The Trials and Tribulations of a Musician

Posted on 2015-10-26 by Rod Wilson

A LITTLE VOODOO – Contemporary Blues, Centre 64, Saturday October 17, 2015, 8pm. This is the third concert in the fall Jazz and Blues Festival series.

Everyone would like to play music but for a potential musician the first step is deciding to actually go ahead and do it. The next step is to get hold of an instrument, take some lessons and start practicing. Then there is the whole process of developing a professional skill set to make it all worth while. It is supposed to be fun, and it often is, but as the old saying goes “10% inspiration, 90% sweat”. So it isn’t as easy as some people imagine. Then there is the search for musically compatible partners to maybe form a working band. By this time you and your musical partners have been playing for years and the aim is then to develop a really tight group sound. And, of course, if you are a rock/blues musician you have “to have the moves” for an on stage performance. At last you have arrived. The sound is tight, the moves groove, but lo, everything is not quite as it should be. It all starts to become a little to rote and stale. Even in the most popular and successful bands then comes a time when every performance starts sounding the same. The music has all been done before and even the banter in between tunes sounds just a little bit too rehearsed.There are no surprises and, often that is exactly what the audience wants, but musically it may not be that satisfying. But then along comes A Little Voodoo (Ron Burke – lead guitar; Tom Knowles – bass guitar; and Rob Vulic – drums) a Blues / Rock outfit whose avowed aim is to go beyond tight and loosen it all up a bit. Risk is the name of the game and the result is “real live music”. The last set list Ron put together was back in the 90’s so the performances are coming out of the air and everybody has to be on his toes. This Calgary band was a real treat for a Kimberley audience that may not have been used to loud, in your face blues/rock music that owed a lot to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Hendrix and the like. Never-the-less they took it in their stride and obviously enjoyed the opening tune with the refrain “I’m tired of living hand to mouth”. What followed was a night of exciting music that included a stellar version of Donovan’s (remember him, a soft sell folkie from way back in the 60s) of Sunshine Superman. There was nothing soft sell about this version!! Not to be outdone by all that came before in the evening the band finished the night with a lesson in constructive feed back. At the end of which Ron finally left his Epiphone guitar standing in the rack while it continued to echo its way through its feed back riffs. To help those riffs reverberate in your mind’s eye here are some images from the evening.

I hate to sound repetitive but the Stage 64 / Centre 64 organization have scored top marks again. Another sold out show, another stellar performance and mucho thanks to the organizers, sponsors and volunteers.

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Remembering Phil Woods – DownBeat 2015/10/02

Posted on 2015-10-17 by Rod Wilson

Remembering Phil Woods – DownBeat Posted 2015/10/02

Phil Woods, a trail blazing bebop saxophonist and an NEA Jazz Master, died Sept. 29 in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. He was 83.

The cause of death was complications from emphysema. Woods, who had battled respiratory problems for years, announced his retirement from music on Sept. 4 after a concert at Pittsburgh’s Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild. That Sept. 4 concert was a tribute to Charlie Parker’s album Bird With Strings. It was, perhaps, a fitting conclusion to the career of an alto saxophonist who was deeply influenced by Parker. But Woods developed his own voice and subsequently became one of the most revered alto players of his generation. Over the course of his illustrious career, Woods toured with jazz icons such as Dizzy Gillespie, Buddy Rich, Clark Terry and Benny Goodman.

Born Philip Wells Woods in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1931, he began playing saxophone during childhood. As a young man, Woods studied improvisation with pianist Lennie Tristano, and he studied classical music at The Juilliard School in New York City. In 1968 Woods moved to France, where he formed the European Rhythm Machine and composed music for Danish and Belgian radio. Upon his return to the United States in 1972, he recorded the seminal albums Images (1975, with Michel Legrand) and Live From The Showboat (1976), both of which won Grammy Awards. One of Woods’ most well-known solos was on Billy Joel’s 1977 hit single “Just The Way You Are,” which earned Joel two Grammy Awards. Woods also played on recordings by Paul Simon and Steely Dan.

Other albums in Woods’ discography include Dizzy Gillespie Meets Phil Woods Quintet (1987), All Bird’s Children (1990), The Rev & I (a 1998 Blue Note date featuring Johnny Griffin) and Man With The Hat (a 2011 collaboration with saxophonist Grace Kelly, to whom he was a mentor). Woods topped the Alto Saxophone category in the DownBeat Critics Poll seven times between 1970 and 1980.

