give the edge to Wayne since I missed him when his tour came thru Connecticut last year. But David Murray is on 6/26, too.

[Chaz Longue]

I've been lurking lately. But at least now I'm a registered lurker. I think.

I'll be in Montreal for the duration and I'm looking forward to the seeing y'all - and with any luck seeing the gifted young French pianist Baptiste Trotignon, Legendary Martial Solal who I've never seen, singer BIA, The Belmondo Brothers, Birelli Lagrene, Italian Pianists Danilo Rea and Stephano Bollani (a favorite of mine), Egberto Gismonti (the though is too exciting even to contemplate), Tord Gustavsen (anybody heard his luminous ECM trio record?), Omar Sosa (who I missed last year to my regret), Holly Cole (who autographed my card and handed it back to me when I tried to give it to her a few months ago - but who I forgive), Karrin Allyson (can't wait!), Kenny Wheeler (another player I've never seen and would drive to town just to watch practice scales) , Lynne Arriale, (GO LYNNE!) Michael Buble, (I know, I know - save it ;-) Peter Cincotti (this kid is going places, friends), Orchestra Baobab(Yeah!), Sarah Jane Morris, (please don't tell her I have a massive crush on her) Theo Joergensmann, and ...well, too many others to mention right now because I'm starved and have to go find some food...

cHaZ

[Pete C]

Originally posted by Chaz Longue
Peter Cincotti (this kid is going places, friends)

Perhaps, but I didn't know you dug lounge acts.

[Jazzooo]

Hey, guys! Sorry to disappear from this thread for so long. I finally got the list of performers--it didn't come via email as they promised--and we're sitting down this weekend to plan our trip. I will post our picks and timetable next week, and hopefully we can hook up--there are so many JC faces I want to see!

[Gordon B]

Should we be getting headcounts and buying tickets or should we wait for the release of the Casa Del Popolo schedule?

[Chaz Longue]

...and don't forget "L'Off Fest De Jazz" which seems poised to use 4 venues this year: Casa Del Popolo, Lion D'or (which were used last year) as well as two others I'm entirely unfamiliar with. The dates are concurrent with The Montreal Jazz Festival.

Here's a photo of Marilyn Crispel and Danish saxophonist Lotte Anker from last year's L'Off Fest, which was taken at Lion D'or. It's as nice as any room I've seen music in, in it's own funky way. It's a beautiful old cabaret. Really special.

Montreal seems to have a seemingly unlimited supply of old theatres, clubs, bars and cabarets which are available or ready to be restored. Every year I seem to see music at a venue I never even knew existed. Plus-there's the very ambitious project the Montreal Festival is undertaking which will connect Le Spectrum and The Complexe De Jardins with a brand new jazz club, and jazz radio station/production facility.

cHaz

[Captain Hate]

Does this mean that there will be a significant amount of stuff that hasn't been announced yet and might be more to the taste of moi? Like La Crispell?!?!?! In the word of my favorite basketball announcer, Marv Albert: YES!!!!

[Chaz Longue]

Yes.

The Montreal Jazz festival itself has yet to announce the 350+ Free events and the films etc. And the Off Fest and The Casa will undoubtably offer much that's exciting.

I hope to see you there.

cHaZ

[Jazzooo]

For anyone who has been there, are there any clubs that traditionally host after hours jam sessions? I'd love to find a place to sit and play a little after watching some concerts.

[Captain Hate]

Originally posted by Jazzooo
For anyone who has been there, are there any clubs that traditionally host after hours jam sessions? I'd love to find a place to sit and play a little after watching some concerts. That would be good too!!! Plus, Jazzooo, after some of your posts on other threads it might be better to have you onstage than in the audience :)

[Pete C]

There are 2 after hours jam sessions. The big one is at the Wyndham Hotel bar, but it gets very crowded and recently the Wyndham has taken to only letting hotel guests in. There's another one at the Upstairs Jazz Club, on Mackay Street (I think), in the west part of downtown. Jazzoo, I think you'd stand a better chance of getting on at a decent hour at Upstairs (which is actually downstairs). I once saw the wonderful pianist/singer Johnny O'Neal at one of those Upstairs jams.

Hate, you might find some jazz to your taste at L'Off, but not at the free outdoor events, which tend to feature little jazz, but lots of world music, blues, and other more crowd pleasing stuff. There's often some great stuff, though, including, usually, a bunch of African music. There are also sometimes free afternoon events at record stores.

And don't forget to eat at the Turkish place across the street from Gesu (I think it's called Vieux Istanbul). One of the best places for Vietnamese food in Chinatown is Pho Bang NY, but it's also small, popular, and gets very crowded. Cam Fung has excellent dim sum. Soto, on St. Laurent north of Sherbrooke has great sushi. Le Taj, on Stanley St., has a very good, dirt cheap Indian lunch buffet. For good, cheap, middle eastern fast food, try Basha in the food court of Complexe Desjardins (their main place is further out on Ste. Catherine, near Drummond, I think).

[Captain Hate]

Thanks Pete for all the suggestions. Right now I'm just glad I didn't plunk down for tickets for the main shows and then find out that there's something elsewhere that I'd rather see. btw, I wouldn't mind catching some blues as long as it's good.

[Pete C]

Originally posted by Captain Hate
btw, I wouldn't mind catching some blues as long as it's good.

according to pollstar:

Fri 07/04/03 Otis Rush Montreal Jazz Festival

If he's not on the indoor schedule, it's a free show.

[Captain Hate]

That should work!!!

[Jazzooo]

Thanks for the info, guys. Not sure about the "stage/audience" thing, but I guess you're right anyway--it would be better for all involved if I was onstange. ;)

[Bill Beran]

Sorry to say, I'm down to selling old records on Ebay to scratch up the cash for this trip.

Anybody have any recommendations of cheapola places to stay in MTL? I stayed at the Delta for my honeymoon, back when I had money and no kids. Now I have kids and no money.

