KIMBERLEY KALEIDOSCOPE FESTIVAL – The Love Bullies

THE LOVE BULLIES on the outdoor stage at Centre 64, Saturday Evening, August 6, 2016, 7:30 pm500. The Love Bullies

The Love Bullies – Shantal Vitals (guitar, vocals), Kevin Herring (Telecaster guitar), Joni Brent (Bass guitar, vocals), Caroline Connolly (lead vocals and flute) and Paul Jahn (drums) are back in town and this time I knew what to expect. They performed on Stage 64 (Centre 64) back in March of last year. At that time I was completely taken aback by the big hair, boots, and the polyester fashion statements from a bye gone era. Well on Saturday evening the ladies appeared just as tacky as the last time; Kevin Herring was still doing his best impression of “a man in black”, and the working man in the back was still the same drummer. As with their last visit they dished up a solid  evening of vintage pop that included Tunnel of Love, Stupid Cupid, Shake it all Over, These Boots Were Made for Walking, Uneasy Feeling, Hernando’s Hidaway, plus a whole lot of other well known songs of the pre-classic rock era. Sprinkled among the old pop standards they squeezed in  a couple of their original songs. The weather, despite heavy rains in the morning, was co-operative and gave the organizers a nice mild summer’s evening. Once the band got going the crowd showed their appreciation by getting up and dancing the night away. Below are some images from the evening.

216. Shantal Vitalis  222. Shantal and Kevin228. Caroline Connolly  236. Kevin Herring230. Joni Brent246. Caroline Connolly  250. Caroline Connolly254a. Kevin Herring258. Time to dance   300. Time for dancing256. Paul Jahn   260. Joni and Kevin268. Kevin Herring274. Shantal Vitali276. Kevin and Joni  284. Shantal and Kevin282. Joni Brent286. The ladies334a. Joni Brent292. Shantal Vitalis304. Caroline Connolly  310. Caroline Connolly308. Kevin Herring312. Joni Brent316. Joni Brent  318. Joni Brent324a. Joni Brent326. Caroline Connolly332. Shantal Vitalis  330. Joni Brent338. Kevin Herring   340. Caroline Connolly360. Kevin Herring353. Kevin Herring  336. Joni Brent368. Kevin Herring364. Joni Brent

So there you have it. A great show by a band that is most likely the “Most Entertaining Rock Band on the Planet”.

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The Red Cannons – Three Guitars and a Back Beat

The Red Cannons at Studio 64, May 28, 2016, 8pm

090. The Red Cannons

The Essence of Rock and Roll  – “Three Guitars and  Back Beat”. Well, this “band of brothers”,  Evan Boechler (rhythm and lead vocals), Braden Boechler (lead guitar and vocals) Landon Boechler (drums, vocals) and their fetching bass player, Jen Perry had it in spades. A Kimberley resident came across the band in performance near Edmonton and recommended them as Rock and Roll participants in the Studio 64 Spring Concert Series at Centre 64. To get from their home base in Spruce Grove, Alberta (just west of Edmonton) is a big trip and I hope the band enjoyed performing for this very pumped audience. They kicked off the evening with an original tune called One Little Bat an then worked their way through some classic Rock and Roll such as  Credence Clearwater’s Have you Seen the Rain? and Bad Moon Rising, the Beatles Come Together, Shake Rattle and Roll, The Rolling Stones Honky Tonk Woman, Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues, Chuck Berry’s Johnny B. Good, The Tragically Hip’s New Orleans and for a “party piece” Evan and Landon got together on the drum kit to do a duet on the classic surf tune Wipe Out. To show their appreciation the audience just got up and danced beside and in front of the stage. Here are images from the night.

100c. Jen Perry102. Jen Perry   108. Jen Perry200. Braden Boechler015. Header302. Evan Boechler136. Jen Perry404. Landon Boechler210. Bradon Boechler   410. The drum solo - duet126. Jen Perry400. Landon Boechler  406. Landon Boechler402. Landon Boechler314, Evan Boechler     322. Evan Boechler212. Bradon Boechler  328. Evan Boechler104. Jen Perry140. Jen Perry

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“It’s all in the mix”………… BREAKWATER

Breakwater March 2016 Cranbrook Poster

Saturday March 12, 2016, 7:30 pm at the Key City Theatre in Cranbrook performing on the small stage in the foyer.