In a January 1982 cover story for DownBeat, Woods reflected on his career and the origin of his style: “Jazz has been good to me, it really has, but I would hate to think that any young man would feel that by copying the Phil Woods sound he could have the same life and career. I never began by imitating. I began by trying to become a musician and an alto sax player. I never thought I sounded like Charlie Parker, though he was an inescapable shadow in the ’40s or in the ’50s, if you were a sax player. You couldn’t be a musician without having his licks pop up. And without Louis Armstrong, we wouldn’t have any jazz licks at all; Bird would be the first guy to tell you that’s the truth.”

In addition to his contributions to jazz as an artist and bandleader, Woods was also a jazz educator who frequently worked with college students at institutions such as DePaul University. Woods was named a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master in 2007. In a 2006 interview with the NEA, Woods described his first saxophone lessons: “I got a teacher by the name of Harvey LaRose and that’s where my life changed because I was going for lessons and I was faking it. I wasn’t practicing, but I’d go back the following week and I could play the lesson. Now if I’d had one of those more or less straitlaced teachers, he might have said, ‘OK, kid, you’re faking it.’ Mr. LaRose said, ‘You’re using your ear to play music. This ear thing is your most important gift.’ He realized that immediately. Mr. LaRose played alto clarinet, violin, guitar, piano—taught all of those instruments, repaired all of those instruments—and arranged with the local big bands. He … recognized that I had something to say on the saxophone because he drew me in. Within three, four months I was hooked. I loved it.”

(Note: DownBeat will publish a tribute to Phil Woods in our December 2015 issue. To read a DownBeat 2007 interview with Woods, click here. To read a review of Woods’ performance at the 2013 Playboy Jazz Festival in Los Angeles, click here. )

This is Phil Woods in mid-career before his chronic lung disease forced him to use canned oxygen on stage just so that he could play. He literally performed right up to the end. He announced his retirement September 4 and died September 29th. Remarkable eh!

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LOCALS Coffee House – The first of this season

Posted on 2015-10-15 by Rod Wilson

LOCALS COFFEE HOUSE Saturday October 3, 2015, 7:30 pm at the Studio / Stage Door in Cranbrook.

Fall must be well under way if LOCALS and the HOME GROWN MUSIC SOCIETY are getting ready to kick off the season. LOCALS is the first out of the gate with a line up of fresh young talent, new performers and old regulars. On the bill for this show was 11th Avenue Stopover (Beth Crawley – vocals and guitar, Doug Crawley – percussion and Rod Wilson on Cittern) and their brand of traditional songs and tunes from mostly down east; Dawson Rutledge is a fresh new face with an original approach to a one man band configuration. He plays guitars, sings and uses foot pedals to play the Cojon (Peruvian Wooden Box drum) and muted tambourine; The soft edged (for this show) rock quartet Every Other Tuesday (Lou Wiliams – guitar and vocals, Wes – lead guitar, Adrian – Djembe and Reiner on electric bass. Bill Renwick (Guitar and vocals) once again graced the stage with a bracket of his original songs that always leaves a wisp of Neil Young hanging in the air. Stellar vocalist Shauna Plant has hooked up with the relatively new performer Ian Jones (guitar and vocals) for a very country flavored bracket of duets that was almost breath taking. And, last but not least, a bunch of young performers (Sarah – Red Heads Rule, Sheldon, James, Harry and Dawson) under the banner of Lucas Hanny and the Fable Hoppers demonstrated that there is a musical life outside the confines of rock and roll. Their particular mix of guitars, vocals, Cojon, Ukeleles and fiddle are some what in the tradition of Cranbrook’s run-a-way success of a few years back – The Good Ole’ Goats. To keep everything on track the MC Carter Gulseth alone was worth the price of admission. Here are some more images from another great evening of local music.

And the many personas of the Master of Ceremonies Carter Gulseth. So that raps it up until THE GROWN MUSIC SOCIETY steps up to the plate with their Coffee House in Kimberley’s Centre 64 on Saturday October 24, 2015.

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Tyler Hornby B3 Trio at Centre 64

Posted on 2015-10-07 by Rod Wilson

TYLER HORNBY B3 TRIO, Centre 64, Saturday September 26, 2015, 8pm. This is the second concert in the fall Jazz and Blues Festival series.

