Dark Fire Cloud, Lightning and Sunny Day at Summer Sounds

Posted on 2014-07-15 by Rod Wilson

No this is not a weather forecast. It is the entertainment line up for Saturday’s Summer Sounds in Rotary Park.

Dark Fire Cloud and the Lightning Band Saturday July 12, 2014 11-12 noon. check their website

I am a sucker for the unique and Dark Fire Cloud and The Lightning Band certainly filled that bill. Led by Dark Fire Cloud (Thadeus Prejean) on vocals, guitar and “echo” harmonica, with Jay Buttle on upright bass and Shuggy Mulligan on drums / vocals this band looks unique and sounds unique. There aren’t too many Zydeco / Reggae bands in this neck of the woods. Appearances alone would make them stand out in a crowd. Thadeus is a tall black “drink of water” with a frightfully manic hairstyle; Shuggy Mulligan with his mammoth set of dreadlocks must be an extremely rich man with all the money he has saved on haircuts; Jay Buttle looks so “straight” that he is a startling contrast to the two other musicians. All musicians bring their own little kink to the music. Thadeus with his guitar and Echo Harmonica – I think it is a double reed Instrument that sounds remarkably like a Cajun button accordion – provided a creole sound that would probably be at home in Lafayette, Louisiana. Shuggy Mulligan’s drumming is something else. As most people know I am not overfond of drummers (they are usually just too loud and clutter up the sonic envelope) but every now and then there is an exception. Shuggy is an exception. Yes he is loud and he does from time to time play with the thick end of the sticks but I forgive him for that. The time he spent in the West Indies has left a rhythmic mark on his drumming that took me back to a 60’s recording of the Dizzy Gillespie band in Barbados. That recording stamped in my mind a hi-hat beat with the snappy snare accents that just gets the hands and feet twitching in joyous sympathy. Shuggy had that West Indian rhythmic punch that I just love to hear. Jay Buttle is another example of why the upright bass has come back into favor. He has that big round sound that blended so well with Shuggy Mulligan’s drumming. With the exception of the old Creole standard Jumbalya the music was mostly original material. That didn’t seem to be a challenge for patrons at the Byng Roadhouse on Friday night. They kept the band on stage until 2 o’clock in the morning. Unfortunately I missed the show but if they come back I will be there in spades. Here are some images from a day in the sun at Rotary Park on Saturday.

Sunny Day Saturday July 12, 2014 12 noon to 2pm (Brian Noer, Dave Prinn and Bill Renwick).

Right off the cuff Dave Prinn admitted that this was a made up band name for this spectacular day in Rotary Park. Considering the great weather and the sunny disposition of the performers the name is more than appropriate. It is also a nice counterpoint to the name of the opening act, Dark Fire Cloud and the Lightning Band. Dave Prinn (vocals and Guitars) is a troubadour who is always in top form. Bill Renwick (guitar and vocals), his compadre from the duo Vested Interests has a voice that if Neil Young could really sing he would sound like Bill. Brian Noer (bass, lead guitar and back up vocals) from the Heather Gemmell band is a consummate musician who manages to control his thrasher guitar instincts to provide some really tasty lead guitar and bass. As a group the vocal harmonies were superb. Dave kicked off the afternoon with Kansas City and from there on out it was a steady diet of classic rock with songs such as Southern Cross, Steam Roller Blues, I’m Already Standing, Heart of Gold (Bill outdoing Neil Young), I Saw Her Face (The Monkees), Wanted Dead or Alive (Bon Jovi), Still Haven’t Found What I am Looking For (U2), Angel from Montgomery (John Prine), City in the Grass (a Dave Prinn original), Wake Up Little Suzy (The Everly Brothers), etc. Two hours later the sun was still shining and the audience was smiling from ear to ear. Another great afternoon in Rotary Park with Summer Sounds.

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All Blues at the Heid Out

Posted on 2014-07-05 by Rod Wilson

THE LITTLE JAZZ ORCHESTRA PLAYS THE BLUES at the Heid Out in Cranbrook, Thursday July 3, 2014, 6pm.

