Heather Gemmell Band at Summersounds

Posted on 2013-08-04 by Rod Wilson

SATURDAY JULY 27, 2013, 12pm at Rotary Park (Cranbrook) SummerSounds featured THE HEATHER GEMMELL BAND.

Heather Gemmell – guitar and Vocals; Podier Atto – Drums; Brian Noer – Bass

What can one say? Every time this young lady steps on the stage she just gets better and better. Currently Heather and her band mates have begun the recording of a new CD and, I am sure the final product is something to look forward to. For this afternoon in the sun the band stepped through some of her originals (such as Bluesville, Lowball, Ready for Love, Change Me and The Heat) as well as some new tunes and also some covers such as the Beatles epic Come Together with its magnificent bass line. Here are some images from the afternoon (click for a larger view).

The organizers of Summersounds would like to thank the sponsors of the event: Columbia Recycling, Kootenay Gradall, South Sierra Developments, Salvador Redi-Mix, Tundra Steel, Freightliner, White Oak Valley Contracting, BCGEU, Rocky Mountain Diesel, AquaPro Drilling, Cranbrook Farmer’s Market, Cranbrook District Arts Council, Cranbrook Rotary, Fiorentino Brothers and HD Kootenays.

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Steve Palmer at BJ’s Creekside Pub

Posted on 2013-08-04 by Rod Wilson

Thursday August 1, 2013, 7:30pm : STEVE PALMER at BJ’s Creekside Pub. Steve Palmer Website LONESOME JIM (aka) JAMES NEVE was the opening act.

James Neve and Steve Palmer are modern day troubadours from somewhat different traditions. James comes out of the “British Rock Invasion” of the 1960’s and, while he has been known to do cover tunes he is best known for his original music with the band 60 Hertz. On the other hand, apart from some early flirtations with “Psychedelic Rock”, Steve Palmer has his feet firmly planted in the country / blues / gospel / folk traditions, and, although he is a song writer, his emphasis is on the reinterpretations of past masters of the tradition. At least a third of his performances are devoted to instrumentals styles. So thanks to the promotional skills of Ferdy Belland this performance was a rare opportunity to get these two diverse performers in the same venue at the same time. James began the evening with a short opening set that included Somebody Told Me, Please Take the Wheel, My Blue Girl (inspired by a wedding photo) and Passing Through Your Heart.

Steve Palmer has the looks and demeanor of everybody’s favorite uncle. Originally from Edmonton, with a few years on Vancouver Island and now thoroughly settled in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan. He has been a touring musician for 40 years. One of his claims to fame is having his song Welcome Back used in Stuart McLean’s wonderful radio show The Vinyl Cafe, so, it only fitting that this same song should be used to open his first set at BJ’s Creekside Pub on Thursday night. From then on it was a steady diet of Gospel tunes – Take a Trip On That Old Gospel Ship, including an original I Thought I Saw Jesus on Main Street; a wonderful instrumental version of Blind Blake’s Rag; some Johnny Cash – and I Walk the Line and I Keep a Close Watch on This Heart of Mine; an extremely short version of Marty Robbin’s El Paso; lots of the classic songs of the past 40 years (500 miles, Freight Train Boogie, I Can’t Help it If I am Still in Love with You, Did She Mention My name, Lucielle, Wild Mountain Thyme, The Water is Wide, Snakes Come Out at Night, Passing Through and Roll On, Roll On Saskatchewan.Sprinkled among the classics were some of Steve’s originals including From Here to Nashville, Rolling Down to Memphis, Sweet is Sweet and My Home Town). There was lots of repartee and story telling. As I said a troubadour in the classic style complete with some stellar 12-string guitar accompaniments. It is nice to hear a 12-string guitar sound like a real 12-string guitar with shimmering chords and signature bass runs.

Steve has done gigs at the Snoring Sasquatch in Creston but to the best of my knowledge this is the first time he has performed in Kimberley. I suspect it won’t be the last. I believe a return engagement has already been booked for Cranbrook.

