By Laurence Svirchev, on September 9th, 2014% In an exemplary display of programming fortitude, the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival began its with a musical equivalent of the Big Bang: the opening set at Performance Works with 20 musicians in John Korsrud’s Hard Rubber Orchestra followed by 17 musicians in Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society. The Hard Rubber Orchestra played . . . → Read More: TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival Concert Review: John Korsrud’s Hard Rubber Orchestra June 20, 2014 Part I
By Laurence Svirchev, on August 4th, 2014%
Essays by Stuart Broomer, Brian Morton, and Bill Shoemaker about Musicians
Appearing at Jazz em Agosto 1984-2012
Publisher: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon Portugal, www. musica.gulbenkian.pt/jazz
Becoming Knowledgeable about Jazz
Becoming knowledgeable about jazz is a sly proposition. You have to hear . . . → Read More: Commentary & Book Review: Arrivals/Departures – New Horizons in Jazz
By Laurence Svirchev, on June 20th, 2014%
There are times when we wish for what could be and mourn for what is lost. It takes time to become reconciled with the loss of a person who so personified the spirit of making the music come alive. When we lose an important person in our lives, their memory lingers on so strongly that . . . → Read More: Looking for Carl
By Laurence Svirchev, on April 14th, 2014%
An Essay on Randy Weston and Billy Harper’s Roots of the Blues, a CD on SunnysideRecords.com
by Laurence Svirchev
To get an idea of the breadth and depth of Roots of the Blues, take a look at a map of Africa. Geographically, the compositions cover the rivers Nile and . . . → Read More: The Roots of the Blues: Randy Weston & Billy Harper
By Laurence Svirchev, on October 5th, 2013%
©Laurence Svirchev
With Zep Tepi Randy Weston demonstrates why he continues to be one of the elite musicians of the international stage. He has seen every change in the jazz world from the end of the swing and big band era, right through the be-bop period and the periods of free . . . → Read More: “ZEP TEPI” Randy Weston and His African Rhythms Trio (2006): CD Review and Commentary:
By Laurence Svirchev, on December 27th, 2012%
©Laurence Svirchev
We were sitting at the dinner table when the cell phone alert started playing “Japanese Folk Song” by Thelonious Sphere Monk. ChengYing laughed and said, “Why do you have that Japanese movie music on your mobile phone”? I could only answer, “Huh? Monk doing movie music? It’s just a . . . → Read More: The Curious Story of “Kojo no Tsuki” -or- Thelonious Monk & “Japanese Folk Song”
By Laurence Svirchev, on October 17th, 2012%
© Laurence Svirchev
Note: “Feu Vert -A Tribute to ClaudeRanger” will be held on November 16 & 17 2012 at the Ironworks, 235 Alexander St, Vancouver BC. See the poster at the end of this article, first published in 1991, revised 2012 with photos from the Misterioso archives.
The cigarette dangles at a . . . → Read More: Profile of Claude Ranger
By Laurence Svirchev, on October 13th, 2012%
©Laurence Svirchev
Sketches of India is a musical travelogue that shimmers with mosaical scenes of intense beauty, contemplative emotion, and spectral landscapes. Dørge’s approach to this CD is to integrate and differentiate the forms of Indian music with the jazz forms he is intimate with. Having traveled for decades to all the human-occupied . . . → Read More: Pierre Dørge & New Jungle Orchestra: Sketches of India
By Laurence Svirchev, on February 13th, 2012% www.dripaudio.com, www.francoishoule.ca/
©Laurence Svirchev
The career pathway of clarinetist/composer François Houle has been variegated in the extreme, a continuum of explorations into a broad range of musics. A selection of his congruously eclectic CDs include the compositions of American clarinet genius John Carter, duo collaborations with . . . → Read More: “Aerials” by François Houle Solo Improvisations for Clarinets
By Laurence Svirchev, on February 13th, 2012% ©Laurence Svirchev
The artistic work of François Houle advances so quickly that each new release is a surprise package with no overt references to previous recordings After acknowledging his debt to clarinetist John Carter with In the Vernacular (Songlines), Houle has now published a singular creation, Au Coeur du Litige (At . . . → Read More: “Au Coeur du Litige” François Houle (Spool SPF 302)
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