[Pete C]

The Canadian dollar is up to $.72 US. Last summer it was under $.65. The Euro is about $1.18 US today.

[Ed Swinnich]

Originally posted by Bill Beran
Sorry to say, I'm down to selling old records on Ebay to scratch up the cash for this trip.

Anybody have any recommendations of cheapola places to stay in MTL? I stayed at the Delta for my honeymoon, back when I had money and no kids. Now I have kids and no money.

I stay at Hotel L'Appartement en Montréal. I've gone there for all but one of the 10 times I've been to the festival. It's an apartment hotel on Sherbrooke and Durocher, about 5 minute walk from the Festival. No frills The rooms are clean. Each one has a small kitchenette - stove, microwave and refrigerator with a sink and counter area with plenty of cupboard space. All the basic dishware and pots and pans are supplied as well. I take a cooler full of food and eat most of my meals "at home". There's a Provigo Food Store right around the corner to replenish. They sell beer and wine in addition to basix supermarket items.

If you want to go to Montréal for the food, DON'T STAY HERE. If you want to hear jazz and not spend a fortune on your room + food - I recommend it highly.

By the way - no bell service. It's as no frills as you can get. Parking is available either in the smallish garage or across the street at the Delta. It's about $12 Canadian a night. Price of room is dependent on the size. This year, I've reserved a one bedroom apartment with fold out couch for my two boys. The fold out couch is in the living room. There's also a small dining area a bathroom and the kitchen. Plenty of closet space too. These really are more like apartments, not hotel rooms. It's around $129 Canadian per night.

They are usually booked solid during the festival.

[Jazzooo]

Ok--our Canadian odyssey is taking shape! I'm going to post this on the Alley as well, since it's going to give me the chance to meet other JCers who might not be going to the Festival, but...

We arrive in Toronto on Sunday 6/30. We'll spend three nights there, tooling about, seeing the falls and doing other things recommended by you guys. MJB, let's definitely get together. Who else wants to meet for lunch one of those days? Don?

Then we fly to Montreal on July 2nd. We'll be there with friends for 5 nights. I've ordered tickets to three concerts: Mike Stern on the 2nd, Egberto Gismonti on the 4th and Holly Cole on the 6th. The rest we're going to play by ear. Hopefully Mike will be playing at one of the jams someplace after hours and I'm going to try to tag along if possible.

I was tempted to buy tix for Kenny Werner's fine trio, but we just saw him a few months ago.

Chaz, Sisco, Mjb, Don, Capt, Gordon or anyone else--going to any of these concerts? I am not sure what my friends' schedules will be like, but Glenda and I would love to hook up with you all when we're there if possible.

FYI, after that we're driving to Quebec City and staying in that area for four nights.

[Pete C]

Jazzooo, are you aware you'll be in Quebec for the Festival d'Ete?

http://www.infofestival.com/en/index.asp

[Jazzooo]

Wow, Pete--thanks for that! Looks really interesting. I hope we don't get all Festivaled Out. :) Are you going?

[Chaz Longue]

Jazzoo-

I replied to your message in The Alley. I won't bog things down be reiterating my post here. But let's make it a point to meet up one way or another. Perhaps with Mr PC, who I owe lunch because I inadvertantly kept him waiting for same last year :-(



cHaz

[Fred K]

I finally decided on my Montreal dates. I will arrive on July 1 and leave on the 6th. Here are the shows I plan to attend:

7/2 Sheila Jordan at Club Soda, Gabriele Mirabassi & Luciano Biondini at Salle du Gesu
7/3 Lee Konitz w/P. Bley, J. Moran, K. Werner at Monument-National
7/4 Lee Konitz w/the Spring String Qt. @ Monument-National, Abdullah Ibrahim at the Spectrum
7/5 Lee Konitz New Nonet at Monument-National

I will keep up with everyone else and coordinate when we get closer to the Festival.

[Pete C]

Jazzooo, no I won't be in Quebec City or Montreal this year. I'm aiming for next year. I think that's the 25th anniversary, right?

Chaz, I'll probably see you in Burlington Tuesday night.

Fred, so maybe I'll see you in D.C.

[Fred K]

Yes, I'll be in DC for PeteFest.

[Jazzooo]

Fred, that list cracks me up! You must be the world's biggest Lee Konitz fan!

[Fred K]

I am a big Konitz fan and have never heard him play live, so I might as well take advantage of the opportunity since DC hasn't shown up on his tour schedule in the last 10 years or so. If there aren't enough outdoor shows I like, I might add another indoor show or 2 -- maybe Geri Allen/Cyrus Chestnut or Kenny Werner on the 3rd and probably Steve Coleman & 5 Elements on the 5th.

[Bill Barton]

Hello, my name is Bill, and I'm a recovering Montreal-aholic...

Maybe next year?

Enjoy Kenny Wheeler, chaz, we'll be catching him in Vancouver.

Montreal newbies should try a hike up Mont Royal (preferably in the early a.m. after everything on Ste. Catherine has been broken down, the streets swept, and the Labatt's tents buttoned down.) A whole other perspective, particularly at three or four o'clock in the morning.

[Chaz Longue]

Bill, Bonnie...
I'll miss y'all - in Montreal - AGAIN this year.
Yeah-I'm looking forward to Kenny Wheeler - I hope I can see him.

[jazzy mary]

Oh, I wish I were going this year. I had so much fun a couple of years ago. Chaz was the perfect host and took me all around! The Wyndham is where they put up a lot of the musicians and there are these idiot guards who won't let people in to the bar area for the nightly jam unless you're a guest. It's so dumb because a lot of artists stay at a few other hotels too. But you can always tell them something so they'll let you in like "my boyfriend/girlfriend who's playing in the festival told me to meet him/her there!" Truth to tell, the jam session wasn't that good--most of the artists playing in the fest didn't seem to really want to then jam at night. It mostly fun just to talk to people. I had a wild experience with one of Duke's "wifes" and their two kids (koo-koo people) and them dragging Jimmy Scott and I all over town! What a nightmare!