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Selkirk Trio at the Knox

Posted on 2013-08-01 by Rod Wilson

The Selkirk Trio at the Knox – A Reprise,Tuesday July 30th, 7:30 pm at the Knox Presbyterian Church in Cranbrook. The stage is set, let the music begin…………………. The Selkirk Trio members are Jeff Faragher from Nelson on Cello, Nicola Evererton from Rossland on Clarinet and Susan Gould from Golden on Piano. “Nothing beats a good tune”. Beethoven may not have said that but it is evident that he must have thought about it. For instance in the Piano trio in Bb major, Opus 11, he used a popular melody of the day as a basis for the composition. Along with the decision to replace the violin with clarinet in the traditional piano trio maybe it was, as we say these days ‘a marketing strategy ‘. As the opening performance piece in the Selkirk Trio’s concert this lively third movement, with its nine variations, was a winner. For this concert it established the trio’s classical credentials . This concert is somewhat a reprise of the previous year’s program that was designed to display the trio’s classical and Jazz “chops”. Classical credentials are in order, what about Jazz? For this the audience was called upon to test the warm turbulent Cuban waters of Paquito D’Rivera’s Afro. Paquito is a master Cuban clarinettist and Alto Sax player who has, at one time or another, dominated Cuban Jazz and Classical music. The rhythmic nature of the composition was re-enforced by the Jeff doing double duty on cello and Djembe (West African drum). The rhythmic possibilities of Cuban music were merely a taste test for the exotic Serbian Dance compositions of Croatian composer Marko Tajcevic. For the uninitiated this Serbian music should have been a complete revelation. Eighth rhythms (7/8, 11/8, 13/8 etc) are well known features of Balkan music and are prominent in these dances. Arthur Rubenstein was known to have played transcriptions of these compositions and his influence was very evident in Sue Gould’s lively accompaniment to Nicola Everton’s absolutely liquid clarinet playing. Once again Nicola bounced and oozed her way through the exotic odd meter eighth rhythms of this music that sounded like it came straight off the streets of Zagreb. Oscar Peterson is a classically trained Canadian pianist who is better known for his post-Art Tatum dominance of the jazz piano world. One of his famous pieces is Hoagy Carmichael’s Georgia on My Mind. Although written for his sister, the US State of Georgia has appropriated the piece as their state anthem. Now that would be a composers dream. Just think of the royalty checks. Sue Gould played a transcription of this famous Oscar Peterson performance piece. The modern composer Nino Roto is better known to audiences through his orchestral scores for The Godfather I & II. It is not his only claim to fame. He is a prolific composer who at his peak was producing 10 scores a year. The trio presented some selections from his chamber works. Mark Summer, is the Turtle Island Quartet‘s cellist; he is a founding member and has performed with Turtle Island (a.k.a. Turtle Island String Quartet) since its founding in 1985. Prior to that he was a resident of Winnipeg and performed with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. In this piece Jeff Faragher gave full range to his aggressive percussive nature on a solo piece by Mark Summer entitled Julie-O. Back in the jazz bag with the trio with Nicola exploring the jazz standard I Got Rhythm. The trio returned to the streets of Cuba with Paquito D’Rivera’s Danzon. The evening concluded with Sue Gould and Nicola Everton giving full rein to their jazz inclinations on Cole Porter’s “Night and Day”. Jeff provided some wonderful percussive brushes on snare drum and hi-hat to give the tune the required propulsive jazz feel.The concert was a reprise of last year’s program but the trio put “live’ back into classical performances with their lively program of an interesting mix of new repertoire and re-interpretations. One can look forward, hopefully, to their next tour through the area.

