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.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Dave Prinn and Friends at Perry’s

Posted on 2015-07-26 by Rod Wilson

Perry’s Pizza and Grill present Dave Prinn and Friends, Friday July 17, 2015 6-10 pm.

Our gracious host and supporter of live music – Perry Levoe of Perry’s Pizza and Grill

As always this was another evening of fine acoustic music performed by Dave Prinn, Gerald Dalum, James Neve and Tom Bungay. Unfortunately the light was less than optimum and, with the exception of the above photo of Perry and Dave’s Hawaiian print shirt the resulting images were sub-par so I am reluctant to put them out there. Better luck next time.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

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

and now played by Pat Metheny

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

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

@@@@@@@@@@

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.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Unwelcome House Guests

Posted on 2015-07-02 by Rod Wilson

Have I told you this story? No? Well here it is. My encounter with a vicious ” wild beastie” in the jungles of British Columbia.

Mae (my wife) and I were watching TV when we heard a noise down by the front door. When I checked there was a cute Chipmunk perched on the jackets in the clothes rack by the door. He may have looked cute but there was a blood lust in those big cute eyes. We quickly closed all the internal house doors and opened the one to the outside. So, armed with a broom I organized myself to do battle. I tried knocking him off his perch but as each jacket fell to the floor he skipped back onto the one behind until finally there was only one last jacket left. I thought it would then be an easy case of knocking him off that last jacket onto the floor and he would then scramble out the door. Not so. The “wee beastie” decided to make a fight of it. As I poked him he leaped off the last jacket, onto the broom and up the handle, over my face, lacerating my nose, then he made a mighty leap to the underside of the stairs. From there I did manage to knock him onto the floor and then out the door. Although I was the victor he had extracted his vengeance. He left me with a face full of scratches and blood dripping on to the floor. I did manage to get the last laugh by trapping him a couple of days later and taking him up the road for be released into the wild. However, my last laugh may have been short lived. I got back to the house and I swear to God he beat me home. At least I thought it was him. Well it turned out it actually was two of his buddies or his extended family. They have been trying to move into the house ever since. So far they have managed to elude the trap and the battle continues. I WILL WIN THIS BATTLE. Hopefully without further blood shed……….. Rod Wilson