Guelph 2003

[Nate Dorward]

Just back from the Saturday; haven't attended the rest of the festival, which winds up tomorrow. But I thought I might as well scribble a little before I go to bed--

Steve Lacy played twice today, a solo gig in the morning & the Beat Suite group in the evening. A commanding solo set, rigorous & triple-distilled but with a subtle sense of theatre too--gestures, movement, the fourth wall of the stagefront. My favourite touch was his habit of twisting his arm behind his back & playing with only the one hand from time to time. Most alarming was when he stepped to the front of the stage and hoarsely declaimed a haiku beginning "I wish to die in autumn" (qtd from memory). The concert was unamplified but the acoustic was quite echoey & ample.

The Peggy Lee band--same space, but with amplification, & I got off to a bad start--was annoyed at the loud opening piece which produced a lot of annoying reverberation & distortion--& never really got back in sympathy with the music, which struck me as OKish but one-dimensional & dependent on a rather small set of compositional ideas. (I realize that that can sound like an odd criticism following praise for a Steve Lacy gig, given that his compositions are even more narrowly restricted in their devices.....well, won't get into this right now...)

Mark Dresser, Denman Maroney, & Matthias Ziegler were pretty terrific; Ziegler earns points for visual flair, with some truly awe-inspiring bass, subbass & subsubbass for all I know flutes, which were as big as coatracks. Dresser throttled & slammed & swept across his bass with his usual vigour, muttering to himself; but for me the star was Maroney: he did his "hyperpiano" (i.e. prepared piano) but the revelation for me was some extended sequences of, er, unprepared piano, including a first-rate solo on an obstacle-course blues. The 2nd half of the concert was live soundtracks performs to three short films; for me this was less interesting, & with the exception of a 5-minute cartoon in the middle ("Diary of an Asthmatic Stripper") rather drained the music of wit. Still, it was a good concert.

Ehhh....sorry, Mark, I wasn't much taken with the first evening set: Mark Taylor on french horn, Myra Melford on piano, & the classical soprano Bourque Simmons. An OK vamp piece for just horn & piano to start with; then Simmons came in for an oversweet "Lullaby"; then the main part of the concert, settings of Creeley's Pieces. These are poems that are barely poems at all--they're just one step away from the jottings of A Daybook--& I just found them way too scaled-up in this form. Better the down-home wisdom & brevity of Sheila Jordan on Swallow's Home, I think...

Lacy's wife Irene Aebi was sick so couldn't make it to the Beat Suite group. I'm sure that was a relief to many--Aebi's widely isliked even among Lacy followers--but actually I would have liked to see her there, as I've not seen her & Steve perform together before, & some of her work with him I like (e.g. Bye-Ya). Anyway, this was the trio + George Lewis. They started with "The Bath" & "The Rent", which fit like old shoes. Perhaps a little too much so: I thought Lacy was noticably less in form on these pieces than he had been in the morning, too willing to follow out familiar patterns at length. I thought the fresher material--the Beat Suite material--was dealt with more, er, freshly. In Aebi's absence Lacy simply read the poems aloud before each piece--pieces by Kerouac, Kaufman, Waldman. The material was strongly blues-coloured, as was the piece that followed, introduced with dry wit by Lacy as follows: "This is a new piece which we began in March. We're still working on it. It's called 'Baghdad'." Each of the four bandmembers managed at some point in the evening to really raise the roof. I had to leave before the show was quite over to catch a bus but it was good to catch the Lacy gigs in particular.

Oh it's late & there are probably typos here but I should get to bed (2:48am).

[Dan G]

Originally posted by Nate Dorward
Steve Lacy played twice today, a solo gig in the morning ...
The Peggy Lee band--same space, but with amplification...

Just curious, where was this? The venues there stay pretty stable from year to year, and I can't remember many that needed too much in the way of a sound system.

More Nate:
Lacy's wife Irene Aebi was sick so couldn't make it to the Beat Suite group. I'm sure that was a relief to many--Aebi's widely isliked even among Lacy followers--but actually I would have liked to see her there, as I've not seen her & Steve perform together before

Strangely, I've seen Lacy I think 4, maybe 5, times that she was supposed to be part of the band, and she was sick every time! It didn't really bother me, being one of those who isn't a fan. But I too would like to see her perform, just out of curiosity.

[Nate Dorward]

Dan--it was at the Guelph Youth Music Centre, 75 Cardigan St, a very nice theatrespace. I've not been to the jazzfest before so don't know if it was the setting used in the past. The 3rd concert was at the church. It was nice cool autumn day & it was still a bit close & warm in the church--I can just imagine what it must be like there during hot weather (I've heard complaints in the past about this in connection w/ the festival).

[Frisco]

The venue at Chalmers Church is pretty horrible in terms of sound, comfort, sight lines, and heat. But it IS nice that they allow for it's usage and has a nice basement for refreshments, if that's a consolation.