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Here are some selections from YouTube that will give some sense of the Paquito D’Rivera’s compositions. AFRO DANZON

and also Mark Summer JULIE-O

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Ravens Roost – a slice of paradise

Posted on 2013-08-01 by Rod Wilson

Bill St. Amand’s Open Mic Session at The Raven’s Roost – Kimberley Golf Club, July 26, 2013 6-9pm

I don’t play golf. If the truth be known it was the reason I had to leave Australia. I neither played golf or drank enough beer. Both considered crimes against humanity or at least a distinct show of poor taste and bad manners. I chose Canada. After all it was the land of ice and snow and a non-golfer only had to fake it for half of the year. The rest of the time could be spent skiing. It is not that I dislike golf, after all I am married to a Scot, it is just that I have an addictive personality and I have seen what it has done to some of my friends; despondency when the game is not going well; unhappy wives coping with absent husbands, children left fatherless for inordinate lengths of time – but, perhaps, I exaggerate. By choosing not to play I have avoided the undesirable side effects of the game. Bill St. Amand on the other hand is an avid golfer and has managed to live a well adjusted life. He is what I call, “a high functioning golfer” that is he can play the game and live a normal life. To prove the point he has organized a series of open mic sessions at the Ravens Roost at the Kimberley Golf course. Bill assured me that golfers were not monsters and, by inviting me along it was at least, for me an opportunity to indulge my addiction to music in very pleasant surroundings. And that is has proven to be. This was the third of a very successful series of musical evenings. Some musicians who were there to dispense music to soothe the savage beasts included Bill St. Amand (of course), myself (Rod Wilson), Sam Hornberger and new faces Garry Jacklin and Jim Marshall. Bill’s chord melody approach to a number of well known melodies and songs is enjoyably familiar. I, myself, Rod Wilson introduced some original 12-string guitar music on an unsuspecting audience and later in the evening some Celtic songs and tunes on the Irish Cittern. Garry did the karoake thing as well as a solo set that had a couple of dancers up doing their thing. Jim Marshall is a master guitar player who has been wintering in Kamloops for the last few years and he is now back in Kimberley on a more permanent basis. I have played percussion with Jim on rare occasions in the past and his guitar playing and my percussion just seem to mesh when we get together. It was a real pleasure to once again play with Jim. So there we were on the deck of the Kimberly Golf course, kicking back, enjoying the food, refreshments, sunshine, shade, music and the great scenery. Yes, it is our little slice of paradise.

Every thing is getting a little fuzzy; either I have had to much sun, too much beer or to much golf………. or maybe Bill lied and this is what happens in paradise.

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The Slocan Ramblers at the Driftwood Concert House

Posted on 2013-07-28 by Rod Wilson

The Slocan Ramblers at The Driftwood Concert House in Kimberley, July 25th, 2013 at 8pm. Also at Lotus Books in Cranbrook July 26th, 2013. They may be called the Slocan Ramblers but they are from Toronto. Their claim to Slocan fame is through their bass player who is originally from that area. This band of young musicians, Adrian Gross (mandolin), Frank Evans (banjos), Darryl Poulsen (guitar) and Alistair Whitehead (bass) are making waves in the Bluegrass music community. They have recently come off a tour with Steve Martin, Edie Brickell and the The Steep Canyon Rangers and, that in Bluegrass circles, is big time. A bunch of good looking young lads (Frank bears some resemblance to Allan Hawco of The Republic of Doyle) with bucket loads of technique, good organization (check the hand written set list – no scribbles there) and a substantial repertoire. Mostly they play straight ahead blue grass with occasional original tunes, such as Adrian Gross’ April Waltz. One thing that Bluegrass bands do that is often neglected in other genres (particularly pop music) is play tunes. My favorite of the evening was Blake’s March. There was a cover of Patrick Sky’s Many a Mile. Mind you, they did it bluegrass style to the point that it was almost unrecognisable (not that it was a bad thing). The song Rambo Sailor I suspect was a reworking of the traditional song Rambling Sailor and it gave a hint of what possibilities are out there for the band if they chose to loosen the grip Bluegrass has on their musical imaginations. The arrangements were good with a few unexpected twists that kept the audience on their toes. All band members shared the vocal chores and the harmonies had the usual rich bluegrass sound. The Driftwood House had a pretty full house and I suspect that the concert in the Lotus Bookshop the following night was also well attended.