[Bill Barton]

It's sad that the jam sessions have become so staid and regimented. I have some very fond memories of them in the 80s and 90s and even through three years ago (I think, the years all run together...) when James Carter and Ricky Ford locked horns. None of that fascist bullshit then.

[Chaz Longue]

Yes - I'll never forget 2001... The year Jazzy Mary came to Montreal. That was a gas!

It'll be sad this year - no Bill, no Mary, no Mister PC.

...well, at least I got to see Mister PC once this year - al Alfredo de la Fe. I'd have gone anyway, but I have to say that Pete's directive not to miss Alfredo de la Fe was spot on. Not that I'd ever have done so previously, but ...ignore Pete's gig suggestions at your peril, y'all. And Pete finally let the wind out of my sails: I thought I'd come up with a triple pun with the appellation "MR PC". But as it turns out, he works on mainframes, not PC's... oh well...

tfn,

cHaZ

[Bill Barton]

Hey, Chaz, we'll miss you too! Think of us out here on the left coast, checking out Vancouver for the first time in roughly the same time frame...

[Gordon B]

http://www.lofffestivaldejazz.com/2003/index3.htm

The schedule for the L'OFF festival is out but I haven't heard of any of anybody playing there. Any recs?

[Fred K]

Chaz L. and others should be able to tell you more about the local musicians in the L'OFF festival, but I do see Louis Sclavis listed twice. He has 2 dates -- the Jean Derome-Louis Sclavis Quartet plays on 6/30 (I don't know Jean Derome, but he has a bio in AMG) and Sclavis and bassist Bruno Chevillon on 7/1.

[Chaz Longue]

Hi Fred -


Jean Derome seems to me to be sort of the John Zorn of Quebec, to use a clunky but perhaps useful metaphor. Both players play primarily alto saxophone, although Derome has had an academic carreer as a flutist, and he also plays Baritone. Like Zorn, Derome is sort of a scenemaker and instigator, and was on of the founders of the marvelous label Ambiences Magnetiques 20 years ago. The scene includes many wonderful players such as Rene Lussier, Martin Tetreault, and Pierre Tanguey, Ivanhoe Jolicoeur and Dianne Labrosse, to name a tiny fraction. The similarity stops there except that both musicians have a seemingly omnivorous interest in odd/esoteric or exotic music - and both are associated with music specific to a particular cultural heritage, Zorn being a proponent of Jewish music, and Derome of French Canada and it's modern music. I'm really still learning about him - Joslyn Lane (who used to post here?) knows lots more about him than I do - she's written about him at AMG and other places.

I saw Sclavis and his bassist Bruno Chevillon, alsong with Derome and his drummer Pierre Tanguey in Victoriaville a few years ago and found them delightful. Chevillon impressed the hell out of me - unlike any bassist I've ever seen.

The discs Ambiences Magnetiques put out can be utterly fascinating - filled with surprises and beautiful to hold and look at. They aren't easy to find, but the website is fun. It can be hard to find the English Language button on the site, but if you google for the site, you'll get a "translate this page" button.

Though I can understand why the Off Fest programs during Montrea's Jazz Fest, I almost wish they'd do it in the Winter or something, because for every show at Gesu, Club Soda, Monument National, or Le Spectrum - there's one that's a damned good bet at the Off Fest sites. I need a clone to attend everything I want to see.

Bill - You have to let us know how Vancouver is! That's a marvelous festival I'm told!

Gordon - I'll try to post some suggestions about particular shows, I'm out of time right now!

Later,

db

[Gordon B]

I forgot to add that I'll only be around for July 3-5 so I'm interested in L'off shows only in that time period. I wish Sclavis was playing then but I didn't see his name listed for that time period.

[Fred K]

Chaz L. -

Do you know anything about the 2 groups doing the Django Reinhardt tributes on 7/5 -- Trio Marin Nasturica and Duo Fortin-Léveillé?

[Chaz Longue]

Marin Nasturica is the accordion player from Romania, right? Now lives in Montreal I think. I think he's done both small group Jazz and stuff with Orchestra. He's evidently a pretty fiery player. Plays flashy classical stuff like Paganini as well as Django material. Sounds like a fun player.

The Duo you mention actually appeared in Montreal with a Sextet during the Montreal Festival one year - with a percussionist I'm really fond of, a guy named Michel Dupire. Dupire's amazing - he used to play on the street during the festival with his group "Bloco LDL" which was a wonderful Samba "bloco afro" style group. I had Michel come to Burlington to teach us when we were getting Sambatucada - our local Samba school - off the ground a number of years ago. Anybody he appears with I'd be very excited about.

I've never heard any of these guys you mentioned, but now I'm all excited to go see them!

Another good opportunity to go see Off Fest gigs would be the day in the middle of the festival which is almost entirely devoted to the "Spectaculaire" - the great big spectacular show the festival presents in the middle of the week. I believe they are having The Spanish Harlem Orchastra this year for the big wing-ding. That big event is cool, but it's fun to go to Off Fest stuff that night - and then catch a little bit of the wingding so you can say you were there when the amazing photos show up in the papers the next day!

[Fred K]

The free concerts have been posted here (http://www.montrealjazzfest.com/fijm2003/programmation/select_grille_en.asp) .

[Chaz Longue]

This is the big wing-ding at The Montreal Jazz Festival this year

July 1 2003 - 9:30 PM
- The Spanish Harlem Orchestra -




From The Village Voice - December 2002
(Tad Hendrickson)

Salsa music at its best is a visceral experience that pummels listeners and dancers with its relentless, percussion-driven beat. The horns practically blow your hair around when they hit in unison on a dynamic chorus or a percolating melody. It's music made for dancing, and it can move sweat-drenched dancers around the floor like pinballs. Particularly the New York City brand of salsa purveyed by the Spanish Harlem Orchestra.

The band's concept is a simple one—play the high-energy music of salsa's '60s and '70s glory days using some of New York's finest musicians. These players are not the biggest stars, but the guys in the band behind Marc Anthony, Rubén Blades, Celia Cruz, and others. They live the music without the glory.