Nate, I can appreciate your weariness. We drove home to Detroit following Lacy's "Beat Suite" and arrived at 3:30am. I made it in on Friday afternoon and only attended the trio of Evan Parker, Sara Peebles, and Nilan Perera. Nilan played a played a prepared guitar with pedals, Sara on laptop, electronics and the Sho (Japanese mouth organ), and Evan strictly on soprano. Not my absolute favorite setting to hear Evan in, but it was rather nice. Much of the set was very quiet and not all too interactive. My favorite segments were with Sara on Sho and Nilan tapping out some rhythms on the guitar sounding like a tabla.

Hearing the solo Lacy set was worth a million. I'd heard Steve play solo once before, but this one was very special. I don;t suppose it's a secret, any longer, that he is ill. His Haiku about "dying in Autumn" was extremely haunting. The joy of hearing him was not just sentimental though. He sounded so vital, focused, strong, clear, and creative, it was beyond amazing. The Guelph Youth Music Center was a perfect room for this, with it's crisp sound and reverberation. Steve played a piece through an open piano, with bricks holding the foot pedals down, the strings reverberating and echoing back over his lines. He played his piece "The Door" among others in a wonderful set. That alone made all the weariness, hurry, hassle, and struggle fighting a cold seem trivial. Seeing Steve able to rise above his trials and pull forth such energy to create made me ashamed of any complaining that I might ever do and sorry for those who did not attend for whatever reason.

Back at the Youth Music Center for the double bill, I have to say that I love the music and playing of Peggy Lee and Dylan Vanderschyff. They are two of the finest, not only on the West Coast, but in the world. Check out the recent trio CDs where they play with John Wolf Brennan, Tobias Delius, and Michael Moore. But this band, and the music they presented left me very cold. Just my personal taste I guess.

The Dresser Trio sounded excellent. It was my third time experiencing this particular group and the films that they played along to. I actually presented this set in Detroit a few years ago. Denman Maroney always sounds fresh and creative with the prepared piano, and Dresser is a particular favorite of mine. He sounded as strong and inspired as ever on the bass.

I have to share my sentiments with Nate about Mark Taylor's set with Myra Melford and the soprano vocalist. Again, my personal taste, personal shortcomings, (shortsightedness??) got in the way. It'd been a while since I last heard Myra and I was looking forward to it. Apparently, she was able to really play in a duo set earlier in the festival. She DID get a chance to step to the forefront and play a couple of "gritty" segments in this set, but most of the set was much too quiet, academic, and "nice" for me, particularly against the above mentioned elements of the Church.

However, when the music is strong, we seem to forget about the elements and dig right in. This was the case for me with Lacy's "Beat Suite" set. I know that a lot of people were relieved to hear that Irene Aebi was not there. Some will point out that the energy rises when she is absent. But for those of us who have no problem with her, something is missing when she is gone. Here, the whole concept of the "Beat Suite" was destroyed. Steve recited a few of the poems from the Beat Poets included in this project, but it made for an entirely different kind of project. This was like the Lacy Trio plus George Lewis, which is great....and it was!!

Again, I'm with Nate. Hearing "The Bath" and "The Rent" to begin the set, I thought, "well I've been here before", although it took on another dimension with George. But once they started getting into new material, the energy lever really rose. Betsch was strong, but sounded equally fine while tapping out some very creative rhythms. JJ Avenel was up and down the bass, weaving in and out of some very explicit rhythms, some very loose rhythms, and often getting quite free along with Betsch, but never losing that rhythmic sense. At times, Lacy and Lewis were "soloing" together, both of their lines weaving in and out from one another, coming together, splitting apart, and inspiring each other. George really seemed to enjoy himself and totally cut loose late in the set. A great note to hit the road for me.

Anybody there for Sunday morning?

[Captain Hate]

Originally posted by Frisco
I don;t suppose it's a secret, any longer, that he is ill. His Haiku about "dying in Autumn" was extremely haunting.

That's news to me, extremely bad news. Of course how would I know about it; the great "alternative press" out in this cultural backwater spells his name "Lacie" on the rare occasion when he plays here, and of course they don't cover the concert.

All the hobbyists that are relieved when Irene Aebi can't appear really ought to engage in some self-scrutiny. I don't know if Lacy would be amused or disgusted by their attitude but there's certainly a reason why she's been an integral part of his music for decades.

[Pete C]

Originally posted by Captain Hate
All the hobbyists that are relieved when Irene Aebi can't appear really ought to engage in some self-scrutiny. I don't know if Lacy would be amused or disgusted by their attitude but there's certainly a reason why she's been an integral part of his music for decades.

Applause.

Maybe it's a case of deja Yoko all over again?

I saw her with the Beat Suite group. I don't have a strong opinion on her either way, but the group was great, and she basically sang the poems/heads and left the others to do their thing. I do kind of like her on "Gay Paree-Bop."