The Tyler Hornby B3 Trio is basically a Jazz organ trio with Tyler Hornby on drums, Steve Fletcher on B3 organ keyboards and Aaron Young on electric guitar. They play Bluesy, Funky, rock solid music in the style of the classic Hammond B3 Trios of the 50s and 60s (a la Jimmy Smith).

To play an organ as a professional musician is a tough gig. Maybe not as much now as in days gone by. But in Bach’s day the musician had to have access to a pipe organ and that usually meant a trip to church to play a huge pipe organ in a monumental church or cathedral. Similarly, in the early days of Jazz, pipe organs were only found in churches and big theaters. Once again “Mohammad had to go to the mountain” just to play. For a jazz musician there was the added obstacle of the mechanics of the keyboard. There is a significant delay from the time the organ key is depressed until the sound is produced by the pipes. “On a normal Pipe Organ the lag from striking the key to hearing the sound is about half a beat behind and this plays hell with a musician’s mind” – Clare Fischer. The great Jazz pianist Fats Waller was probably the first, and possibly the only successful jazz musician to manage to make the pipe organ “swing”. Although, in the late 80’s, Dick Hyman recorded some Fats Waller pieces on the Emery Theatre Wurlitzer in Cincinnati that sound pretty good. By and large Jazz musicians left the pipe organ alone. That started to change in the late 1930’s when the Hammond B3 Company started manufacturing “portable” Electric organs. Portability is a relative term – the instruments still weighed 400lbs with an additional 100lb for the Leslie speaker. Jazz musicians did start to take notice. Earliest jazz performers included Wild Bill Davis, Sir Charles Thompson, Milt Buckner, and even Count Basie at one point. It was in the late 1950s when Jimmy Smith exploded onto the jazz scene with an engagement at Small’s Paradise in Harlem. This, and the classic Blue Note records that followed, initiated a tectonic shift in the way jazz organ was played. His playing ushered in an era of the classic “Hammond B-3 Trio” of organ, guitar and drums. He used his right hand to play single note lines on the top keyboard console, his left hand to play chords on the second keyboard and his feet to play bass lines on the foot pedals. The whole concept sounds, at the very least, to be energetic, athletic and musically very challenging . On top of that he manipulated the draw bars to emulate the organ stops of the conventional organ. He literally set the musical standard for organ trios. Over the years the instrument has under gone changes. The original company folding at one stage before it was resurrected by a new company to produce more contemporary versions of the classic Hammond-B3. Modern electronics and programmable keyboards have reconfigured the organ and eliminated the weight problem. The weight of the huge Leslie Speaker remains but it does work well with the light weight electronic keyboards. Still there are musicians like Larry Goldings, Dr. Lonnie Smith and Joey Defrancesco who still chose to haul the cumbersome Hammond B-3 from gig to gig. In the Tyler Hornby Trio Steve Fletcher gets the job done with two electronic Keyboards, pedals and a Leslie Speaker.

This concert was a good bookend to the Gabriel Palatchi Band concert in this same venue a couple of weeks ago. Gabriel’s band was a stripped down trio of drums, keyboards and bass (no guitar) and performed music out of a funky Latin sensibility. The Tyler Hornby Trio is more into the classic Hammond B3 groove. Of course the presence of such an outstanding guitarist as Aaron Young cements the basic B3 sound. The band kicked off the evening with Locus, an original tune by Tyler and followed that with a Sam Rivers ballad called Beatrice. The first set included Larry Goldings Crawdaddy, To See Your Eyes Again (another Tyler original – who said drummers can’t write ballads?) and Aaron Young’s Chisel. By this time one would have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to be impressed by Aaron’s superb fleet of fingers and funky guitar playing. We rarely get to see and hear guitar player of this caliber. The band kicked off the second set with Miles Davis’ classic Nardis followed by Aaron’s Rabbit Hole and Tyler’s Tessla’s Trance. This tune was a slow burner that built up a head of steam. Two more tunes, Alone Together and Tyler’s Big Mountain Bounce followed before the final blow out encore on the classic Charlie Parker’s Billie’s Bounce. So that was it – a nice mixture of original and classic tunes to resurrect one’s taste for the classic Hammond B3 trio sound. Needless to say I spent the following week digging though my collection of Jimmy Smith and Larry Young’s Hammond B3 recordings just to perpetuate Saturday night’s groove. Here are some images from the evening.

