Baptiste Trotignon & Martial Solal (Monument National) 26/6/03

Piano Solo

Deux artistes aussi differents par le style que la sensibilite auraient merite de se produire seuls. Leur reunion en un seul spectacle a quelque peu affaibli le charme que l'un ou l'autre pouvait avoir sur l'auditoire. On se laisse volontiers emouvoir par la musique quasi meditative et empreinte d'une grande sensibilite de Baptiste Trotignon. On ressent un grand savoir-faire ou plutot, un enorme talent,acquis par une longue experience chez Martial Solal qui, par ailleurs, ne rechigne pas a introduire, a l'occasion, une touche d'humour a son repertoire. A-t-on seulement eu le temps de les apprecier respectivement?

Frederic Aubert           

Baptiste Trotignon Trio et Jean-Michel Pilc , Salle du Gesù, 5/7/02

The Baptiste Trotignon Trio gave an excellent performance that night. The three musicians played symbiotically in a polished style to a connoisseur audience. The location is perfect for that type of intimate concert.
The Jean-Michel Pilc Trio is obviously used to being in the spotlight, as they improvised endlessly with brio. However, more set compositions would have been appreciated too.

Mylène and Unto

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 Al Di Meola (Theatre Maisoneuve,PDA) 27/06/03 

This "Guru " of fusion and an unimpeachable master of the guitar, gave us another memorable performance with very talented , exuberant band! Blending the Old classics with his new pieces, Di Meola enthralled the audience with his mature virtuosity and his mastery of the instrument. I very much enjoyed his rendering of the Double Concerto. It was indeed delightful to watch the spontaneous rapport between the band members and Di Meola's interaction with the audience. No wonder the Encore was twice repeated!

Madhu Iyer

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Joe Zawinul Syndicate (Spectrum) 27/06/03

This was the only show for which I purchased tickets before coming to Montreal on 6/26.  Having been attracted to Weather Report while in college 30 years ago I was very interested in this show atop all other scheduled indoor or outdoor.  My wife is not a great fan of electric jazz and I forewarned her about the intensity this show might present. In the end she was enchanted with the integration of musicians and pace of each number.
The band did not leave anything on the stage.  From moment one this high energy fusion sound filled the Spectrum and did not let go.  Every musician was extremely talented and continued to feel comfortable having everything go through Zawinul.  He is very humble, seasoned and truly electrifying.  Although there were no nostalgic Weather Report tunes, this driving band gives world beat a true fusion leader.

Robert Page
Hardwick, Massachusetts, USA

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Sarah-Jane Morris and Marc Ribot (Club Soda) 5/7/02

Jazz puritans steer clear of Sarah-Jane Morris. Everyone else take a bite out of this dish and see if you can stomach her bitter lyrics and deep, harsh voice. Sarah-Jane gave many thanks and praise to her main musical influence, Janis Joplin, however, she doesn’t sing much like Joplin and can be compared more to the deep voice of Cassandra Wilson and at times the rough, husky voice of Tom Waits. She began the first set accompanied only by Ribot, singing an arrangement of “Can’t Stand the Rain” that was both eerie and sublime. Ribot played mostly an acoustic steel-string guitar throughout the night, hacking the strings in the most unusual way, playing in a style that sounded like something that would come out of a jam session between Keith Richards and John Scofield. For most of the night the music was exciting and energetic, but at Club Soda where drinks are served, the crowd inevitably gets drunk. As the second set wrapped up and Sarah-Jane sang more blues, the clapping offbeat and random cheers began emerging from different sections of the club. Her encore, “Me and Mrs. Jones” was performed well but the crowd turned it into a sing-along. Although Sarah Jane Morris maintained her off-centered elegance and sang with passion throughout the night, Montrealers can’t sing like her- and shouldn’t have tried.