Featuring band members who grew up back when much of its set list was popularized (members are 35 to 50 years old), Spanish Harlem Orchestra recall those days with the enhanced memory that accompanies a formative musical experience. Now players in their prime, the 12 musicians perform the tunes with the same urgency and excitement they no doubt heard as kids.

Paradoxically, producer Aaron Levinson had already come up with the name and the concept; he just needed someone with the know-how to execute it. Enter pianist-arranger Oscar Hernandez, who was Blades's musical director, arranged the music for Paul Simon's Capeman, and has played on hundreds of other projects, including Sex and the City's theme song. Amid all this activity, Spanish Harlem is one of those things that have caught on. "No one had any idea this would happen," says Hernandez, sounding like a lottery winner. "You try the best you can, and if it works out, great. But no one ever really knows what makes a hit record."

Without one live gig together, they recorded Un Gran Día en el Barrio in the studio over the course of two days for Ropeadope, an eclectic gringo label spearheaded by keyboardist John Medeski. Like the Buena Vista Social Club, the band was manufactured, but also like the BVSC, the sound and authenticity of the playing is undeniable. Proving that if you market it they will come, the album has already crossed over to a more general audience thanks to the label's distribution through Atlantic, and only now is word of the band crossing back in to the Latin music community.

They played a promising first gig at Joe's Pub in September at a party marking the release of the album, but there was something missing—dancers. Since then, the Orchestra has played every few weeks, more appropriately hitting salsa clubs like El Flamingo and Babalu. Hernandez and Co. will play again December 9 at El Flamingo, and the scene is guaranteed to be a hot and sweaty one, quite different from the loungey ambience of Joe's.

"The Flamingo is more of our scene," Hernandez says. "We play high-energy music and like playing for dancers. We'll also be on our turf, so to speak." It's a potent combination that's about as close as one can get to the feel of legendary rooms like the Palladium back in its heyday.

[Pete C]

If it isn't rained out I'll see them in Brooklyn tonight.

[Chaz Longue]

How were they, Pete?

It's rainin' like hell, here. I watched "The Transporter" and stayed in.

I hope it was dry in NYC and you got to see 'em.

cHaz

[Pete C]

It wasn't dry here. I don't know if it was canceled, but I didn't attempt it.

[Gordon B]

If anybody wants to sit with Captain Hate and me for the following events, please email me tonight. I'll be ordering from work tomorrow morning.

7/3 Lee Konitz Duos @7
Kenny Werner @ 10:30

7/4 Abdullah Ibrahim @9:30
7/5 Yannick Rieu @ 6

We also plan to hit several events at L'off festival but will have to buy gen admission tickets there. Of course we'll also hit some free events.

[Gary Sisco]

For fans of real r&b, you don't want to miss Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, playing twice for free. For free, dammit. It's a real old-school r&b review.

I'd look into a few of those Canadian jazz groups playing for free as well. There's a lot more free jazz events this year than in the past few previous.

For fun while talking over an afternoon beer, Streetnix make some fun music for background. They have a kind of brass band lineup but play some hip shit. One year they played "A Love Supreme" and followed it with Oliver Nelson's "Ho Down." It's not a band I'd sit down for at a concert, but for hanging with a beer, they're a lot of fun.

[Jazzooo]

Thanks, Gary--sorry I'm gonna miss you this time around.

Ok, we're starting our trek Saturday and I will probably not have regular email contact for two weeks.

I do want to say that we're meeting the great Chaz Lounge at the Montreal Wyndham at 3 pm on Thursday, 7/3, if anyone else wants to join us. Glenda and I have Toque reservations at 5:30, so we can only hang out for an hour and a half or so.

Hope I'll be able to put some JC faces to names after this trip!

Best,

Doug

[Chaz Longue]

Heck, Doug - I have our meeting as 3pm on the FOURTH of July. But if I don't hear from you by email, I'll just go both days at 3. Not to worry.

I'll look forward to hearing all about your trip!

A general note: one of my favorite rooms in Montreal is Salle Gesu, which has a 6pm concert every day. That whole series (every day at 600 in Salle Gesu) is a very reasonaby priced (=/- 15 dollars Canadian) opportunity to see fairly high profile Canadian groups in the nicest room the Festival uses, for next to nothing. And if I had one piece of advice for people coming to the festival, it's to get into Gesu at least one time before you leave town. The lovely old Monument National is also a treasure. It's the home of the National Theatre School of Canada and is roughly 800 seats, all of them good-to-excellent. That's the scene of both The Invitation Series (Jack Dejohnette with different groups every night during the first half of the week, and Lee Konitz with different groups every night) at 7PM - and the double bill piano solo concerts every evening at 9:30.

Then at 10:30 every evening is another series in Gesu consisting of better known players: Billy Bang (rumoured to be bringing his Vietnam band) on Monday the 30th, Gabrielle Mirabassi and Luciano Biondini paired in a bill with Antonello Salis and Sandro Satta on the 2nd followed by Kenny Werner's trio, Jason Moran's Trio, Steve Coleman's 5 Elements, and Coleman's 5 Elements again on the 3rd through the 6th. That Italian evening comes highly recomended - not only by me, but by by the habitues of the press room who know the Italians better than I do.

I know all this schedule info is available at the Festival's site - but I thought if my urging could get a Jazzcornerite or 2 into Gesu who might not have gone - I'd be happy.

Some news:

Jack Dejohnette totalled his car driving to Montreal but is just fine, thank goodness.

It looks very much like the Italians will be involved in some sort of official cultural exchange with the Montreal Festival next year to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Festival.

The planned major renovation of the whole block below The Spectrum - to involve a new Jazz Radio station, new Jazz Club, a new Symphony Hall across the street to augment the Place Des Arts and so on - is way behind schedule and will not be done for the 25th anniversary blowout. It hasn't even begun yet. But I haven't heard that it's not still on - just delayed.