Canada is multicultural and Toronto must be one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world. Therefore I am constantly puzzled why so many very talented young Canadian musicians chose to play an American music that is so stylistically rigid and is about American tunes, heroes and situations. And, this is not a criticism of the sound at the Driftwood Concert House on Thursday, it is a comment on the Bluegrass fetish for single condenser microphones. I have been to lots and lots of concerts and, occasionally that setup does works. The sound at a recent Chris Coole clawhammer banjo concert in Fernie is a case in point – see my blog entry Chris Coole . With a single microphone the sound that night was brilliant. But more often than not as a system it fails. It is the tradition that stems from the days when that is all that was available for sound re-enforcement. But technology has moved on and there is no need for performers to dance around a single microphone and still end up with bad sound. Besides the dancing around is distracting. The musician who suffers the most is the guitar player. He has to hold the guitar up to the microphone and play so hard that his tone and musicality becomes distorted. Under those circumstances I have yet to hear a guitar solo that rises above musical mumbling. It would be so much easier, and better, to just “plug in”.

This was the last concert of the summer season at the Driftwood Concert House and putting aside my minor personal quibbles it was another night of great music performed by some players who have, and will continue, make their mark on the Bluegrass scene. Thanks Darrin, Jen and Silas for opening your house to the musicians and guests during this concert season. We are looking forward to September and more of the same.

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Little Jazz Orchestra at BJ’s Creekside Pub

Posted on 2013-07-24 by Rod Wilson

LJO (The Little Jazz Orchestra) at BJ’s Creekside Pub, Friday July 19, 2013 7:30 pm,

Apart from a brief flurry of activity last year and on into this spring there has not been much Jazz on the local music scene. Prior to that, the Key City Theatre used to import some significance jazz artists but since the “Key’s” manager’s, Monique, passed from the scene hard core jazz at the Key seems to be a non-starter. Of course that is all understandable because jazz doesn’t figure in too many musical imaginations these days. If you are not an Elvis Presley impersonator, a tribute band or an old worn out rock star there is very little call for your services. Mind you, some of the scuffling, under the radar, performers still manage to make some semblance of a living playing the smaller venues. This spring the Kimberley Arts Council’s Laurel Ralston did import some jazz artists (stand up Tyler Hornby) to grace the small stages in Kimberley. So perhaps I exaggerate. As a long term jazz aficionado I long for a steady diet of that improvised musical art form called jazz. Although it has been pronounced dead over the years, jazz still surfaces from time to time. And that it did on Friday night at BJ’s Creekside pub. Jim Cameron (guitar), Janice Nicli (upright bass), Dave Ward (trumpet and flugelhorn) and Graham Knipfel (drums), collectively known as The Little Jazz Orchestra are well known musicians on the local scene. They all have “real” jobs (teachers, office workers, construction) and have performed in a multitude of genres but they all seem to share a passion for playing and improvising jazz. They were on top of their game on Friday night as they worked their way through such standards as Softly as in a Morning Sunrise, Sunny, Moanin’ , Smile, All Blues, Besame Mucho and Dave Ward’s wonderful original family portrait with the unlikely title Me and My Old Man and My Old Man’s Lady. Jim Cameron, although playing a nylon strung classical guitar, came across with a full throated arch top jazz guitar sound that would not have been out of place in any uptown jazz club. Graham Knipfel showed why more local drummers should lose their sticks and play their kits with brushes. The solid propulsive sound of brushes is one of my favorite rhythmic sounds. Graham gave up his seat on the drum kit to fellow drummer Sven Heyde for a tune. Dave Ward laid down some memorable solos on trumpet and flugelhorn and, although the principal soloist in the band, he graciously gave up time and space for fellow members to shine. Janice Nicli was rock solid on stand up bass and proved she can handle her jazz chores with as much authority she once commanded on funk electric bass in Billy Jive’s funk outfits. Jazz, more than most other musical performances, is about being in the moment, taking risks and laying down the grove. Those attributes were in abundance on this particular night. BJ’s Creekside Pub is the perfect venue for jazz and I hope we will hear more of the same in the near future. This was an exceptional night of improvised music.