Christopher Cargnello

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Charlie Hunter  Quintet (Spectrum) 29/07/03

In surprisingly polished French, Charlie Hunter, the American jazz guitar new blood, greeted the crowd at the Spectrum on Sunday June 29 for his 9:30 show and introduced the members of his quintet: Derek Phillips on drums, Curtis Fowlkes on Trombone; John Ellis on tenor sax, bass clarinet and flute; and Ron Miles on trumpet.
Rhythm and drive are the qualities of the Hunter sound, which he cranks and pilots from his 8-string guitar, a curious instrument that allows the groove-conscious musician to play bass and guitar at the same time.
The writing for the group, while not ground breaking in any sense, is fresh in its exploitation of rhythm and its setting up solos in unpredictable format, where theme statements are interspersed with solo sections and then background figures weave in and out, changing the textures of the music.
Hunter has a great counterpart in drummer Derek Phillips who plays off the basic time pulse with a variety of rhythms and grooves. It was also a treat to hear trumpeter Ron Miles on this concert, replacing chromatic harmonic player Gregoire Maret, who is the third wind player on Hunter’s most recent recording Right Now Move.
The band played some infectious, crowd-pleasing music, culminating with a couple of dynamic encores that had Hunter displaying surprising tambourine chops which imitated the funky poly-rhythms of contemporary urban beats and scratches.

Paul Serralhiero

Charlie Hunter (Salles du Gesu) 4/7/02

Charlie Hunter is a virtuosic 8-string guitarist whose music is a rich blend of jazz, blues, funk, latin and rock. His solo concert this evening exposed his playful personality and his ability to sustain a seriously heavy groove throughout the performance. Charlie mentioned early-on that this concert was his first opportunity as an adult to do a solo performance, and as the evening progressed, I was convinced that he wasn't going to end the show until he showed the audience everything he can possibly do as a musician. Charlie Hunter experimented with different guitar techniques, he played with numerous 'gadgets' and pedals on the floor and even gave us a taste of his exceptional tambourine skills. The range of musical styles in his concert's repertoire was also extensive and impressive. Charlie played through some jazz standards, a Stevie Wonder tune as well as some improvised grooves that traveled in many directions and took different shapes with his mesmerizing yet very rough-edged guitar playing. This concert finally gave Charlie Hunter the opportunity to show his virtuosity and versatility to Montreal. Hopefully he will become a festival regular, and if he does, I highly recommend to check this man out.

Christopher

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Laurent de Wilde (Club Soda) 29/06/03

De loin la prestation de cette série Les nuits Labatt Bleue Dry, la plus jazzy et la plus frénétique! Accompagné du saxophoniste Gaël Horellou (alto et baryton), du batteur Julien Charlet, du contrebassiste Patrice Moret, et du DJ Ben aux machines, Laurent de Wilde a joué de nombreux morceaux de son dernier excellent cd, Stories. Malia est venue ouvrir le concert avec la chanson « If I could » qui figure aussi sur ce dernier album. La reprise de Moanin’ de Charles Mingus était particulièrement réussie. Le saxophoniste Gaël Horellou a joué plusieurs solos très intéressants, volant la vedette au claviériste. Le concert s’est terminé par un morceau plus doux, « Move on ». À noter que ce soir-là, le son était particulièrement au point. Excellent concert. Dommage que le public soit parti si tôt, car ils ont raté quelque chose avec la prestation des deux dj allemands, Boozoo bajou. Rompant totalement avec le style de de Wilde, ils ont passé du reggae, des rythmes brésiliens, du funk même. Ces deux dj d’apparence timide et tranquille ont régalé les oreilles des quelques curieux qui sont restés pour les écouter. On espère les revoir un jour à Montréal. 