Some highlights so far -

Last night's Kenny Wheeler, Dave Holland, John Taylor, Chris Potter set. I can't remember the last time I saw a band without a drummer or a lot of overt bluesiness get this kind of whooping, screaming crowd reaction. Magic. If nobody records this quartet, the gods really are crazy.

Vijay Iyer and Rudresh Mahanthapa at The Contemporary Art Museum. Wow. I'll be singing thier praises with renewed enthusiasm now. Live, it's even more apparent how singular thier harmonic conception is - at least to me.

Baptist Trotignon and Martial Solal's double bill piano solos. Trotignon has a new solo recording out which was officially launched at the festival the next day. Look for it. I actually enjoyed his Trio last year a little bit better, ...but I just like piano trios. If you haven't hear Trotignon with The Moutin Reunion group or on his own trion records, you're in for a treat. And I was absolutely delighted to see Solal, a first for me. I'll be running out today to buy his new trio recording on Blue Note with uberbassist Francois Moutin and Bill Stewart. I can't say enough about Solal. It's a pitty he's so seldom seen in the states. A lot of piano virtuoso types leave the piano with a fuzzy head the next morning and perhaps a smile on the lips - but with the vague feeling of having been overwhelmed. Solal's piano woke up with the feeling she'd just had a world class bottle of wine, a meal to remember and a night with the wittiest guy she's ever met. Perhaps a guy too eager to show his erudition and how well read he is - but an unforgetable date nonetheless. My sense is that Solal not only knows the whole Jazz canon (at time I couldn't tell where the witty old popular song/jazz standard quote stopped and the Ellington tune he was ostensibly playing began) but also has absorbed a hell of a lot of 20th C. concert music as well. Thrilling. I'd drive all day to see him with a bassist and a drummer - particularly if he hadn't just come from France hours prior. He was funny too. Like a cross between Victor Borge and Tatum at times.

Heck, I'll stop there for now.

[Fred K]

Chaz - I can meet at 3pm on either the 3rd as well, so if that works better it's fine with me. Otherwise, I'll see you on the 4th.

[Gordon B]

I'll be at the Wyndham bar on July 3rd at 3PM.

I'm flying into Montreal that morning. Where should I buy Canadian dollars? What's the best way to get from the airport to downtown Montreal? I'm coming into Duval and staying at Delta Montreal, which is at 475 President Kennedy.

[Fred K]

Gordon - Hopefully, you'll get better advice from someone else, but here is what I did last year.

As far as I know the best way to get to your hotel from the airport is taxi.

If you need to exchange currency, Calforex on St. Catherine's had the lowest exchange fees I found. However, the best way to get Canadian dollars is with your ATM card -- no extra fees and very convenient. Even cash advances against a credit card might be better than doing an exchange (depending on your credit card terms).

I don't believe taxi drivers will take US dollars (someone correct me if I'm wrong?) so you should find an ATM at the airport and get some Canadian $ to get you to the hotel.

[Chaz Longue]

Yes - Fred speaks the truth: you'll get a good rate if you just get funny money out of the wall with a credit or debit card.

I have less experience with getting from the airport - but I'd second the suggestion to hit a bank machine at the airport.

I'll be at The Wyndham both days at 3, eh?

I'll want to eat (Le Commensal? - if you've never been it's my favorite place to eat in Montreal and 10 +/- bucks a person) before 6 though, because I want to see either Francois Bourassa in GESU (!) or Orchestra Baobab in Le Spectrum at 6:00.

The next night I'll also go to The Wyndham hotel bar at 3 and need to eat before 6 as well and want to catch something at 6 too.

I'm really looking forward to seeing y'all!

[mmerewitz]

I have a friend who takes sax with Andre Leroux at McGill. I listened to him and he is badass especially on soprano. I would like to know if anyone saw him with Francois Bourassa and let me know what they played and how the show was!

MAtt

[Gordon B]

Fred, thanks for the tip. That's what I'll do. I'll see you guys on Thursday at 3 at the bar.

[Gary Sisco]

Gordon -- Don't, repeat, don't buy Canadian dollars, anywhere. Just use the ATMs to take out cash as you would in the States, and credit cards. You'll automatically receive the exact official exchange rate that way, without a middleman making a profit, and hence lessening the value of your US dollar. Particularly given the high exchange rate this year, higher than I've seen in a very long time.

[Captain Hate]

I'll be driving to Montreal Wednesday after work; I'll drive as far as I can and then stay wherever, probably a ways past Buffalo. Then I'll try to get there around noon so that I can meet up with youse guys at 3.

Based on what I've seen I would've preferred to see the earlier stuff; Martial Solal is a particular fave. However seeing Konitz should be a major treat so bring it on.

[Pete C]

The last time I was there a taxi from Dorval was $27. There's a shuttle bus for, I think, $11 which goes to a terminal downtown and connects to a free hotel shuttle. But for a rich free market capitalist like Gordon a taxi is the way to go.

[Fred K]

I'm back from Montreal and despite back problems I had a great time. Enjoyed meeting up with Chaz Longue, Gordon B, Capt. Hate, Jazzoo and Glenda along the way. Here is a brief synopsis of what I saw.

Sheila Jordan (w/the Steve Kuhn Trio) - Probably the highlite for me. Sheila has a great stage presence and the group sounded wonderful. She finished up the show with a small tribute to Mall Waldron -- Mal's song "You" along with some personal stories about Mal.

Gabriele Mirabassi (clarinet)/Luciano Biondini (accordian) - Another great show. Similar to the Trovesi/Coscia show from last year that was so great. Virtuoso playing with touches of Italian folk music and some Brazilian "choro" music. This was the first half of a double bill, but I was tired and left early.