[mtaylorjazz]

Ehhh....sorry, Mark, I wasn't much taken with the first evening set: Mark Taylor on french horn, Myra Melford on piano, & the classical soprano Bourque Simmons. An OK vamp piece for just horn & piano to start with; then Simmons came in for an oversweet "Lullaby"; then the main part of the concert, settings of Creeley's Pieces. These are poems that are barely poems at all--they're just one step away from the jottings of A Daybook--& I just found them way too scaled-up in this form. Better the down-home wisdom & brevity of Sheila Jordan on Swallow's Home, I think...

no need to apologize. i'm always curious as to how people hear music in general and my music in particular. this is a new project that i think has some potential, but needs some work to bring it there.

i didn't get to hear as much of the festival as i wanted, but i did see peggy lee's set, which i thought had some nice moments. i would've loved to have heard more cello, but my favorite playing came from Brad Turner on trumpet (who's an old friend). i enjoyed the orchestrational aspects of the group and how they used differing combinations of the cello, bone and bass to create ensemble sounds.

i also enjoyed the opera...mostly. would've enjoyed it much more if i could've understood what was being said (sung). i REALLY wanted to see Mark Dresser but we had our soundcheck then.

mt

[Jonathan Sutton]

The Saturday has been pretty well covered, so let me add a few comments on what went before and after. (Although I will add that I enjoyed your playing greatly, Mark, even if Bourque Simmons left me cold (not literally, unfortunately, given the temperature of the church).)

Thursday:

Myra Melford and Tanya Kalmanovitch -- I had never heard of Kalmanovitch before, a violist and violinist heavily influenced by her classical training, and I enjoyed her performance a lot. She alternated between a lot of nicely done subtle extended techniques and sections where she played with a very clean classical intonation. Melford switched to harmonium for one tune. In general, Melford alternates in her improvising between sections to which I am indifferent and sections which I like very much, and this session was no different. I picked up the only Kalmanovitch CD on sale (and perhaps the only one in existence); looking forward to checking it out.

Evan Parker -- Solo, both tenor and soprano. There was a short section of very inspired tenor, but it was mostly a pretty average performance, no surprises; average for Parker is rather fantastic, though, so very glad that I caught it. EP was also notable for showing up at all and only the good concerts for the rest of the festival, as far as I could tell. It would almost have been worth trailing him surreptitiously around Guelph to see what to attend and what to miss.

Willem Breuker -- Yikes. I had heard rumors of the decline of a once great band, so I was somewhat prepared, but I found it bad enough that I left before the end. Of course, there were still good sections; the young woman alto player (don't know her name) turned in a great solo.

Friday:

Raw Materials: Rudresh Mahanthappa and Vijay Iyer -- The highlight so far. I had heard people talk of the greatness of Mahanthappa, and I thought he was very good on Panoptic Modes, but that CD (the only one I have heard on which he plays) did not convince me of his greatness. This session made me a believer. Such controlled and occasional use of multiphonics within a basically pretty mainstream approach, and the Indian elements work very well for the both of them. Iyer comes across as a very pleasant guy when he announces the tunes, etc., I must say. The concert was introduced by George Lewis, which was cool.

Kalaparush and the Light -- Didn't see Evan Parker at this one, and I should have left immediately. Kalaparush is almost sad to see; whatever chops he once had (I have heard little of him) are long gone, and he communicates an overwhelming weariness at all times. His tuba player was mediocre, and his drummer flat-out bad -- not one of the notable exceptions to the general rule that the larger the kit, the worse (and more texturally limited) the drummer.

Sunday:

Jesse Stewart and Martin Tetreault: Great to hear (and see) Tetreault. However, very unsympathetic accompaniment. I don't think Stewart was used to playing this kind of music at all. He had some exotic percussion (drums immersed in water, seashells, and so on) and a drum kit. When he moved to the drum kit, he played it quite straight, which is to say loud, which swamped Tetreault and meant the concert lacked much in the way of dynamic range -- it went from a very soft start to loud, loud, loud for almost the rest of the hour or so it lasted. Stewart even bashed the hell out of some of his incidental percussion which almost demanded a lighter touch whatever the accompaniment. Still, very glad I saw T at work.

The Saturday was definitely the best day; I liked all 5 concerts I saw on that day quite a lot, Mark Dresser and Steve Lacy's solo set being the highlights. Great to meet you, Nate; I have now met 2 of the JC crowd (the other being Dallas's favorite trumpeter at a Yells At Eels gig).

[Jon Abbey]

thanks for the reports, everyone, pretty interesting.

I'm a big fan of Denman Maroney's; maybe someday he'll take my advice and stop playing with the same handful of people over and over and over.

it sounds like that Tetreault set would have made me very angry, Jonathan. Martin's recording a record for me with Lê Quan Ninh next month in Vand'ouevre, for release in mid-2004, they've never played together before.

[MRS]

Thanks a bunch everyone for a very interesting thread. The following Evan Parker around thing is hilarious (and doubtless true!). I recently picked up 'Aquifer' and the Moore/Lee/VanderSchyff trio discs and I have to agree with the Maroney sentiments. He can play it unprepared very well and he should play in other settings.