Sabine Thuilleaux

Laurent de Wilde / Jazzanova  (Spectrum) 28/6/2001

If revolutions in Jazz happen in the realm of rhythm, then France's Laurent de Wilde and his musicians announce a revolution. Although it's been almost 10 years since Miles Davis' Doo-Bop, a daring fusion of hip hop and jazz, few jazz players have followed the lead. De Wilde's group showed a prominent jazz element of improvisation by highly skilled, articulate musicians, but the rhythmic underpinnind was not swing, or bossa, or shuffle, but rather a propulsive, high-energy mix of drums and bass, house, techno and other urban music stylistic splashes that drove the audience into a frenzy. Dizzy Gillespie--who believed jazz and dance were inseperable--would have loved this group, so would Vic Vogel, who recently /complained that jazz these days doesn't convey the joy and momentum it once did.
The second act on the program, a pair of DJs from Germany going by the name of Jazzanova, provided serviceable beats and mixes for dancing but were pale by comparison with De Wilde's virtuostic display and his creative explorations of rhythmic thrust.

Paul Serralheiro

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Vic Vogel Nonette with guest, Jimmy Heath; first part: Denzal Sinclair (Theatre Maisonneuve, PDA) 30/06/03

This show was in two parts: the first part featured Denzal Sinclair, singer and keyboard, accompanied by three very talented musicians, Bruno Hubert on piano, Ruben Rogers on bass, and Greg Hutchinson on drums. Denzal's strong, supple voice and fine phrasing shone through on the opening songs “ Day in Day out” and “Exactly like You”. The group then performed an original song called “You Treat me Good” followed by Gershwin’s “I got Rhythm” which was arranged and sung with a slow rock beat . The next song was a surprise in a jazz show as Denzal sang the old Mario Lanza standby “Be My Love” accompanied only by the piano of Bruno Hubert. On “You and the Night and the Music” Denzal sang and played keyboard and melodica,  an instrument with a small keyboard and a tube that the player blows into he explained to the audience. The group finished their set with a jazzy song called “ Tofu and Greens”. The audience really appreciated Denzal and his group’s performance and proceeded happily to intermission as the stage crew prepared for the Vic Vogel Nonnette. 
This was Vic’s 24 th appearance at the Montreal Jazz festival, and this year with a nonette consisting of; two saxes, tenor and alto, two slide trombones, two trumpets , bass, drums, and piano. Vogel announced that he calls the group “ mes petits voyous de la rue St Denis” but during each number one of these very fine musicians did a featured solo. During the set the group did a Vogel arrangement of “You and the Night and the Music” which Vic in his modesty said that he preferred to Denzal Sinclair’s version. That may have caused some debate in the minds of the audience. The Nonette performed works by Thelonious Monk with a fine Ghislain Potvin solo  and  a tune called “Sea Breeze”  which featured a solo by Yves Turgeon on alto sax.  One of the next tunes was called “ Dinner for One James the Lady will not be Dining” written by a friend of Vic Vogel, J.J. Johns and Vic dedicated the song  to James McGuire, the Chef/ Owner of The Passe Partout Restaurant who was in the audience. This was a beautiful composition and featured a solo by Serge Arsenault on the trombone. Vic the presented the next song “Peach Hill Road” which he wrote in honour of Gerry  Mulligan. Vic, who throughout the set either was at the piano or conducting the group, was the soloist on this song. The group then played a song by Jerry Mulligan called “Bernie’s Tune” which featured a trumpet solo by Ivanhoe Jolicoeur.  Vogel then introduced the next two pieces by stating that the twentieth century produced two great American composers, Duke Ellington and George Gershwin. The group the played an arrangement of Ellington’s “Caravan” featuring a trumpet solo by Ghislain Potvin followed by a medley arrangement from “Porgy and Bess” which featured Bruno D’Amico on drums. Vic then introduced Jimmy Heath his special guest and Jimmy played “Sassy Samba” on his tenor sax, a tune written in honour of Sarah Vaughn and “Winter Sleeves” based on “Autumn Leaves”. After a couple of other numbers featuring Jimmy Heath, Denzal Sinclair came out  and sang an very good version of “ I’ve got the World on a String” accompanied by the Vic Vogel Nonnette and Jimmy Heath as the garn finale to fine evening of music.   

Ron Spivock

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Denzal Sinclair

6 of us attended the Denzal Sinclaire concert in White Rock, B. C. and were thrilled and impressed. Mr. Sinclaire brought a casual playful intensity to the evening that was delightful. We introduced some friends to jazz that evening and I believe converted them to this wonderful music.