Classical music may be the composer’s art, but not entirely. Jazz may be the performer’s art, but, again, not entirely. I suppose it is just a question of degree. The rules are a little more rigid for the classical performer and in Jazz the performer can take a few more liberties at the composer’s expense. And, once again at their regular first Thursday of month gig, The Little Jazz Orchestra (LJO) goes about taking lots of liberties. This time it was with the blues. The bands regular musicians, Dave Ward (trumpet, fluegelhorn), Graham Knipfel (drums), Janice Nicli (this time on electric bass) and Jim Cameron (this time on Fender electric telecaster) “amped” up the music for their special ramble through the blues repertoire. The night got off to a bit of a rough start with some electronic malfunctioning with Janice’s electric bass and as a result the Miles Davis 6/8 classic All Blues didn’t quite make it out of the gate. It was an unfortunate hiccup but the only one of the evening. With a different bass in hand Janice was back on deck for The St Louis Blues and a full blues drenched evening. As with previous themed nights the band enlisted the help of their jazzy friends. It was case of “double trouble” with Graham Barnes on electric guitar, joining Jim Cameron for the classic Kenny Burrell tune Chitlins Con Carne. It is not often we see two jazz guitars in a band line-up.There was also “double trouble” from the Knipfel clan when “Big Daddy” Murray Knipfel joined the band on stage for an opening salvo of vocals. Later in the evening Murray switched to tenor sax. Murray was not the only vocalist of the evening . Jim Cameron stepped up to the plate with Kansas City and Janice Nicli did her Jump Jive party piece. I think everybody was in the mix on Flip,Flop and Fly with some nice Telecaster slide from Jim Cameron. In an appropriate nod to the cast and crew of Calender Girls in the audience the band launched into a version of The Stripper. Other tunes served up included Georgia, Saint James Infirmary, Blues in the Night and a Dave Ward original dedicated to the Heid Out’s owner, Heidi Romich, called (appropriately) Blues for Heidi. As luck would have it Laurel Ralston (trumpet) had just arrived back in the area and towards the end of the evening joined Dave and Murray on stage for a two trumpet / tenor sax line up that finally rode out the evening on Duke Ellington’s C Jam Blues.

For those interested, check out the following YouTube links

Miles Davis ALL BLUES (audio only) from the classic 1959 album KIND OF BLUE

Kenny Burrell’s CHITLINS CON CARNE this is from the classic 1963 Blue Note album Midnight Blue that featured Stanley Turrentine on tenor sax, Major Holley Jr on bass, Bill English on drums, Ray Barretto on congas and, of course Kenny Burrell on guitar. The blues don’t come much better than this.

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Back on Deck at the Ravens Roost

Posted on 2014-07-05 by Rod Wilson

Bill St Amand hosts the ‘Open Mic” session, Friday June 27, 2014, 5-8pm at the Kimberley Golf Club.

Last summer the ‘Open Mic” sessions on the Ravens Roost Deck of the Kimberley Golf Club were such a raging success that the club had no choice but to continue with the sessions for the 2014 summer season. Last year the weather was more than kind with many days of brilliant sunshine and limpid air. With overcast skies and the threat of rain the weather was not so kind for the first session of the 2014 season. Not to be deterred the session was moved indoors and true to form there was great music, good food, refreshments, the usual appreciative audience and a salubrious ambience (whatever that means – salubrious just seems to be the right word to roll off the tongue). Musicians from last season were back out in force (Bill St. Amand, THE HEARD – Chris Datson, Shanyne and Merridee Rodrigues, Rod Wilson, Sam Hornberger) with the well known local troubadour Tom Bungay on deck for his first session. It was an evening of old fashion Rock and Roll, a little Reggae, Country, Down East ballads, Canadiana (Valdy, Gordon Lightfoot etc), and some Celtic Ballads, Reels, Hornpipes and Jigs. The weather may not have been kind but the session appear to off to a roaring start.

