March 22, 2016

Guelph Jazz Festival

Guelph, Ontario
September 16-20, 2015

By Ken Waxman

Story telling of the verbal and instrumental variety was an important feature of this year’s Guelph Jazz Festival. Trying out new venues such as Heritage Hall (HH), Guelph’s first black church; and the soft-seated Guelph Little Theatre (GLT), the festival added a feeling of intimacy to its innovative programming.

Front and centre with tales, tall and otherwise were two Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (ACCM) members, multi-reedist Douglas Ewart and alto saxophonist Matana Roberts. Confirming the old adage that actions can speak louder than words were musicians as cerebrally intricate as Evan Parker’s soprano saxophone forays or as raucous as guitarist Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog trio. MORE

March 10, 2013

Colin Stetson & Mats Gustafsson

Stones
Rue Grammofon RCD 2136 CD

Max Nagl

In Memory of Lol Coxhill

Rude Noises 021

Vladimir Tarasov/Garth Powell

Etudes

SoLyd SLR 0414

Hot and Cold

Hogwild Manifesto

Jungulous 003

Something In The Air: Identical Instruments: Different Sounds

By Ken Waxman

Demonstrating that accepted musical customs are often shibboleths – the equivalent of not wearing white after Labour Day – contemporary improvisers frequently express themselves unconventionally – even when it comes to instrumental choices. Take for example the fine duo sessions here. Unaccompanied by others, the players prove that there are enough textures available from nearly identical instruments to create full sound pictures. These sets show not only how much can be done with two guitars – a common combination – but also by two percussion sets, not to mention two saxophones of similar ranges and timbres. MORE