Mr. Sinclaire: It was a lovely way to spend and evening

Barney Biggs Surrey. B. C.

Denzal Sinclair 6/7/2000

J'ai achete le CD de Denzal Sinclair, car J'en avais entendu parler en France, et je ne regrette pas du tout. Les mélodies sont fascinantes et il a une voix magnifique. Le rythme est super et quand on ferme les yeux on a envie de s'évader. Je l'ai fait écouter à plusieurs personnes qui m'ont dit, "plus tu l'écoutes, et plus tu l'aimes".

Julie

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Beady Belle (Club Soda) 30/06/03

Beauty and the Beat

 “Trance jazz” is one way to describe the music of Beady Belle, the Norwegian group led by singer and composer Beate S. Lech and bassist Marius Reksjo.
Electronic beats are at the center of Beady Belle’s sound, and the musicians maintain a hypnotic groove while the charismatic singer weaves her flights of vocal fancy that draw on early jazz, soul, gospel and dance-club stylings. It is Gloria Gaynor meets Ella Fitzgerald at moments, all with an unrelenting beat that would have been great in a club setting where everyone can get up and dance--I found that I kept looking up to see if there was a mirrored disco ball in the house--but as music for listening, instrumental prowess was missing, although Lech had her moments and the keyboardist Jorn Oien had a good supply of ideas and rhythmic drive.
Tunes were varied, with some high-energy numbers interspersed with melancholic ballads. The music’s mesmerizing effect, a result of the regularity of the beat altered by slight changes in accent and timbre and floating melodic lines, was reminiscent of the music of minimalist composers Steve Reich and Philip Glass and the shimmering drone of a gamelan orchestra.
Beady Belle provided easy listening with a powerful undertow that was obviously appreciated by the attentive crowd who followed the music with nodding heads and tapping feet and enthusiastically applauded the musicians’ efforts. I would have liked more interesting solos and more varied rhythmic textures, however.

 Paul Serralheiro

Beady Belle et Chateau Flight, (les Nuits) 5/7/2001

Beady Belle (Norvège) a fait une bonne prestation, malgré les ennuis techniques du début... La chanteuse norvégienne, vêtue d’un pantalon en velour violet et d’un chemisier en soie mauve, nous a livré une musique drum and bass live accompagnée d’influences soul et jazzy, tout à fait agréable. On apprécie la présence sur scène de vrais musiciens. Musique agréable, mais sans plus. La tendance de la chanteuse à répéter inlassablement les mêmes phrases rend sa musique monotone. Pour ma part, j’aurais beaucoup aimé l’entendre improviser vocalement car elle nous a montré qu’elle en était capable. Une voix à explorer ?

Sabine

Château Flight (Spectrum) 5/7/2001

constitué de deux DJ qui faisaient tourner les tables à tour de rôle, ont fait entendre au public enthousiaste, pour un soir de semaine et malgré l’heure tardive, une musique énergique et éclectique. Cependant, leur style ne collait pas du tout à celui de Beady Belle et la transition a été trop abrupte pour que j’arrive à rentrer complètement dans leur prestation.

Sabine

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Esbjörn Svensson Trio (Spectrum) 30/06/2003

The fans of the trio enjoyed their music a lot & were familiar with their album. We liked some of it like the one for Yuri Gagarin or the one about the car accident that killed a Swedish jazz musician. The style was mixed. Some pieces were high energy ones. Each of the trio seemed to have been accomplished musicians. All in all Esbjorn Svensson trio was o.k.