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Slavic Strings at the Knox

Posted on 2014-06-05 by Rod Wilson

Every spring and fall violinist Angela Snyder travels from her home base in Virginia to “play second fiddle” in the various configuration of the chamber ensemble La Cafamore. At this time of year, in one form or other (Trio, Quartet, or Quintet), La Cafamore tours the Kootenays for a series of Chamber music concerts. Over the years they have presented programs that have included some of the best of the Baroque, Romantic and Modern repertoires. The ensemble is not adverse to taking risks with their programming. There are not many ensembles that would dare to tackle Steve Reich’s Different Trains and George Crumb’s Black Angels. Local patrons have been lucky enough to hear La Cafamore present these startlingly modern compositions at the Knox Presbyterian Church in Cranbrook. For this tour the “modern meat” in the sandwich was Serenade Op.12 by Zoltan Kodaly. This composer is a contemporary and fellow national of the Hungarian composer Bela Bartok. Both composers drew heavily on the folkloric heritage of their native country. While acknowledging the composers folkloric inspirations there is no mistaking the modernity of their compositions. Serenade is no exception. Kodaly’s composition may have been the meat in the sandwich but there was plenty of other “garnishes” on the menu. The program opened with Lionel Bart’s (1930-1999) Where is Love from the musical Oliver. From there it was a huge leap back in time to the Inventions #13, #14, and #15 by Johann Sebastian Bach.The other “BIG B” in classical music (Ludwig von Beethoven) was represented by a series of 12 German Dances. The final hefty piece on the program was Antonin Dvorak’s Terzetto Op.74 (Introduction / Larghetto / Scherzo and Theme and Variations. Unfortunately La Cafamore’s concert clashed with the larger SoWeCa Chamber Music festival that was running concurrently at the Key City Theatre. Despite the small audience in this wonderful performance space La Cafamore did not let us down. The next tour of LaCafamore will be in the fall and every effort will be made to avoid any programming clashes in the future. As always I will be looking forward to whatever is pulled out of the Chamber Music hat.

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EK Performing Arts Festival – Gallery

Gallery

Posted on 2014-05-17 by Rod Wilson

This gallery contains 56 photos.

EK Performing Arts Festival – Key City Theatre, Tuesday May 13, 2014, 7pm … Continue reading →

SHEVA at the Heid Out

Posted on 2014-05-16 by Rod Wilson

SHEVA – Van and Shelagh Redecopp (Van on guitar and vocals, Shelagh on fiddle and vocals and guest Rod Wilson on cittern and percussion) at the Heid Out in Cranbrook, May 9, 2014 7:30-11:30pm.

This is not an impartial review of the night’s performance. I am completely biased. I admit it that SHEVA is one of my favorite musical groups and THE HEID OUT is one of my favorite hangouts. So put the two together and the combination is unbeatable. Great food, great beer and great ambience plus an opportunity to play back up percussion for SHEVA. What more could I want? It definitely was a great night with lots of joy and great tunes. The cream on the jellied donut or the drizzle on the Cheesecake was when ‘Gus’ MacDonald stepped out of the audience and borrowed Shelagh’s Fiddle to rip through some Cape Breton styled fiddle tunes. I was ecstatic about the evening, Hedi Romich (the owner) on looking over the full house and the appreciative audience was grinning from ear to ear. Days later the staff were quizzing me about “who was that fantastic young fiddle player” and when was SHEVA returning for a repeat engagement? – very soon I hope. Here are just a couple of images from the night. I was too busy trying to keep up with the band and Gus MacDonald to spend much time taking photos.

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LJO at the Heid Out

Posted on 2014-05-03 by Rod Wilson

The Little Jazz Orchestra at the Heid Out in Cranbrook, Thursday May 2, 2014 7-9pm.

I’m happy. Why wouldn’t I be happy? Thursday was the first Thursday of the month and that meant the The Little Jazz Orchestra (Janice Nicli on bass, Graham Knipfel on drums, Jim Cameron on guitar and Dave Ward on trumpet and fluegelhorn), were playing their regular gig at the Heid Out in Cranbrook, and, even better, they played a couple of my favorite tunes (Bernie’s Tune and Manha de Carnival). Good food, good beer, great ambience and my favorite tunes LIVE!!! What more could I ask?