To the purists this may not really be “Celtic” music but to the rest of us it turned out to be a really interesting “mash up” (Jeff Faragher’s words) of what is a really fascinating 502. Jeff Faraghermix of musicians, tunes and styles. Breakwater is a quartet of musicians from the West Kootenays that includes Jeff Faragher on Cello, guitar and vocals, 706. Aurora SmithAurora Smith on vocals and Fiddle, Rob Fahie on Double Bass and Ben Johnson on Drums and Percussion. These musicians come from 902. Rob Fahievaried backgrounds with impeccable credentials. Jeff is an outstanding classical celloist who has played in a number of local solo and chamber group situations as well being the conductor and soloist with the Symphony of the Kootenays; Rob is originally from the Montreal jazz scene and is also one of the principal bass players in the Symphony of the Kootenays; Aurora is a 210. Ben Johnsonfiddle player who teaches in Nelson and also performs as a classical violinist in a number of orchestras, including the Symphony of the Kootenays. Ben Johnson is a drummer and percussionist whose primary interest is in Balkan, Greek, Turkish and Middle Eastern music. Apart from percussion he plays a number of instruments from that part of the world including Greek Bouzouki, Oud, Saz and many other instruments with unpronounceable names. With that as the kick off point it is hard to imagine the music being anything other than interesting. The central core of the repertoire is Celtic, specifically, fiddle music, to which the group adds music from the classical masters (J.S. Bach, Dvorak), film music (Game of Thrones, Pirates of the Caribbean), pop music(Coldplay), Canadian (Song of the Mira, Log Drivers Waltz), folk music (Bob Dylan’s Blowing in the Wind), Bluegrass and just about anything else that tickles their imagination. The front line of fiddle, cello and double bass is a combination that fits well with the repertoire. To prove the point they kicked off the evening with a J.S. Bach minuet that morphed into the fiddle tune The Ash Plant. This they followed up with a rousing set of Aurora’s fiddle tunes (The Roaring Barmaid / The New Reel / The Tamlin Reel). After that whirlwind performance  Aurora knocked it back a notch by singing The Banks of Loch Lomond followed by the band’s exploration of Jay Ungar’s classic tune  The Ashokan Farewell (from Ken Burns PBS Documentary on the American Civil War). For the rest of the evening it was more of the same. Lots of fiddle tunes, including two that I noted for later research when I got home. They were The Pelican Reel (by Gordon Stobbe) and Catharsis (by Amy Cann). There were lots of songs including Jeff Faragher’s outstanding version of Song of the Mira with the tag fiddle tune Stolen Apples (another tune I will have to research). All in all it was an evening of fine music in a performance space, the foyer of the Key City, that has lots of promise. It is a more intimate arena than the performance area in the main theatre. It had good sight lines and sound. However, the lighting was really poor, and I do mean poor. It was dim and marred by undesirable tints from the overhead LEDs. They will have to work on that. A black backdrop curtain would also improve the visuals.

506. Jeff Faragher720. Aurora Smith916. Rob Fahie248. Ben Johnson712. Aurora Smith  714. Aurora Smith  724. Aurora Smith919. Rob Fahie514. Jeff Faragher   208. Ben Johnson   516. Jeff Faragher  728. Aurora Smith726. Aurora Smith

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Sunday March 13, 2016, 7:30 pm at the Studio 64 (Centre 64) in Kimberley.

242. Breakwater

The concept of the “Small Stage” at the Key City and Studio 64 in Centre 64 is much the same. The idea is to create a small performance area with a cabaret like atmosphere with available refreshments and snacks. By and large they have both succeeded, albeit with 5 year head start Studio 64 is closer to finalization.  Within the past few years Studio 64 has manged to improve the performance area with a large black back drop curtain and a sophisticated lighting system. The lighting and sound are managed by Ray’s music and the results are first class. All that remains to be improved are the sight lines by the installation of a slightly raised stage for the performers. That is in the works. On the other hand the Key City “Small Stage” is only in the first year of development. On the positive side, with the raised stage the sight lines are good but there is real need for a black backdrop curtain and an improved or better managed lighting system. The sound is good but the lighting is very, very poor.