Sima

On the eve of their return to Stockholm after a three-week tour of the U.S. and a couple of gigs in Canada, EST delighted a wildly enthusiastic audience, undeterred by temperatures soaring into the upper 30s.
The baby grand piano was turned away from the audience to face bassist Dan Berglund and percussionist Magnus Oström. Pianist Esbjörn Svensson introduced numbers with offbeat titles such as “When God Created a Coffee Break.” “From Gagarin’s Point of View,” an eerie ballad that evoked Yuri Gagarin’s feeling when viewing earth from space for the first time, was dedicated to the late bassist Ray Brown.
The audience started cheering after the first piece and didn’t let up between numbers, although you could have heard a pin drop during the performance.
The piano part ended abruptly on the first few numbers, but there were some enjoyable touches like reverberation on the percussion during the Gagarin piece (from the CD of the same title), the pianist plucking the strings inside the piano, and the base sound distorted by a wah-wah pedal. The trio plays jazz influenced by pop music, and on different numbers the influence of Pat Metheny and Black Sabbath was apparent. EST are masters at creating and sustaining atmosphere.  
Esbjörn Svensson sounded genuine as he yelled, "You’re the greatest audience we’ve ever played for!" The tired trio took their bow with soaked towels around their necks and dangling from nearly nerveless fingers! The crowd went crazy and they came back and played another encore, a sing-along tribute to Thelonious Monk.

Billy Bang (Gesu) 30/07/03

Bien que je me considère plutôt inculte face au Jazz, je considère que ce spectacle était des plus réaussi. J'ai apprécié l'ambiance intime et l'interaction de Billy avec la foule. Ted, John et Micheal semblaient solides et avoir l'habitude de jouer ensemble. Une très belle synergie. Ce que j'ai le plus apprécié, c'est d'entendre des sonorités orientales mélangées au Jazz. Cela a donné une dimension culturelle et une atmosphère particulière au spectacle, agrémenté des commentaires et explications du violoniste et "leader" du groupe. J'ai été particulièrement touché par la beauté de la pièce KIAMAI. Somme toute, bravo et bonne fin de festival de Jazz 2003 !!!

Benoit 

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Ursula Rucker and Vikter Duplaix (Club Soda) 30/6/03

New Sounds of Philly

The Montreal International Jazz Festival, over the past four years has continually expanded it's offerings for fans of electronic music. Under the guise of 'Les Nuits Labatt Bleue Dry', the nightly party is held at Club Soda on St. Laurent Boulevard. This year, the DJ series welcomed two veterans of the Philadelphia music scene on the final day of June. Poetess Ursula Rucker brought her avant-garde style of spoken word, while renowned DJ/producer cum vocalist,Vikter Duplaix offered up an eclectic set featuring a very diverse mix of records.

Ursula Rucker has an imposing stage presence, dressed in a long flowing printed turquoise dress and knee high white leather boots, she moves animatedly and accentuates her words with her hands. She was accompanied by a percussionist and an acoustic guitarist (with Jerry Garcia on his sleeve no less!). These musicians served to provide a lush, rhythmic backdrop to the urban realities of Rucker's poetry. Rucker deals with contemporary issues which tear at the fabric of Western society; poverty, racism, misogyny, corporatism and individualism are all recurring themes in her art. A wordsmith of the finest caliber, she served to both shock and awe the almost capacity crowd. She came across as a person of extremely strong conviction describing how she has been denounced by the right wing establishment, even having been disallowed access to certain college campuses across the USA. She has nevertheless continued to speak out and denounce the ills which she believes have served to oppress minorities of all descriptions. While Rucker's poetry is certainly poignant, it is to some degree the type of art that one needs to crave in order to fully appreciate. She tries and succeeds in painting very graphic scenes and to the uninitiated or uninterested, this can seem gratuitous. However, the effect of a strong minded independent poetess on stage accompanied by very able musicians and flanked by flat screen TV's flashing relevant words and phrases, was very powerful, and when Rucker left the stage at 1:30am, after over an hour of uninterrupted, evocative poetry and music, she had succinctly and effectively conveyed both the pain and joy of her version of our world.