I am always a little surprised by Kimberley audiences. The Centre 64 Concert series offers up some pretty hard core music that normally, given the demographics of the area, might not be the music of choice for Kimberley. However, as I said, surprise, surprise, Kimberley audiences turn out in full force. Once again this concert was sold out. And, of course, thanks must go to the organizing committee and the volunteers that make it possible.

And here is a bonus. I tried to find Aaron Young’s version of the Charlie Parker classic Billie’s Bounce but this is the best I could find. It is a version by the Swedish guitarist Andreas Oberg. This may introduce a new guitarist and give you some of the flavor of the Tyler Hornby Trio’s encore for the evening.

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A YouTube Pick (# 5) – Martin Simpson

Posted on 2015-09-18 by Rod Wilson

Tommy Emmanuel is a monster acoustic guitar player and in the past I have reviewed some of his You Tube performances – Tommy Emmanuel. His forte seems to be in the country / pop arena and while that is fine there is a whole world of music and many guitar players that never make it to the front page of the “show bis” press. The one guitar player that immediately comes to mind is Martin Simpson. Martin celebrated his 60th birthday recently so he has been around a long time. He first came to my attention when he performed several times at the Studio Stage Door in Cranbrook. That was many years ago in the late 90’s and I have been hooked on his music ever since. He is not a pop musician. His music has a lot more substance than that. He started out in the traditional music scene in Britain and for a significant period of time he was the accompanist for June Tabor (who can forget their version of Richard Thompson’s Strange Affair). Martin has always been a restless individual traveling the world. He was a resident in North America for a number of years before returning to Britain. He plays music from all across the musical spectrum. His emphasis has always been on music with a solid traditional basis. His guitar and banjo playing has always been noted for spectacular precision and beautiful sound. I think that is what really set him apart from most other performers. He has a natural acoustic sound that your average acoustic guitarist would absolutely die for. I know a lot of people don’t care for his singing but I find his voice is more than appropriate for the material he performs. In fact I rather like it. So the attached You Tube video below is basically an interview in which Martin takes the opportunity to display and review the instruments that are part of his professional arsenal. It is interesting to note that he is not particularly interested in vintage instruments. He is a great believer in modern instruments and, with the exception of only one Martin guitar, all his instruments are modern instruments hand crafted by some of the top luthiers of today. I am of the same mind. Why spend thousands and thousands of dollars on instruments whose value has been inflated by the collectors who may only want to hang the guitar on the wall? Isn’t it better to spend $5,000 – $10,00 on a superbly crafted modern instrument that can only improve with age. Martin also takes the opportunity to demonstrate his technique, tunings and approach to music. The side trip into how he prepares his nails is also of interest. For British Columbians his recent acquisition of a hand crafted Romero Banjo (27 minutes into the video) should give us some sense of pride in that a local luthier has proven to be more than note worthy on the international scene …… Romero handcrafted custom instruments . So here he is – Martin Simpson, his instruments, superb sound and technique. Enjoy………………………

and here is a bonus of June Tabor and Martin Simpson performing Richard Thompson’s Strange Affair. Written by the Sufi poet Si Fudul al-Hawari, translated and set to music by Richard Thompson.

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It’s a long way from Buenos Aires – The Gabriel Palatchi Band