Lee Konitz Duos (with Jason Moran, Kenny Werner, Paul Bley) - Yet another great show. Each pianist did 25 minutes or so. Moran came out first and seemed to have some trouble deciding where to come in, but did a great job. Kenny Werner (looking like he was fresh off an airplane wearing a baseball cap & sneakers) meshed well with Konitz. Bley was Bley. He and Konitz were obviously familiar with each other and the music was wonderful. The songs were mostly Lee Konitz staples -- Body and Soul, Invitation, I Cant' Get Started, The Way You Look Tonight -- but everything sounded fresh. Great show.

Kenny Werner Trio - I really like this trio. It's the 3rd time I've seem them in the last year-and-a-half and they've never been less than great. Drummer Ari Hoenig is amazing to hear and watch.

Lee Kontiz (w/the Spring String Quartet) - I had heard samples of the "Konitz Plays the Impressionists" CD that this show was based on and didn't care much for it, but I thought the live show would be worth hearing. Oddly enough, the "classical" pieces based on Debussy and Faure' really didn't work for me, but the arrangements of Kontiz's own songs (by Ohad Talmor) were pretty good. An OK show, but I'm glad I heard it.

Abdullah Ibrahim Trio - A beautiful show from Ibrahim. The shows were played in one long suite as usual for him. The evening was a bit mellower than the last time I saw this trio and the larger venue (the Spectrum) lacked a certain intimacy that would have made the show even better. A very nice show though.

Lee Kontiz Nonet - Interesting instumentation for the nonet (Kontiz - alto, Ohad Talmor - tenor, clarinet (who also did the arrangements), Ron Horton - trumpet,
Dennis Lee (?) - bass clarinet, a trombonist named Jay (didn't catch the last name, but I think it started with a "K"), Stephan (?) -cello (from the Spring String Qt.), Ben Monder - guitar, Bob Bowen - bass, and Matt Wilson - drums. The Monder/Bowen/Wilson rhythm section was worth the price of admission and sounded great all night. I liked the ensemble playing. Kontiz, Horton, Monder, and Talmor took most of the solos. The bass clarinet, cello and trombone were there mostly for the ensemble passages (although Jay the trombonist took a couple of solos). An enjoyable show.

Overall, a great Montreal experience. My only complaint would be a lack of quality outdoor shows (or at least a lack of shows that I wanted to hear) that I experienced last year.

[Chaz Longue]

Yes! As usual, half the fun is just being there and seeing people. Heck, I even saw Steve Schwartz (Stevebop) who posts here!Seeing Fred K again was great and meeting Captain Hate, Gordon Blewis and Jazzoo n' Glenda was a gas. Sadly, the photo our cocktail waiter took in the Wyndham of the crew plus Mike Chamberlain (look for his 1500 word festival wrap-up in a forthcoming CODA magazine) came out blurry.

I'll post some remarks when I get a moment - and in a sec, I'll post the overview of the Festival which ran in today's Montreal Gazette. Juan Rodriguez mentions moi in it.

btw - The cd Jazzoo gave me is just wonderful. I'll be airing at WWPV on Wednesday between 5 and 8 est. I'll post more about that disc when I get to putting together some remarks about the music I saw.

cHaZ/db

[Chaz Longue]

MONTREAL GAZETTE

BERNARD PERUSSE and JUAN RODRIGUEZ



Monday, July 07, 2003

Excited music lovers, exhausted organizers and bleary-eyed writers were all over the map this weekend as they tried to single out his or her favourite moments of the 24th annual Montreal International Jazz Festival, which ended yesterday. The festival, which seems to get more eclectic and broader-reaching by the year, had them all scrambling for superlatives as they tried to make some sense of the marathon that began 11 days and a musical lifetime ago with a dixieland celebration and was set to end only hours ago with guitarist Jimmy Johnson's blues riffs.
There were celebrity sightings - Leonardo DiCaprio hiding under a cap in a loge seat at Biréli Lagrène's tribute to Django Reinhardt and showing up at the Wilco show with Ethan Hawke. Ray Liotta also turned up backstage at the Elvis Costello show, with Jack Kerouac's niece Christine looking on. Costello, in turn, was ushered into sax legend Lee Konitz's dressing room by Montreal's walking jazz encyclopedia, Len Dobbin, who announced the British singer's arrival with a casual "Hey, Lee - Elvis is here." Costello's upcoming album, North, features Konitz.

There was also a near-tragedy when drummer Jack DeJohnette's car was wrecked as he approached the Canadian border on the festival's opening day. While DeJohnette was not injured, festival driver Mike Darby said the musician seemed shaken, even days later. When a journalist wished the musician a safe trip home, DeJohnette was seen taking a deep breath and rolling his eyes.
As always, though, most people were talking music. And if their recaps had anything like a common foundation, it was probably only the fact that it was physically impossible for any of them to catch all 500 indoor and outdoor shows that were offered during the 11-day festival.

André Ménard, the festival's co-founder and artistic director, picked pianist Egberto Gismonti's solo performance as a high point, along with Konitz's shows, Lagrène's homage to Reinhardt and Bobby McFerrin's concert. "We expected something special, but (McFerrin) surpassed all expectations," Ménard said.
Programming co-ordinator Johanne Bougie said she was impressed with Costello's show. "He's a big part of my life. I grew up with him, so it was great to see him growing even farther at his age," Bougie said. She also singled out the Tord Gustavsen Trio, Joe Zawinul Syndicate, "Saint" Ben Harper, McFerrin, DeJohnette's first show with Herbie Hancock and Dave Holland, Louis Winsberg's Jaleo flamenco jazz concert and pianist Stefano Bollani. In fact, when Bollani asked for audience requests to construct an impromptu medley, it was Bougie who shouted out Love Me Tender.

CBC Radio's Katie Malloch, host of Jazz Beat, didn't hesitate to pick Gary Burton and Makoto Ozone - "really well-matched, masterful musicians," she said - as a favourite, along with Kenny Wheeler and the Dave Holland Big Band.

David Becket, jazz director for WWPV radio in Burlington, Vt., said he concentrated on acts he couldn't easily hear in the United States. "Where else could I hear the Italians and the French?" he asked, citing clarinettist Gabriele Mirabassi and pianists Baptiste Trotignon and Martial Solal. He also praised Wheeler, Lagrène's "Django-palooza" and the French rocksteady combo Jim Murple Memorial.