One of the advantages of the DJ series is that there is no intermission between acts, no sooner had Ursula Rucker and her musicians left the stage than had the familiar 4X4 beat of house music exploded from the turntables set up on the right side of the venue. For continuity sake, the DJ equipment is set up off the stage near the middle of the venue. Over the bump n' grind of his first record, Vikter Duplaix welcomed us all to this Philly style party and let the crowd know that he would be offering us a few vocal inflections of his own when the time was right. Over the next ninety minutes, Duplaix delivered a very diverse set. While playing mostly downtempo, deep house records, Duplaix also touched on afro-latin rhythms, jazz influenced records and kicked in a
few old classics. While the crowd at Club Soda had decreased by this point, those in attendance, including Oscar winner Halle Berry in Montreal filming Gothika and unaccompanied by any security, circled around the turntables and danced to this beautiful offering of modern urban music. Duplaix is a mixer par excellence, and his choice of music served as bridge between electronic and more traditional forms of music. This is where the DJ series excels, by providing Montrealers and Jazz Fest fans the opportunity to see, hear and experience performers who in most cases are not the most in demand club DJ's, but rather respected producers with a more diverse musical appreciation and depth. Vikter Duplaix certainly met this criteria, and the only two criticisms this reviewer can point to are his singing and the brevity of the set. While the Jazz Fest organizers may have touted Duplaix's voice as reminiscent of Sting or Peter Gabriel, I found it to be flat, pedantic and utterly uninspired. His initial vocal excursion of the set served to be his last and it certainly was cause for the only musical discontinuity of the evening. In terms of the length of the set, well let's just say everyone was left hot, bothered and ready for more when Club Soda turned the lights on and the sound system off at 3am. In some sense the very free form style that usually marks a truly brilliant DJ set was never a possibility in the short time allowed, perhaps the concert could have started at 11pm rather than midnight which would have allowed more time for both artists.
The 'New Sounds of Philly' night offered two very different and talented artists and an intimate portrait of the variety that is to be found at Les Nuits Labatte Bleue Dry and the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal.

Chris Clark

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Sheila Jordan & the Steve Kuhn Trio (Club Soda) 2/07/03

The redoubtable Sheila Jordan has polish and ease with an audience honed over a jazz singing career spanning half a century. Known for her scat singing and improvisation of lyrics, Jordan performed compositions by Ray Noble, Fats Waller, Mel Waldron and Steve Kuhn, with whom she has had a long musical association. Kuhn, who was John Coltrane’s first keyboardist after he left Miles Davis to form his own quartet, is as smooth and creative a pianist as Jordan is a vocalist. They were complemented by bassist David Finck and percussionist Billy Drummond, with exceptional musical communication between all four. A high point was their rendition of Paul McCartney’s "Blackbird" with Native American chants.
Jordan charmed the Montreal audience with an autobiographical tale sung to musical accompaniment, recounting how she spent her young teenage years trying to talk her way in to Detroit clubs where Charlie Parker played, content even to hear his music from atop a garbage can in the back alley. Mentioning that she was now 74 years old, Ms. Jordan told the crowd, "If it wasn’t for jazz music, I wouldn’t be alive today." She’s still vivacity incarnate, sharing her passion with equally avid listeners.

Cynthia Adam

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Jorane’s concert at the Spectrum last night (June 27, 6 PM) was a highly "mediated" show, a somewhat self-absorbed music video, packaged in a live setting.
"Show" was written all over this concert, from the television cameras that buoyed up and down on long intrusive boom stands to the kind of images and attitude exhibited by Jorane and her musicians.
The cello-playing and singing Jorane was accompanied by another cello, a doublebass, a drummer and a back up singer. The sounds from the acoustic instruments were electrically processed, and, billed as "16mm," the concert included visual support in the form of film projections and a light show.
A distinct feature of Jorane’s music seems to be the use of sounds and phrases borrowed from other contexts, notably medieval, Middle-Eastern and Indian music as well as pop and rock. These, along with wordless vocalizations present a sound collage that emphasizes mood over meaning and style over substance.
For example, a tune that seemed to be called "Hello" used the colloquial sounds of "Hello" and "Wow" and their intonations as its basis. Another tune called "The Desert" combined the drone and tabla rhythms of Indian music and the attitude and vocal "prints" of Sheryl Crow and Alanis Morisette in a rather naive manner, although arrangements were "tight" and well-rehearsed.
This naive use of de-contextualized sounds may work in a depersonalized stadium or on a screen but is embarrassing in a relatively intimate setting--very "urban juvenile." This, combined with the fact that there was very little improvisation, gives purist jazz fans lots to complain about, as it makes one wonder how exactly this fits in a jazz context.
For a jazz fan, rhythmic development and other compositional elements were underexplored, but there were some interesting musical qualities. Most notable among these were the trance-like effects of many of the tunes which provided music to day-dream by and some propulsive rhythmic playing from all the musicians.
The concert closed with an encore duet between Jorane and her percussionist that featured a boogie figure on the cello and the disembodied phrase "You like the smell of gasoline," which evoked the style of the blues without any of its actual meaning. This was followed by a well-woven cello and voice solo by Jorane that presented an appealing naive optimism expressed in the lyrical motif "Je n’ai rien contre la vie--au contraire, je crois en elle."