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Good Ol’ Goats at Summersounds

Posted on 2013-07-16 by Rod Wilson

GOOD OL’ GOATS AT SUMMERSOUNDS in Rotary Park Cranbrook, Saturday July 13, 2013, 1-3 pm

The Good Ol’ Goats are Nolan Akert (guitar and banjo), Julian Bueckert (drums), Angus Leidtke (banjo, guitar, accordion), Theo (bass), Joelle Winkler (percussion and Mandolin) and Angus MacDonald (fiddle and mandolin). All members share the vocal chores.

Here are some images from an afternoon of sun and fun with the Good Ol’ Goats: (Click for a larger view)

The audience would like to thank Jim Conley (MC) and Brian Noer for setting up and organizing the event, Evan Bueckert for the sound and that gnarly old tree for just hanging around.

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Marvelous Musical Moments at the Raven’s Roost

Posted on 2013-07-14 by Rod Wilson

Bill St. Amand’s Open Mic Session at The Raven’s Roost – Kimberley Golf Club, July 12, 2013 6-9pm

Bill St. Amand is an old hand at organizing and hosting Open Mic Sessions and his criteria for a good session is one in which he doesn`t have to perform much. The more musicians that show up the less there is for him to do. On that basis the open mic session on Friday was absolutely stellar. After that, the great variety of performers and excellent entertainment was a plus and on Friday the pluses were there in abundance. The first performers to be leveraged away from their supper were two musicians from the country/roots band Joshua Burning. The bass player John Gerlitz couldn’t make the gig but that master of political correctness and guitar picking dexterity Keith Larsen and BC’s most under rated country singer/ song writer Garnet Waites stepped though a selection of their repertoire that included In the Moonlight After Midnight, an original blues for science nerds called Roll Back the Years, the over the top guitar duet on Blue Sky and another Garnet Waite original called Angela. For more information on Joshua Burning check Joshua Burning

Rod Wilson (vocals and cittern) and Wally Smith (darbuka and mandolin) of The Blarney Pilgrims resurrected some of old tunes that included Bonnie Ciara (a plagiarised version of The Bonnie Dundee), The Blarney Pilgrim, Richard Thompson’s Dimming of the Day and the classic Canadian Folksong The Prairie Harvester. Sam Hornberger and his wife Marlene are refugees from the lower mainland who moved to this little slice of paradise last year. Sam is a welcome addition to the music scene with his fine interpretations of Gordon Lightfoot, Ian Tyson, Dave Loggins, Kenny Loggins and Valdy. When a group of musicians get together on a regular basis they need to have a band name. Chris Datsun, Paulette, Shayne Rodrigues and Maridee Rodrigues could be called the Datson / Rodrigues Collective but that is a bit cumbersome. Knowing their taste for margaritas I think they should be called The Margarita Mixers. Their selection of tunes include the world’s great song (I forget what it is called), the Rolling Stones Dead Flowers, Flip Flop and Fly and of course Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville. Undoubtedly the favorites of the evening were the duo of Connor Foote and Clayton Parsons both on guitar and vocals. These young Cranberries are putting together some great original material that pays more than a passing homage to the classic performers of Americana that include Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, Big Bill Broonzy, John Prine and Bob Dylan. Along with the bass player Stew Driedger they were the band Slack Pines (or was it Pine Slacks?). Connor and Clayton are now back to performing as a duo and are looking for a band name. So I have already named the Margarita Mixers so I am throwing the name Forclosure into the hat for consideration. I think it has a nice ring to it with its overtones of the dirty thirties, dust bowl ballads, Woody Guttherie, Ramblin Jack, Dylan, Prine and the like. Help me out here guys, let me have at least one claim to fame as you climb the ladder of success. Here are some more images from the afternoon.

Despite the cool evening and the overcast sky this was a killer open mic session. There were lots of willing performers, lots of variety and a very appreciative audience. This is probably one of the best open mics in recent times (or at least Connor Foote thought so). The tentative date for the next Raven Roost Session is August 9, 2013, 6-9pm.