Writer Michelle Mercer, who is working on a biography of opening-night hero Wayne Shorter, covered what she called the "embarrassment of riches" for the Wall Street Journal.
"It's not often we get to see solo performances by the German avant-gardeist Joachim Kühn or a full piano concert by Egberto Gismonti, who's more well-known for guitar," Mercer said.
"The programming is almost too rich," Gilles Boudru, the Paris-based editor of Jazz Notes magazine agreed. "You're always trying to make impossible choices." Boudru, attending the festival for the first time, singled out shows by Wheeler, Gustavsen and the Avram Fefer Trio as picks that paid off. He also spoke enthusiastically of local musicians like pianist Jeff Johnston and drummer Greg Ritchie.

For Arnold J. Smith, jazz-history lecturer at New Jersey City University and treasurer of the Jazz Journalists Association, the festival has no comparable counterpart in North America.
"It's the most expansive and experimental festival - and you can hear Cuban music and ethnic sounds directly from the source, instead of the more derivative copycat acts you find in other festivals," he said.

Smith, a 10-year veteran, gave his strongest endorsement to Konitz's four Invitation series concerts. "It was like growing up with Lee all over again, yet he never repeated himself," he said.
Even genre-spanning expectations were met. Publicist Brian Coleman, who helps bring festival-bound journalists to Montreal for the Boston firm of Braithwaite & Katz, bestowed kudos on everything from David Murray's straight-ahead jazz to the Fefer Trio's mixmaster approach and Rubin Steiner's "Jazztronica."
And Brazilian songbird Bïa? "Kicks Cesaria Evora's ass," Coleman said.
And with the jazz-fest music goes the peerless jazz-fest ambience.
"It's a gigantic festival, but also très intime - a big machine that has a family atmosphere," Boudru said. "People on the street stop you to talk about music - people you will probably never see again."
The festival's good vibrations act as a great equalizer, according to Anaïs Detolle, who welcomed the musicians as soon as they got off the airport bus at the Wyndham Hotel.
"There are a lot of big stars at our festival, but they don't act like it," she said. "Maybe it's the atmosphere."
Or people like Detolle. Jazz Times reporter Bill Milkowski, who wrote Swing It! An Annotated History of Jive, said he has a sentimental attachment to the festival because his first child was conceived here in 1994. For him, it comes down to support at all levels.

"Compared with the staff at other festivals, the people here really reveal themselves as human beings and music fans. You develop friendships here that you don't elsewhere. The kindnesses seem to seep down to the audiences, who really co-operate with the musicians in creating an atmosphere. I've seem some of these artists elsewhere, but somehow they play out of their minds here - maybe because of the vibe of the audience," Milkowski said.

"You don't see negative displays of rowdiness. Everybody's mellow here, Human kindness - hey, what a concept!"

bperusse@thegazette.canwest.com
jrodxxx@hotmail.com

© Copyright 2003 Montreal Gazette

[Captain Hate]

First of all, it was an uneventful drive to Montreal except for some crummy rush hour construction bullshit when I first left to put me in a fine frame of mind. But the Canadian border guy was pretty funny when I asked him how long it would take me to get to Montreal: He said, "That depends how fast you drive." to which I replied "The speed limit, of course." He said that that would take me 3.5 hours but that if I drove as fast as everybody else did I would be there in 2.5 hours. That was at 10 a.m. and I got to the hotel at 12:30, expecting to meet up with Gordon or at least having a message from him. Of course, since he had flight problems I had neither, which got me panicked since Gordon had my tickets. The hotel was overrun with a barbershop quartet convention (!) which, in my mindset, would've been the first group for mandatory euthanasia. I went over to the festival area but didn't know where to go in the Windham, so I just went around scoping things out.

When I got back at around 5:30 there was a message from Gordon waiting for me, so everything was on. We met up and went to the Konitz duos concert which Fred K did a good job of describing. The only thing that I would add was that Lee and Jason Moran did a great job on Giant Steps (I'm glad that Fred id'd the other songs because I'm absolutely terrible at knowing the titles of standards) taking it apart and reassembling it in an innovative form. Its the first time I've seen Konitz live and he is in incredible shape for his age; just as spry as somebody at least 20 years younger. Paul Bley, on the other hand, seemed to be really bothered by back problems; so much so that he sat in something like a child's seat on the piano bench. His playing was quite good, however; and at one point quickly arose to finish a song with the strings inside the piano (much more melodically than most who attempt that do so). Gordon had met up with Fred at the Wyndham so we met up with him at the concert. From there we went to the Kenny Werner trio and it was just as Fred described. The concert halls that both concerts were in were outstanding in terms of acoustics and lighting. While there we met up with Chaz, so in one day my posters-met count rose by 100%.

On Friday the count rose by two as we met up with Doug and Glenda (or maybe they both comprise one as jazzooo) at the Wyndham. Also at the Wyndham was Mike Chamberlain who was covering the festival for Coda; he looks (and kind of talks) a lot like Tom Tolbert, for you NBA fans, and proved to be very valuable later in the festival. Doug had some extra tickets for Egberto Gismonti available; but it was at the same time as Abdullah Ibrahim so we couldn't use them. In retrospect I wish I had taken him up on it because, unlike Fred, I thought Ibrahim was terrible. First of all, he did nothing but play a number of his motifs that he's been playing for decades, at a lackluster tempo. I know that CT has been playing some motifs since Unit Structures; but at least he plays them with energy, passion and conviction and is always introducing new wrinkles and approaches. Ibrahim totally mailed it in on a flatliner of a performance. The drummer would often make a show of twirling his brushes before hitting the cymbal; my guess is that he was trying to stay awake. The Montreal crowd must not take much to please because this exercise in boredom got wild applause from people who must not get out too much; the only exceptions other than Gordon (who, by the way, I owe a beer) and me were a nice middle-aged couple with whom we shared a table: They scrammed pretty quickly. I was told that Ibrahim played from his most recent release; if so I would advise everybody away from this exercise in tedium.