Paul Serralhiero

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Larry Coryell (Salles du Gesu) 27/6/02

Larry Coryell's solo guitar performance last night at the Salles du Gésu was - to use an old cliché - pure magic. Mr.Coryell's symbiosis with his guitar was a sight to behold, and hear, both for amateurs and pros of jazz alike. Coryell has a way of playing his instruments so passionately, fluidly, tenderly, and at times emphatically, that it almost seems as if he is
playing on beams of light rather than strings of a guitar.
The concert was a delicious serving of fabulous interpretations of artists ranging from Duke Ellington to George Harrison, interspersed with Coryell's own juicy-jazzy compositions.
From ballad to blues, to ambiant jazz, Coryell had the crowd grooving, snapping, clapping, swaying and "yeah"-ing for more. As for myself, I was continuously struggling between wanting to keep my eyes open and focused on Larry's magical movements, and wanting to
keep them shut and drift into the smooth, jazzy universe that this artist so happily evoked. Coryell's good humour and connection with the audience was like a cherry on top of what was already a wonderful serving of sound.

Jeffrey Golf

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Headliner Helena Noguerra, performing Brazilian-inspired songs from her second album Azul, aided and abetted French singer- songwriter Philippe Katerine to steal the show. Katerine opened with five or six of his own compositions, accompanying himself on guitar, but also came back in the middle and at the end. He seemed to develop a much more immediate rapport with the audience than Ms. Noguerra, and to be more comfortable on stage.
This was somewhat surprising as, according to her record company’s web site, Belgian-born Noguerra has been a television and radio host in France, as well as an actress and model. She wrote all the lyrics in different languages for Azul, while her companion Katerine composed the music for it. The album thus combines bossa nova rhythms and French "soul pop" with some of Katerine’s British influences.
Helena sang lyrics dealing with love, lust and jealousy in a straightforward and uncynical way, contrasting with Katerine’s tongue-in-cheek delivery, mordant humour and scatological references. Helena’s performance was redolent of Brazilian sea, sand and sensuality. She often finished singing and went to the left side of the stage and gracefully danced or played the tambourine while the band continued to play. The musicians (Franck Steckar, keyboards; Christophe Disco Minck, bass; Christophe Lavergne, (percussion) were tight and almost a separate show unto themselves, although the percussion at times overpowered Ms. Noguerra’s soft vocals.

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Gonzalo Rubalcaba Solo & Trio (Monument National) 27/6/02

