Profile of Claude Ranger

© 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

Pierre Dørge & New Jungle Orchestra: Sketches of India

©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

Benoît Delbecq and François Houle: Because She Hoped

©Laurence@Ssvirchev.com

Because She Hoped is the third duo recording by Benoît Delbecq and François Houle. The series, each on the Songlines label, began in 1997 with Nancali and continued with Dice Thrown in 2002. Complimentary recordings exist with Evan Parker on Parker’s Psi label and the Delbecq 5 (Songlines). Their association . . . → Read More: Benoît Delbecq and François Houle: Because She Hoped

INTERVIEW with John Butcher – Sculpting with Air: a Pandora’s Box of Possibilities Part Two: Vancouver International Jazz Festival, June 2007

©Laurence Svirchev

In 2007, I had two conversations with John Butcher, the improvising saxophonist. The first discussion was during the annual February Time Flies, and the second was during the TD Canada Trust Vancouver International Jazz Festival. Part One covers biographical aspects of his work and his choices in collaborators. Part . . . → Read More: INTERVIEW with John Butcher – Sculpting with Air: a Pandora’s Box of Possibilities Part Two: Vancouver International Jazz Festival, June 2007

INTERVIEW with John Butcher – Complexity That Reaches Beyond the Possibilities Of the Imagination Part One: Time Flies, Vancouver, February 2007

©Laurence Svirchev

In 2007, I had two conversations with John Butcher, the improvising saxophonist. The first discussion was during the annual February Time Flies, and the second was during the TD Canada Trust Vancouver International Jazz Festival. Part One covers biographical aspects of his work and his choices in collaborators. Part . . . → Read More: INTERVIEW with John Butcher – Complexity That Reaches Beyond the Possibilities Of the Imagination Part One: Time Flies, Vancouver, February 2007

“Haywire” by Thomas Chapin Trio plus Strings (Knitting Factory Works 174)

©Laurence Svirchev

Thomas Chapin continues to expand his repertoire with the addition of a bass, cello, and violin ensemble to his working trio of Mario Pavone (bass) and Michael Sarin (drums). Recorded in front of a New York audience at the Knitting Factory, the CD consists of a five piece suite . . . → Read More: “Haywire” by Thomas Chapin Trio plus Strings (Knitting Factory Works 174)

“Menagerie Dreams” by Thomas Chapin Trio (Knitting Factory Works 167)

©Laurence M Svirchev

Menagerie Dreams is a barn-yard affair with squawking chickens, honking hogs, and swaggering monkeys boozing it up. The Chapin Trio (Mario Pavone, bass; Michael Sarin, drums) form a frenetic company, playing with an abandon that threatens to tip them right over the musical edge. But they never . . . → Read More: “Menagerie Dreams” by Thomas Chapin Trio (Knitting Factory Works 167)

“Aerials” by François Houle Solo Improvisations for Clarinets

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

“Bow River Falls” by Dave Douglas, Louis Sclavis, Peggy Lee, Dylan van der Schyff (Premonition Records 0765)

©laurence@ssvirchev.com

Proverb: “The best people meet in the best places.” That seems to be the case with Douglas (USA), Sclavis (France), Lee and van der Schyff (Canada). Each musician tours inter-continentally and all four have musical passports that render them immune to being policed by the border check-points of stylistic differences. While they . . . → Read More: “Bow River Falls” by Dave Douglas, Louis Sclavis, Peggy Lee, Dylan van der Schyff (Premonition Records 0765)

“Au Coeur du Litige” François Houle (Spool SPF 302)

©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)