Gordon and I were both in a pretty foul mood after being robbed for $35 (Canadian) so we decided to take a walk; that turned out to save the evening because we happened upon the NYKS club where we could hear this wild post Ornette music emanating. We went inside to an almost empty club (the Ibrahim acolytes evidently had returned to the coffins filled with their native soil) and had the evening salvaged as the OHMZ Quintet romped their way through "Happy House" and other either unrecognized Ornette tunes or originals done in that vein. The horn players (two saxes and a trumpet) were all hot and the drummer and bassist were dead on. They were an unexpected treat; and FREE to boot!!

The next night Gordon and I had tickets only for Yannick Rieu's Special Project at 6 pm and we needed something to fill out the evening. I had noticed that Steve Swell was playing with a group called Tom Walsh and Phathed and was curious about that; fortunately I ran into Mike and he strongly recommended them. Which turned out to be good advice because Gordon and I didn't like Yannick Rieu very much; the musicians just weren't very good. I liked it more than the Ibrahim concert just because these guys at least put forth an effort but Gordon was having none of it. Again, fortunately, the later concert saved the evening!! I don't know what the deal is with Tom Walsh (I tried to find discs by him the next day but they were nowhere to be found) but this guy is hot. Phathed is a nice drum and bass combination and with two trombone players it made for a very enjoyable hour and a half (maybe even more; they played a long time even though it all went by real quick). It was the first time I'd seen Swell (although I have a lot of CIMP releases featuring him) and he was very very good. It would be nice if they could at least drive a couple of hours to chez Rusch and get documented on CIMP; or hopefully another label that can capture the sound of the bass appropriately.

Leaving the concert, which was at a gorgeous space in the Modern Art Museum, we ran into a guy and his wife who began raving up the local AG scene in Montreal, of which Walsh is one of his favorites. In fact he said that that concert was the only one he was attending because everything else was shit. Although I don't agree with him, I think I understand where he was coming from. This festival is much more mainstream than I had believed before attending. Not that I didn't have a good time, because I did. But going around to the CD shops with Chaz, Fred & Gordon, the artists on Ambience Magnetique and Effendi were almost completely unrecognized and unrepresented. I was expecting L'off festival to be loaded with firebreathers but it effectively seems to have been gelded; our friend told us that it used to be great. Anyway, I hope he emails us and maybe joins up as a poster in the future; he isn't lacking in an opinion.

Gordon's wife showed up and they exited to a more old Montreal digs, so I was left to my own devices on the last night. Which was fine, the lineup had nobody that interested me. I did catch a couple of free concerts that were worthwhile: James Cohen playing an interesting melange of Django, flamenco, blues and God knows what else done surprisingly effectively and Jimmy Johnson (whom I hadn't heard anything since "Johnson's Whacks" in the late '70s) turned in a nice Chicago set. I would've gladly split the money I gave Ibrahim equally among these two much more deserving musicians....

Then I blinked and it was over. One final word: I mentioned this on my vacation in October and it goes double now; I don't know why French Canadians are given such a bad rap. They have always been extremely friendly to me and I would go back any time. I did see a few examples of touristes de L'es Etats-Unis acting like total pains in the ass; I do my best to counteract that impression (believe it or not).

[Gordon B]

We just got back a couple of hours ago. Captain Hate's wrapup describes my festival experiences to a "T." We also met veteran jazz journalist Len Dobbin, who not only has been covering the MJF for a long time, but attended the first Newport Jazz Festival in 1954.

It was fun meeting Steve (CH), David, Fred, Doug and Glenda.

Like Captain Hate, I found the French Canadians to be gracious people. I enjoyed three of the five MJF indoor concerts I attended as well as the OMHZ quintet.

Last night, Julie and I enjoyed a fabulous meal at Les Halles on Crescent street. When the waiter found out it was my birthday, he came back with a free "Les Halles" t-shirt. During the day, I had my first ever Hoyo de Monterrey double corona at Casa del Habano along with a cup of delicous Cuban coffee.

I haven't played any music since getting back but I'm going to lead off with Equinox to compare Yannick Rieu's subpar version, head substitutions and all with the real thing. Then I'm going to play Doug's "Play's Well with Others."

Doug, did you catch last Sunday's "Wire?" Luckily for me, a friend taped it so I'll be watching it tomorrow night.

[Brian Olewnick]

Hey, you were lucky to run into the illustrious Mr. Chamberlain. I spent much of two Victos with him--a great guy.

[Jazzooo]

Guys--
We're still out here in canada! We are in loe with Quebec City. mUch to report when we get back, next week.

Love to all,

Doug (and Glenda)

[Gary Sisco]

Cool that you got to meet Len. He's like the Nat Hentoff of Montreal and has been around just as long. Nice guy and very interesting to talk with.

I'm another Quebec lover and have never understood the bad rap the Quebecois get in the US. Montreal's my favorite city (behind NYC) in the world; we always have a grand time there.

Glad you guys got to enjoy the festival and the city. (No one can dig every show they hear.)

Doug -- Too bad you don't have a little time to drive south for a stay at my gates. Maybe next time. I'm 92 miles, door to door, from the Wyndham, where we always park our car, festival or no.

[Captain Hate]

Originally posted by Brian Olewnick
Hey, you were lucky to run into the illustrious Mr. Chamberlain. I spent much of two Victos with him--a great guy. One distinguished critic praising another? I look forward to his write up of the festival in Coda; he doesn't strike me as shy about dropping the hammer when its called for.

btw, I keep Coda in business by not subscribing to it; the second I subscribe, I'll become an unsecured creditor.

[Pete C]

Chaz, Mike Chamberlain is the guy I've met several times, right?

[Chaz Longue]

Oui.

[Gary Sisco]

That's him, alright. Customs officials take notice.