Gonzalo Rubalcaba Lets the Music Speak

Cuban pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba preformed last night at the Monument National launching a series of four concerts which he and a series of guest musicians will perform at this year’s festival during the "Invitation" series.
The first part consisted of a solo performance during which Gonzalo revealed his mellower side. The grand piano situated at the right side of the stage of this classic Victorian theatre produced dreamy and languorous music demonstrating Gonzalo’s prowess as a weaver of Rubacalbesque melodies and harmonies inspired by his native Cuba and mainstream jazz.
He later picked up the tempo and churned out a standard Cuban tune "Manicero" or the Peanut Vendor. Here Gonzalo truly revealed his adeptness at creativity and ingenious playing turning "Manicero" into a tapestry of jagged harmonies and syncopated rhythms without letting the tune waver into sonic anarchy thereby maintaining the integrity of the piece.
During the second segment of the concert, the pianist was accompanied by a bass player and drummer (unfortunately, the names of these latter two were not in the programme and not a word was spoken during the concert so it is not possible to state their names.)
The trio produced a blend of ballads and Latin and swing fusion with varying dynamics and rhythm changes creating a canvas of at times mainstream style jazz and at times musical cubism. Both drummer and bass player provided solos with taste and talent although the drummer tended to multiply the decibel level a little too much during his solos.
Indeed, although a few words (in any language) would have been welcome at this concert either to introduce the band or simply to show appreciation for the applause, jazz was the message and I believe the audience got what they expected.

Tenor

Gonzalo Rubalcaba & Joe Lovano (Monument National) 28/6/02

These sophisticated world-class musicians, pianist, Gonzalo Rubalcaba and saxophonist, Joe Lovano, had a sincere exchange on the second Rubalcaba night at the Monument National. There was no artifice in this performance: both were obviously there to share each others’ talents with the crowd, all for the higher goal of enriching the jazz tradition.

 However, the specificity of both Lovano’s and Rubalcaba’s styles was somewhat dwarfed by the presence of the other. For this reason, the concert did not see either musician reflecting a total feeling of comfort and abandon at any point. Each jazz cat prowled around the other, sniffing out possible scents of inspiration, but not quite arriving at a communal meow. 

While playing the sax, Lovano even struck various Indonesian gongs to amplify choice harmonics of his wind instrument.

Lovano, perhaps sensing the constrictive powers of his sax arrangements on Rubalcaba, surprised the audience by respectfully laying aside his sax and assuming a seat at the drum set on certain pieces. He proved to be a gifted percussionist indeed!  His sensitivity came out marvelously while performing his role as a drummer, thus allowing Rubalcaba to shine. And shine he did with the dazzling speed of his rolls & scales.

But Rubalcaba did not grace this Latinophile audience with a typical Cuban sound, except when the rapid fluttering of his fingers over the keys resembled the shaking of maracas. The bulk of his playing varied from Brubeck- to Debussy-sounding. Rubalcaba’s explorations on the keyboard would have delighted any Contemporary Music fan attuned to the projects of Ravel, Milhaud, etc., but not the expectant son dancer.

 Polli   

C'est un jazz distingue, de recherce... Rubalcaba est un inellectuel du jazz. Je l'ai vu a Soho, au Blue Note, je crois. J'ai entendu a la radio qu'il allait jouer a Montreal. Je suis allee le lendemain m'acheter un billet. Rubalcaba joue avec plein de sentiment, de passion, et de douceur. C'est un ecrivain de la musique: il joue avec la sonorite! Mais ce soir il n'y avait pas de sons cubains.. Je m'attendais aux touches cubaines!

Micheline Bellemare

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Ab Baars Trio(Musee d'Art contemporain) 27/6/02

AB BAARS TRIO –Jazz at the Pow-wow

These flying Dutchmen took us on the wings of an eagle by devoting their entire programme to the music inspired by Native American’s rhythms, myths and lore.
The musical portraits were executed in a free style context with an array of syncopated rhythms, atonalities and all manner of sonic colours. Ab Baars introduced the pieces and their sources of inspiration before taking us on a musical journey with help of bass and drums.
The native-like rhythms were played on a standard jazz-drum set up and provided a basis for free style improvisation with abrasive tonalities on the part of the sax and bass, blended with varying dynamics and sonic textures. At times these were harsh, symbolizing our Native people’s plight and other times they were as gentle as the flight of an eagle over the mountain peaks reflecting the belief that the spirit takes flight during a healing process.
In short, this was a musical journey worth taking for any modern jazz aficionado. For those with less of an affinity for free jazz, it was definitely something to write home about.

Renate de Neve

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Vern