Breakwater performed the same program at both venues and with the better lighting the Studio 64 performance had more appeal. Below are images from the latter concert. You be the judge of the visuals.

120. Aurora and Jeff    124. Jeff and Rob200. Aurora and Jeff444. Ben Johnson612. Jeff Faragher  614. Jeff Faragher  616. Jeff Faragher628a. Jeff Faragher802. Aurora Smith  819. Aurora Smith   835. Aurora Smith811. Aurora Smith950. Rob Fahie   952. Rob Fahie   969. Rob Fahie980d. Rob Fahie980b. Rob Fahie404. Ben Johnson   400. Ben Johnson406. Ben Johnson829. Aurora Smith813. Aurora Smith962. Rob Fahie

Breakwater – two fabulous concerts with great visuals and great music. I’m looking forward to their return to this area. When they do make sure to mark it on it is on your calendar.

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“It’s the oatmeal that holds it together” – Blackthorn Band

THE BLACKTHORN BAND IN CONCERT, at Studio 64 in Kimberley, March 5, 2016 at 8pm. This is the first concert of the Spring season at Studio 64.

I admit it. Celtic music in its many forms and disguises pulls at my cultural and emotional heart strings. And so it should. My ancestors immigrated from Dublin in the mid-1870s to settle in New South Wales, Australia. After I arrived in Canada in the 1970s I married a Scottish lass from Glasgow; My son was born in Australia and has since married into an Irish American family. He carries Irish, Australian and Canadian passports. So, as you can see, there is a lot of cultural baggage there. Celtic music in Australia tends to be predominantly Irish, although in the early days “German Bands” made their mark on traditional music. Waltzes, Varsoviennas, and Schottisches are sprinkled throughout the traditional repertoire. In Canada, Celtic music is different. There is no doubt the principle bonding agent is as Scottish as oatmeal and as a result other musical bits and pieces just seem to stick to an underlying “Scottishness”. The other influences are in there; the Irish, Quebecois, Arcadian, English, Metis, American, and just about everything else that makes up the Canadian cultural mosaic. That mix pretty well describes the repertoire of the Vancouver based band Blackthorn. The band, Michael Viens (vocals, 6 and 12 string guitars, bodhran, percussion and harmonicas) Michelle Carlisle (vocals, flute, piccolo, whistle, fife and alto flute), Tim Renaud (vocals, bass, octave mandolin, 12 string guitar and bodhran) Rosie Carver (vocals and fiddles) provided an exceptionally strong evening of instrumental and vocal music.610. The Blackthorn Band

They kicked off the evening with a set of tunes from their latest recorded CD Open Skies that included the English Victorian music hall tune Country Life, Robbie Burn’s Rattlin’ Roaring Wilie, and from Cape Breton’s legendary fiddle master Dan R. MacDonald’s repertoire The River Bend. That pretty well set the tone for the evening – marvelous four-part harmony singing, interspersed with with strong instrumental tunes featuring fiddle and flutes. Each performer got an opportunity to shine on their own little 111. Michelle Carlisleparty pieces; Michelle Carlisle on her original song Open Skies, Rosie Carver on the French Canadian Mouth of the Tobique (one of my favorite French Canadian tunes), Nathaniel Gow’s (Scottish) Petronella and a four section traditional French reel Le violon accorde comme une viole; 315. Rosie CarverTim Renaud shone on the Andy M. Stewart’s mighty ode to the girl of his dreams The Queen of Argyll – it gave Tim a chance to step up to the plate with his octave mandolin, a instrument that always causes some confusion – is it an octave mandolin, a 410. Tim Renaudmandola, or a short scale Irish Bouzouki? – most of it depends on how it is tuned. Attached to the song The Queen of Argyll was Rosie Carver’s little dash of Hungarian spice in the tune Paprika, a very interesting tune in an unusual 10/8 time signature. Michael Viens party pieces included Las Vegas in the hills of Donegal and a selection of French Canadian tunes from his 216. Michael Vienschildhood in Maillardvile, the French Canadian quarter of Port Coquitlam. It was an outstanding night of music that came to an emotional close with full on audience participation in the grand finale of Loch Lomond and The Dark Island. I don’t know why the lines “you take the high road and I’ll take the low road and I’ll be in Scotland before ye” exerts such strong emotional pull on a bunch of foreigners who have never been to Scotland. Never-the-less that strong pull was there and the audience was singing it’s heart out at the close of the Saturday night concert at Stage 64 in Kimberley. Here are some more images:

247. Michael Viens  107. Michelle Carlisle  270. Michael Viens  300. Rosie Carver  205a. Michael Viens117. Michelle Carlisle602. Michelle and Michael  119. Michelle Carlisle204. Michael Viens  311. Rosie Carver  400. Tim Renaud137. Michelle Carlisle330. Rosie Carver070. Rosie's dress  020. 12 string  080. Michelle's shoes133. Michelle Carlisle   143. Michelle Carlisle   131. Michelle Carlisle325. Rosie Carver  706. Micheal, Rosie and Patron

Thanks to the organizing committee, the many volunteers, the sponsors at The Burrito Grill and A B&B at 228 (Lorne and Gail Knutson) this was another successful sold out concert.

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Oh, What a Party……..”

Midwinter Beach Party

A fine way to kick the winter blues out the door is to have a party. The local band Hot Muck (Brian Morris – lead; Ryan Person – banjo and guitar; Rick Krewwnchuk – drums; Sean Downey – bass; Ally Blake – fiddle) was invited to open for the Ska / Reggae band Sweetleaf from Victoria. As well as being motivated by the will to have a good time there was the added notion that the funds raised would go to the installation of a stage in the Stage 64 performance area in Centre 64. From among the mirth, mayhem and fun times of the evening here are some snapshots of the musicians working up a sweat……

004, Hot Muck Header100. Ally Blake  122. Ryan Peterson  110. Sean Downey136. Brian Morris130. Ally Blake  132. Ryan, Brian, Sean134. Sean Downey

and the main event – SWEETLEAF

500. Sweetleaf504.  512.  518514.510.528.516.  532.  534.522.  544.  506.542.

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“I think it’s time we stop, children, what’s that sound” – Buffalo Springfield

Saturday January 30, 2016, 7:30 pm at Centre 64 in Kimberley: Noemi Kiss and Rita Deane – Voice and Classical Guitar

We live in an era of complete sensory overload so it is nice to stop, step back and listen to sounds that are entirely human scale. There are no Marshall stack amplifiers with three guitars and a thudding back beat here. No fifty member symphony orchestra going full blast. No bar room high level back ground noise. No overhead TV sports distractions. Just a duo of voice and classical guitar performing music from across the musical spectrum. And the best thing yet….. an intimate venue where you can actually hear the music. That just about describes the concert by Rita Deane (Classical Guitar) and Noemi Kiss (Soprano) on Saturday night at Centre 64 in Kimberley.

152. Rita and Noemi

Both musicians  currently reside in the West Kootenays. Rita was raised in Rossland and has been studying guitar and piano since the age of six. She went on to study in Cordoba (Spain) and Salzburg (Austria). Noemi was born in Hungry and studied in Budapest and London. Noemi now resides in Agenta (it’s a long way from the centers of Euopean music to the jungles of British Columbia). Both musicians are fully fledged professional musicians who mostly teach and perform in the West Kootenays. The Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance  has made it possible for the duo to tour though out the East and West Kootenays and perform the following program.

Kiss and Deane program-ed_edited-1

To truly listen and appreciate this music, as in the words of the Buffalo Springfield song, one does have to stop. Then take a moment to re-calibrate  one’s senses to actually hear the sounds. Once done, a different aural universe becomes evident. The old saying “less is more” is very true in this instance. The concert space literally filled with sounds that would be completely lost if the music was amplified. As you can see from the above program of love songs the music covered in this concert is a broad spectrum of styles. From the music of the Elizabethan Lutenist John Dowland, through the Classic Era music of Mauro Giulani and Fernando Sor; the modern Classical composers, Joaquin Rodrigo, Heirto Villa-lobos and Benjamin Britten, to some traditional Irish and Hungarian folk songs and onto some arrangements of Eva Cassidy, including Sting’s Fields of Gold.
My pick of the music performed would be the Villa-Lobos piece, the John Dowland song and Sting’s Fields of Gold and that maybe because they are my favourite composers. In addition to those particular pieces the Hungarian folk song Volt Nekem szeretom   had a very special appeal to me for no other reason that it reminded me of the Agnes Baltsa 1985 album of Songs My Country Taught Me (a marvellous collection of Greek songs).