Posted on 2015-09-13 by Rod Wilson

CENTRE 64 FALL CONCERT SERIES – THE GABRIEL PALATCHI BAND, September 5, 2015, 8pm

Yes, it is a long way from Buenos Aires, Argentina to the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia. But the Argentinean Gabriel Palatchi has made the trip with many stops along the way to sharpen his musical skills and soak up the some interesting musical vibes. Gabriel plays piano and keyboard. Along the way he also managed to pick up the crack-a-jack rhythm duo of Tony Ferraro on drums and Doug Stephenson on 5 string electric bass. Now most people know my aversion to loud drummers but for Tony I more than make an exception. He is loud, sure, but he works so hard at being musical that the loudness is not a factor. It seems that everything he plays ends up in the perfect sonic space. He is probably one of the best drummers I have come across in recent years. On bass Doug doesn’t appear to work as hard but that is probably an allusion because he looks like he is having way too much fun and how could that possibly be work? Both of these master musicians reside in the West Kootenays and the question that must be asked is why are they hiding away in the jungles of British Columbia? Their answer is that it is purely a life style choice. Sure, they could make it in the big smoke but at what cost? The music they played on Saturday night can only be described as high octane improvised jazz with many overlays of Latin, Funk, Tango, Reggae, Klezmer, Brazilian and whatever else Gabriel manages manages to pull out to the air. With the exception of Juan Tizol’s Caravan and Ahmad Jamal’s Poinciana most of the compositions played where originals. Caravan was an absolute tornado of variations on the original classic jazz tune plus quotes from all across the American Song Book. Even Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue appeared in the mix. Caravan was written in the late thirties by Duke Ellington’s valve trombone player Juan Tizol and there must be a million interpretations out there. Think about it; a tune that has been around for over 70 years that can still be fresh and exciting. I have yet to hear a version that does not work. At the bottom of this page there is a link to a couple of Gabriel’s YouTube performances. Once again the production team at Centre 64 has come up with another winner. They don’t seem to able to come up anything less than the exceptional. Although Gabriel resides in Mexico he does a tour through this part of the world every summer and hopefully we will see him back here next year. Here are some images from the evening.

So once again a big thanks must go to all the volunteers and sponsors – The Burrito Grill, Mountain Spirit Resort and Ray’s Music. Mike Redfern finished up the evening with the wonderful news that Jim Webster and Anita Iacobucci have donated $3,000 dollars towards the installation of professional theater lights in the Centre 64 Studio. The money comes from the proceeds of the recent Music on the Mountain event. As a photographer I am very excited at the prospect of the difference enhanced lighting will make to my photos.

Here are some YouTube clips……..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDZgT44Hsas

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Music behind the Green Door – Sophiella Watt and the Huckleberry Bandits

Posted on 2015-09-03 by Rod Wilson

On Saturday, August 22, 2015 the Green Door in the Platzl in Kimberley continued with their policy of live music by presenting Sofiella Watt and the Huckleberry Bandits. The opening act on the patio at 7pm was Rod Wilson on vocals, 12 String Guitar and Cittern. At around 08:15 Sophie and her crew kicked off their portion of the evening by performing a couple of songs out in front of the Green Door in the platzl. The weather quickly got chilly so they issued an invitation to everybody to move inside for more music, food and good cheer. That was the beginning of a night of unique music. The musicians are all, at the moment, residents of Nelson and, true to the Nelson norm, their music was outside the box. It is essentially acoustic based but not BlueGrass, not Old Timey, not Country, not exactly folk and certainly not pop/rock. In a nutshell this was “Sofiella Watt and the HuckleBerry Bandits and this is what they do”. Members of the band included Sophie Watt on vocals, open back banjo, guitar and washboard percussion; David Reid on back up vocals, mandolin, harmonica and guitar; Jimmy Mayer on vocals, open back banjo and guitar; Jakob Simek back up vocals and upright bass and tucked way in back on drums Lee Campese. Out side in the platzl Lee hauled out a magnificent Gon Bop Cajon to provide the appropriate percussive rhythm.

In their own words “If we were a wanky wine label, we would read something like this: …a motley mix of winsome folk, bruised with blues and infused with banjo. A full bodied country blend, with heady jazz notes, and spicy gypsy undertones”. Sofiella Watt and Huckleberry Jim are an independent folk duo hailing from the East Coast of Australia. 2013 marked the release of the EP “To Friends Of The North Wind”, and saw these two huckleberry nomads commencing a 20 show tour over four Australian states, from Melbourne to Darwin! Since relocating their guitars, banjo and washboard to Nelson, BC, the duo have formed Sofiella Watt and the Huckleberry Bandits; with Lee Campese on drums, Jakob Simek on upright bass, and David Reid on mandolin. The group recently received ‘Best Folk/Country/ Roots Act’ in the Kootenay Music Awards, and have been getting many feet stomping across BC and Alberta with their unique brand
of gypsy folk-a-billy-blues. The troupe will be touring throughout the summer, promoting their fresh off the press self-titled EP. ! Here they are outside the Green Door in the Platzl enticing patrons to come on inside for more good times, good food and very interesting sounds.

Once inside the light was warmer and the fun continued unabated with a whole bunch of homespun originals that included Old Man Trouble, Junkyard Betty, Gypsy Green Eyes, Mama’s Got a Secret, and a cover of Tom Waits’ Chocolate Jesus.