So, remember the first Thursday of the month 7-9pm – LIVE JAZZ WITH THE LJO AT THE HEID OUT IN CRANBROOK. Over the summer months the band is planning some “themed nights”. On the drawing board at the moment is a Blues Night, a New Orlean’s Night, Show Tune night and a Latin Night.

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Elena Yeung and the Kootenay Express

Posted on 2014-05-03 by Rod Wilson

Elena Yeung and the Kootenay Express with special guests Michael and Anie Hepher at the Marysville Pub, Sunday May 27, 2014 3pm.

For some of us it was a little slice of Bluegrass heaven. Elena Yeung (banjo and vocals), her great original songs supported by Steve Jones solid bass playing; some choice counter melodies from Karl Sommerfeldt; Keith Larsen’s classy rhythm and flat picking guitar, plus the added bonus of the old-timey sounds of Mike and Anie Hepher on mandolin and clawhammer banjo. Yeah, for the aficionados a little slice of heaven is an apt description. For anybody else maybe it was just a relaxing Sunday afternoon of good music – either way “just another rotten day in paradise”. Although the usual fetish of a single condenser microphone was center stage the musicians broke with tradition and “plugged in” the fiddle, bass and guitar. That suited me – I always find the dancing around a single microphone distracting and, beside you never really hear the guitar and the guitar of Keith Larsen is always worth hearing. Although Lena has recorded a lot of her material it was good to hear live versions of Dandelion, Wake Wake up Little Sparrow, Fire on the Mountain and the wonderfully dreary The Grave Diggers Daughter. One of the joys of traditional music is the sound of great melodies. Karl and Lena did not disappoint with their great banjo and fiddle duets on Dance Around Molly, and Cindy,Cindy. Mike and Anie stepped up to the plate with Steve and Keith on Lazy John. Most people don’t realize that the late rock guitarist Gerry Garcia had some pretty solid Bluegrass credentials and, to prove the point, Keith Larsen played a version of the Grateful Dead’s Friend of the Devil. He also dipped his hat to Mike Jagger and Keith Richards with his rendition of their hit song Wild Horses. There are some songs and tunes that should no longer be performed. For instance, Scottish Bagpipers should refuse to play Scotland the Brave and Amazing Grace. They have been done to death. And, normally, I would put Dueling Banjos and the Orange Blossom Special in the same category. However, this fine group of musicians breathed new life and humor into these old war horses and I have to retract my condemnation – Well done guys!!

Check the review of her last show at the Marysville Pub Elena Yeung doing the Clinch Mountain Back Step . Elena Yeung and the Kootenay Express (Steve, Karl and Keith) will be touring around over the summer. Catch them if you can because we are going to lose Elena to Ottawa. She is relocating in the fall. Sigh!!!!! @@@@@@@@@@@@

LOCALS – a sold out show ends a sold out season

Posted on 2014-04-30 by Rod Wilson

Locals Coffee House, Saturday April 25, 2014, 7:30pm at the Studio / Stage Door, Cranbrook