Here are some images from the Green Room (trying to keep warm)

100. Rita Deane  102. Noemi Kiss  106. Rita Deane 106. Noemi Kiss        104. Rita Deane

022. William (Grit) Laskin guitarSome images from the concert:116. Noemi Kiss  124 Rita and Noemi   130. Rita Deane   134. Noemi Kiss  136. Noemi Kiss  142. Noemi Kiss  150. Rita Deane  166. Rita Deane    168. Rita Deane  174. Rita Deane   244. Noemi Kiss  300. Rita Deane   300a. Rita Deane   302. Rita Deane 176. Rita Deane  246a. Noemi Kiss  310. Rita and Noemi

There was a third partner in the room – Rita’s magnificent William Laskin (“Grit”) Guitar with its distinctive arm rest bevel. That particular feature improves player comfort and has been adopted by a number of other luthiers. Rita has had the instrument for over 10 years and it was originally purchased at a price equivalent to that of motor vehicle. It is Rita’s baby and there is not a scratch or a bump on it. The standard features of a William Laskin classical guitar these days include Indian Rosewood back & sides, Sitka Spruce soundboard, Spanish Cedar neck (with Carbon Graphite reinforcement), Ebony fingerboard (w/ Ebony binding), Rosewood bridge w/ Ebony & Bone tie block, Ebony binding, Bone nut and saddle, Sloane tuners (bronze plate with ebony buttons). He offers enough non-standard features and custom options to please the most discerning musicians.

020. The Grit Laskin arm rest bevel   064. Rosewood Back

In a nutshell this was a “deliciously delicate” performance and I suggest that when they play again in Cranbrook next Saturday they should not be missed.

Feb6 Cranbrook

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Saturday February 6, 2016, 7:30 pm at the ROYAL ALEXANDRA HALL in Cranbrook: Noemi Kiss and Rita Deane – Voice and Classical Guitar

100. Royal Alexandra Hall402. Noemi and Rita

Synchronicity is a concept which holds that events are “meaningful coincidences” if they occur with no casual relationship yet seem to be meaningfully related (Wikipedia). Is that what this was? If so then bring on more of the same. The meaningful coincidences could be the musical collaboration of a Classical Guitarist from Nelson, BC and a magnificent Soprano from Hungry coming together in the acoustic environment of the Royal Alexandra Hall in Cranbrook. It was evident within minutes of the musicians entering the room that they were were enthralled by the acoustics. For the audience it was a chance to hear live music without any of the sonic distortion of added amplification. It was a real treat. I have been to a number of concerts in this hall and I have found that any artificial sound re-enforcement has had a negative impact on the music. For me there was only one drawback and and that was the natural prohibition on taking photos during the performance. The click of a camera shutter would have destroyed the musical ambience of the evening. I had to settle for some pre-concert shots  during the sound check. I can live with that………………….. The program was a recap of the sold-out concert in Nelson and the follow up performances in Fernie and Kimberley with the added zest of a unique acoustic environment

334. Rita Deane   202. Noemi Kiss   418. Rita and Noemi450. Rita and Noemi422. Rita and Noemi412a. Rita and Noemi436. Noemi and Rita

Thanks must go to the Kootenay Cultural Alliance for making this very special performance possible.

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Four on the Floor – The Alan Brecker Quartet

THE ALAN BRECKER QUARTET, Saturday November 21, 2015, 8pm at Stage 64 (Centre 64) in Kimberley. This was the last concert of the Fall Jazz and Blues Series.