This was a night of very entertaining music. So much so that the organizers of Cranbrook’s Summer Sounds and Kimberley’s summer festivals should take a note and add Sophellia and the Huckleberry Bandits to their “must have” list for next year’s music scene.

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Music behind the Green Door – Corinna Rose, Leah Dolgoy and Wizard Lizard

Posted on 2015-07-26 by Rod Wilson

Music behind the Green Door, July 22, 2015, 7-10 pm

The opening act on this particular night was another nod to Cranbrook’s cadre of youthful performers. This time it was the duo Wizzard Lizard. Kyle Albrecht was the guitar wizard and I guess Maddi Keiver is supposed to be the lizard in this organisation. That is most unkind. No lizard I have ever come across looked as pretty nor sang with such a strong voice. In fact I have never heard a lizard sing. Kyle kicked off the evening with an unnamed slide guitar blues in open E. Throughout the evening , with the exception of one cover tune, Van Morrison’s Moon Dance, it was mostly original songs that seem to have been written mostly by Maddi Keiver. She has an exceptionally strong voice that she uses to deliver her musical messages with great confidence. Kyle is no slouch either. His guitar playing is very smooth. I am constantly amazed by the number of outstanding musicians in this area that emerge from the woodwork. Or more correctly the number of talented performers who can probably trace their origins back to Evan Bueckert’s excellent music program at the Mount Baker High School. Here are some images of Wizzard Lizzard’s performances behind the Green Door in the Kimberley Platzl.

And now, all the way from Montreal, we have Corinna Rose (vocals, open back banjo, guitar) and Leah Dolgay (vocals, Autoharp, and Harpsicle). I like music that is different so these two ladies made my day. Once again for the evening the music was mostly original material performed in a highly original way. With her open back banjo, Corinna was the front “man” of the duo. I hesitate to describe the banjo and her style of playing as clawhammer because, apart from a couple of instances, she did not go very far down that road. Rather she used a more full blown finger picking approach using the standard G banjo tuning. There were some nice dissonant chords in there now and again that added to the uniqueness the the music. From time to time she picked up the Larivee guitar that she has had since she was seventeen years old. Like most small body Larivees it was beautiful to look at and a pleasure to hear. Leah Dolgay played an autoharp built by the luthier George Orthey . Leah manipulates the EQ of the instrument so that, when played in tandem, with Corinna’s banjo they end up with the banjo’s sound floating on top of the Autoharp’s melodic picking, strums and very solid bass runs. Leah is a recent convert to the rather large Celtic Harp, but while traveling she has to leave the full sized instrument at home. Instead she uses a more airline friendly “Harpsicle”. In reality the Harpsicle is a small lap harp that can just fit in the overhead compartments of the average airline. Here are some images of their performance:

The duo did mostly original material that seem to draw inspiration from broken relationships. That included the cover tunes they did. Although Shady Grove was done in an upbeat hoe down clawhammer style but it was out classed by their cover of the Hank Williams classic I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry. I loved the textures of the interpretation.

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Ornette Coleman – “He changed everything” (Lou Reed)

Posted on 2015-07-10 by Rod Wilson

1959 was a pivotal year in the history of Jazz. It was the year that Miles Davis recorded the ground breaking modal jazz master piece Kind of Blue; It was the year that Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond launched their experimental album Time Out that explored the potential of unusual time signatures in Jazz; It was also the year that Charles Mingus wrote his anthems for the civil rights movement that was immortalized in the album Mingus Ah Hum;

Last, but not least it was the year that Ornette Coleman exploded onto the scene with his album The Shape of Jazz to Come. It wouldn’t be too hard to arrive at a majority consensus on the first three albums but Ornette Coleman’s contribution to the jazz lexicon and the innovations of The Free Jazz Movement was controversial in 1959 and here over fifty years later the dust has not yet settled.

Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter and composer. He was one of the major innovators of the free jazz movement movement of the 1960s, a term he invented with the name of an album. Coleman’s timbre was easily recognized: his keening, crying sound drew heavily on blues music. He was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 1994. His album Sound Grammar received the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Music …….. From the beginning of his career, Coleman’s music and playing were in many ways unorthodox. His approach to harmony and chord progression was far less rigid than that of bebop performers; he was increasingly interested in playing what he heard rather than fitting it into predetermined chorus-structures and harmonies. His raw, highly vocalized sound and penchant for playing “in the cracks” of the scale led many Los Angeles jazz musicians to regard Coleman’s playing as out-of-tune. He sometimes had difficulty finding like-minded musicians with whom to perform. Nevertheless, Canadian pianist Paul Bley was an early supporter and musical collaborator. In 1958, Coleman led his first recording session for Contemporary, Something Else!!! The Music of Ornette Coleman….. Wikipedia. In 1959 he followed that up with a series of albums and engagements in New York that literally hit the jazz world like a tornado.

Coleman was never really accepted by the mainstream jazz world. Most patrons and a significant percentage of musicians shied away from his music. There were exceptions of course. John Coltrane, John Lewis, Pat Metheny, Charlie Haden, Lou Reed, The Grateful Dead and Don Cherry were among his champions. However, they were the exceptions. However his influence and statue continued to grow throughout his career.

Coleman died of a cardiac arrest at the age of 85 in New York City on June 11, 2015. His funeral was a three-hour event with performances and speeches by several of his collaborators and contemporaries.

Here is probably his most famous composition Lonely Woman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSmYTc1Jv7w

and now played by Pat Metheny

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdOrMjZIA-4

and here is what all the fuss was about…. FREE JAZZ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swJ-BZyCIh8

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Summer Sounds on Canada Day

Posted on 2015-07-04 by Rod Wilson

FISHER PEAK PERFORMING ARTISTS SOCIETY PRESENTS A CANADA DAY CELEBRATION, July 1, 2015: featuring the roots music sounds of Joshua Burning

The featured band for the day’s festivities was Joshua Burning whose style of music is basically funky country roots music. They also feature original material and covers of music that may not be usually associated with country music. The name of the band,“Joshua Burning”, is a nod towards the legendary country singer Gram Parsons who, upon his death, wished to have his ashes spread over the landscape in California’s Joshua Tree National Park. When he died, as we all must do eventually, his body was stolen from L.A.X. international airport by his best buddy, Phil Kaufman and taken to Joshua Tree Park where it was incinerated with a jerry can of high test gasoline. Of course all of this was illegal and against park policy and for his efforts Kaufman was fined $750 for the theft of the coffin. Now that’s something that should be in the movies. The band features the guitars, vocals and song writing skills of both Garnet Waite and Keith Larsen. Garnet is an especially fine singer, guitar picker and song writer. Keith is a crackerjack acoustic guitarist with some solid rock credentials on electric guitar. He also doubles on mandolin and blues harp. The band is anchored by the electric bass playing of John Gerlitz. John is well known for his classic acoustic interpretations of old time finger picking blues. Together they are an especially fine ensemble who are a step above your average country guitar strummer. These guys are guitar pickers rather than strummers. During the afternoon they strolled through some of Garnet’s original tunes that included Lucille, Daybreak Number 3, Angelina, and High Water Channel. For variety they thew in Keith Larsen’s Best Laid Plans. They also did a few covers including a Lyall Lovett tune, Lucinda Williams Drunken Angel, Peter Rowan’s Midnight Moonlight, Steve Goodman’s Banana Republics, a Marshall Tucker tune, the Grateful Dead’s Tennessee Jed, and to soothe my Celtic ancestors they covered The Pogues If I Should Fall from Grace. Here are some more images from a fine afternoon in the sun at Rotary Park in Cranbrook.

So, thanks Louie, James, “BBQ Bob”, Janice and all the volunteers and sponsors of the Fisher Peak Performing Artists Society that made it possible for the rest of us to kick back, enjoy the sunshine, burgers and the fine music of Joshua Burning. Thanks and more thanks.

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Rod Wilson's Blog

Tag Archives: music

The Trials and Tribulations of a Musician

Remembering Phil Woods – DownBeat 2015/10/02

LOCALS Coffee House – The first of this season

Tyler Hornby B3 Trio at Centre 64

A YouTube Pick (# 5) – Martin Simpson

It’s a long way from Buenos Aires – The Gabriel Palatchi Band

Music behind the Green Door – Sophiella Watt and the Huckleberry Bandits

Music behind the Green Door – Corinna Rose, Leah Dolgoy and Wizard Lizard

Ornette Coleman – “He changed everything” (Lou Reed)

Summer Sounds on Canada Day