As always LOCALs served up the cream of local talent in this the last concert of the 2013-2014 season. The old, the young, the novice and the seasoned performers were once again putting themselves out there. The show opened with the well known Daze of Grace and a selection of Sharon Routley’s original material with a slightly different band configuration. Sharon Routley on guitar and vocals; Jubal Routley on lead guitar; Warren Routley on Conga and Rod Wilson Percussion (Darbuka, Cojon, Djembe and Shakers). The songs included The River, Waiting in the Rain, The Balloon Song (aka as The Dream Song). The novice of the evening was Josh Norgard, and although he confessed to some nerves on this his first on stage appearance, it was not evident when he played and sung I’m Yours, Come and Feel the Noise, Say Yes and Electric Rock. Doug Mitchell (guitar and vocals) is a political satirist and humorist whose classic line My Baby Loves Starbucks but doesn’t care a Bean About Me is forever stuck in my head. His opening assault was on Coke (Cola, that is) in Open Happiness ( Open up a Coke, add a little Ice cream, make a float) that explored the diverse uses of the ever popular soft drink. The anti-Fracking song Fracking has found favor with the environmental activists and we are sure to hear more of this little ditty as the political debate over this technology heats up. Last but not least was the song Sibling Rivalry (I wish I was hung like my brother Dave) that raised way more than a giggle from the audience. Tom Bungay is ex-military so it came as no surprise when he selected J.P. Cormier’s ode about PTS in the song Home Town Battle Field to open his set. He followed that up with Learning to Live Again, the patriotic Maple Leaf and the trials and tribulations of domestic relationships in Get out of Here, but Come Back Soon. Erin & Ferdy Belland (“Torch and Twitt” upright bass and vocal duo) ran through some Cole Porter, Miss Otis Regrets; Nat Cole’s It’s Only a Paper Moon (a personal favorite of mine) and Tom Waitts’ Little Boy Blue. Ferdy looked majestic, sinister and super cool dressed in black, sporting a Rasputin beard and playing that super-cool black upright bass. Robin Sudo (vocals) and Jim Cameron (Guitar) chose to do a single medley, or as Jim described it, a triptych that explored the themes of love and loss in three related songs (To Know Him is to Love Him / That Loving Feeling / and a third song whose name escapes me). In true “Goatish” style The Good Ol’ Goats finished off the evening with some new material and a charming new member on keyboard and trumpet. (The trumpet was a really nice touch). Here are some more images from the evening:

Thanks Lorraine, Mark, Jon and all the LOCAL’S crew for such a great season.

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Music, Music, Music

Posted on 2014-03-26 by Rod Wilson

Maybe it is the first real sign of spring. Who needs a ground hog looking for his shadow? A jam packed weekend of live music may just be a better indicator. I attended three venues of live music over the weekend and who knows there may have been more spread around town. The Heid Out in Cranbrook (Friday), The Creekside Pub (Saturday) in Kimberley, and The Stemwinder Bar and Grill at the Kimberley Ski Hill (Sunday) were all alive with “live” music.

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Dave Prinn, at the Heid Out in Cranbrook, Friday March 21, 2014, 7-10pm

The Heidout is a noisy room but one with great ambience, great food, superbly crafted beers and, on this particular night, graced by one of Cranbrook’s finest interpreter of classic rock and folk/rock. Dave ripped through two sets for a very responsive audience before inviting his partner in crime from the duo Vested Interests, Bill Renwick, to join him for some bluesy classic tunes and originals. Bill has one of those voices reminiscent of Neil Young but much better. If Neil Young had a good voice he would sound like Bill Renwick. It seems that Heidi’s intends to make live music a staple on the Cranbrook scene and it it most welcome. Let live music rule!!

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TUCKERS TROUBADOURS, at BJ’s Creekside Pub in Kimberley, March 22, 2014 7-11pm

I’m not a big fan of “star-spangled Nashville” country music but I do like the rolled up sleeves down to earth country music that favor great songs and great tunes delivered with impeccable musicianship and style. Tuckers Troubadours fills that criteria to the nth degree. The usual line up (Larry Tuck- bass ukelele, Doug Simpson – rhythm guitar, Dave Carlson – mandolin, and Bud Decosse – lead guitar) was on stage at BJs, and a fine group of individuals they are, but for this evening they were outshone by the guest appearance of Bud’s daughter Stacey. She has been kicking around the local music scene for many years, in fact ever since she was a teenager, and it was good to see and hear her in such a pleasant setting. Let’s hope we see and hear more of her at BJ’s Creekside Pub in the future

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APRE SKI JAM SESSION, at the Stemwinder Bar and Grill (Kimberley Ski Hill), Sunday,March 23, 2014, 3-8pm. This was part of the ski resort’s regular apre live music session. There was a great turn out of local musicians in age groups that spanned the spectrum from teenagers to the geriatric. The music was mostly classic rock with some folky stuff and a few Irish tunes on Cittern thrown in for good measure.