This is what I call “Four on the floor straight ahead Jazz”. A solid rhythm section and one or two melody instruments, a copy of a Jazz Fake Book, pick a tune and let’s hit it , one and two, and three and four ….., and that was the name of the game on Saturday night with The Alan Brecker Quartet at Stage 64 in Kimberley. The solid rhythm section, Alan Brecker on piano, Stefano Valdo on electric Bass, Taylor Hornby on drums with the lead solo Tenor Sax of Pat Belliveau. There were added vocals by Alan 010. Pat Headerand some magnificent melodic bass solos by Stefano on a huge 6-string bass that added variety to the sonic spectrum. These four session musicians from Calgary love to play jazz and the gig here in Kimberly gave them ample opportunity to delve into a selection of songs and tunes from the Jazz Fake Book. The Jazz Fake Book, for those who don’t know, is one of several published, copyright approved, collections of a huge number of jazz standards and songs from the American Song Book. It is almost a bible for improvising jazz musician. “Want to play some tunes? What have you got in the Fake Book that we could play?” That’s pretty well how an “off the cuff” session would play out. There are no elaborated arrangements, the tunes are usually presented as an abbreviated one or two page chart that notates the basic melody, chords and possibly some brief instructions about style and tempo. Nothing is set in stone and the musicians are free to make any number of musical choices in performing the piece. In doing so, some of the “off the cuff” choices can yield some adventurous and interesting musical moments. Case in point is the quartet’s rendition of the well known I Remember April. Who would have thought that this ballad had such potential as a hard driving Samba. Thier version would be rig082. Stefano's Bassht at home at a carnival in Rio. Alan has a thing for the songs of Jimmy Van Heusen and and during the evening he indulged his passion with more than one Van Heusen song. The standout, of course, was  Here’s That Rainy Day (from the show Carnival in Flanders) with some brilliant  mallet and brushes work by Tyler Hornby behind Stefano’s extended bass solo. Some other tunes that came off the pages of the Fake Book were Somewhere Over the Rainbow, How High the Moon and the Louis Armstrong classic What a Wonderful World. Another high light of the evening was Alan’s Stride/be-bop solo version of Summertime. Despite their popularity there are some tunes that just never wear out. Summertime is one of them.

 

Here are the images from a wonderful evening of “Four on the floor, straight ahead Jazz”

414. Alan Brecker  100. Tyler Hornby  204. Pat Belliveau 217. Pat Belliveau 107. Tyler Hornby  308. Stefano Valdo 200. Pat Belliveau  114. Tyler and Stefano  227. Pat Belliveau  300. Stefano Valdo  400. Alan Brecker102. Tyler Hornby   209. Pat Belliveau   125. Tyler Hornby221. Pat Belliveau  462. Alan Brecker 142. Tyler Hornby 337. Stefano Valdo  412. Alan Brecker

This was the last concert in the brilliant fall series organized by the “Alive at the Studio 64 Committee”. Many, many thanks from me and others I am sure. I for one am looking forward to what will be another brilliant Spring Concert series in the New Year.

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The Trials and Tribulations of a Musician

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.

367. Ron Burke  112. Tom Knowles   300. Ron Burke  200. Rob Vulic 216. Rob Vulic308. Ron Burke    320. Ron Burke   312. Ron Burke  100. Tom Knowles   106. Tom Knowles   104. Tom Knowles212. Rob Vulic242. Rob Vulic   355. Ron Burke   227. Rob Vulic353. Ron Burke

348. Ron Burke  360. Ron Burke    362. Ron Burke002. Voodoo Header

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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Tyler Hornby B3 Trio at Centre 64

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

500. Tyler Hornby B3 TrioThe 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).

304. Steve Fletcher

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 020. Keyboardsorgan 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.

606a. Tyler Hornby   314. Steve Fletcher  404. Aaron Young  630. Tyler Hornby322. Steve Fletcher   434. Aaron Young400. Aaron Young   424. Aaron Young  444. Aaron Young300. Steve Fletcher   602. Tyler Hornby  314. Steve Fletcher448. Aaron Young462a. Aaron Young302. Steve Fletcher  357. Steve Fletcher 516. Tyler and Steve 616. Tyler Hornby  637. Tyler Hornby618. Tyler Hornby422. Aaron Young   458. Aaron Young 456. Aaron Young  633. Tyler Hornby  626. Tyler HornbyI 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.

700. Keith Nicholson - MC

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

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.

208. Gabriel Palatchi  220. Gabriel Palatchi     292. Gabriel Palatchi     

424. Doug Stephenson544. Tony Ferraro

 

 

 

 

404a. Doug Stephenson254. Gabriel Palatchi    262. Gabriel Palatchi   258. Gabriel Palatchi      260. Gabriel Palatchi513. Tony Ferraro    515. Tony Ferraro    517. Tony Ferraro412. Doug Stephenson  008. Header549. Tony Ferraro270. Gabriel Palatchi   300. Gabriel Palatchi  426. Doug Stephenson

547. Tony Ferraro

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……..

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