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Dirty Grace at Centre 64

Posted on 2013-07-11 by Rod Wilson

DIRTY GRACE in the Studio at Centre 64, Kimberley, Saturday July 6, 7:30 pm.

Over recent weeks it appears that audiences in the area have been once cursed and thrice blessed. The Curse?- that would have been the implosion of the NARARETH concert at the Cranbrook Curling Rink. It should not have come as a surprise. A UK rock band that was at least 30 years past its due date playing in a curling rink in a small remote Canadian town should have been a clue. This is a band not likely to be at the top of its game. On the blessed side there was the sweet Bluegrass flavored vocals of the The Rosie Brown Band at BJ’s Creekside Pub a few weeks back. Then there was the rockin’ sounds of that super tight organization 60 Hertz playing at the Summersounds last Saturday. This sparsely attended free concert in Rotary Park raises the question of how come Nazareth can attract an audience to a concert that ended up collapsing while 60 Hertz played to a no-where crowd? Was it because the concert was free or are local audience so celebrity struck that they are incapable of discerning the over-the-top quality of a band like 60 Hertz? One wonders. Last, but not least, was the “birkenstock and granola music” of Dirty Grace. With minimal publicity and lack of local knowledge this unknown trio of musicians dared to trek across the country to perform in Kimberly. It was geographically new terrain for the group and for local audience it was sonically unfamiliar territory. So in a sense everybody was out there exploring. Even for the locals the venue was different. It was held downstairs in the Centre 64 Studio that was set up like a Cafe with tables and chairs. It provided a nice ambient atmosphere for the European sensibilities of the trio. In the band Betty Supple was featured on vocals and mandolin, Marley Daemon on vocals and accordion and Jesse Thom on percussion. All musicians doubled on guitar throughout the evening. It was all original music with nice tight vocal harmonies and an overall sound that had the flavor of Eastern Europe music. Betty`s mandolin was a nice departure from the usual Bluegrass cliches. There was not a 2/4 mandolin chop in sight. Here is a YouTube link for a piece they call The Wrecking Ball. Dirty Grace and The Wrecking Ball .This should give you some idea of their music. Jesse played a Peruvian beat box called a Cajon . With several local players on the scene this is not an unheard of instrument in this area. It is basically a small rectangular wooden box with or without internal metal snares. The percussionist sits on the “drum” and beats on the wooden face to produce a remarkable facsimile of a conventional drum kit. Originally it migrated from Peru into Spanish Flamenco music but now is showing up in all sorts of genres. Here are some images from the concert (click on the image for a larger view).

Dirty Grace, Laurel Ralston and the Kimberley Arts Council would like to thanks the sponsors of the event: The Pedal and Tap Restaurant & Mountain Spirit Accommodation.

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60 Hertz at Summersounds

Posted on 2013-07-09 by Rod Wilson

60 Hertz at Summersounds, Rotary Park in Cranbrook, July 6, 2013 1pm to 4 pm.

60 Hertz – Rob Young, James Neve, Marty Musser and Dave Birch

The second free summer outdoor concert at Rotary Park in Cranbrook featuring “the best band in the land” – 60 Hertz – What more can I say? As always the band was super tight with great well thought out instrumental and vocal arrangements, imaginative lyrics by James Neve, Rob Young’s almost mellow lead guitar, Dave Birch’s spot on bass playing and the tasty drumming by Marty Musser. The band was fresh from their big day at Fernie’s Canada Day engagement that sported a crowd of over 1,500 and yet in Cranbrook there was only a very small audience on this beautiful sunny day of free music. One wonders why? That didn’t deter 60 Hertz from delivering a great afternoon of great rockin’ music. As well as their wonderful originals such as You May Be Right, Don’t Get me Wrong, More Than I can Give, These Shoes are Made for Walking, Rainland, Mean Streets, Deep Water and Virtuality the band trotted out a marvelous new song called Long Gone Down. I am looking forward to the day when some big time performer will cover some of these great songs and James can look forward to a wealthy retirement.

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