Music events June 2008

Tuesdays in June at 12:30 pm, hear organ concerts at St. James United Church, 463 Ste-Catherine W. Info: 514-288-9245 or 514-739-8696

Wednesday, June 11 at 8 pm, Temple Emanu-El presents Joshua Nelson, a singer who mixes Hebrew text with Gospel melodies. Seniors $18. Info: 514-937-3575

Saturday, June 14 at 2 pm and 7 pm and Sunday, June 15 at 2 pm, the West Island Student Theatre Association presents the cabaret A Salute to the Music of Disney at the Karnak Shriners Hall, 3350 Sources, DDO. $15. Info: 514-636-4603 or 514-333-3325

Tuesday, June 17 at 8:30 pm, ten singers and musicians perform at Cabaret du Casino. Reservations before Friday, June 13 at 5 pm. Info: 514-985-4472 x 2135

Every Wednesday from June 18 to August 27, from 12 – 1 pm, Les Midis Financière Sun Life holds concerts at Dorchester Square. The first concert features blues singer Angel Forest. Info: 514-523-9922

Saturday June 21 from 1 – 10 pm, Festival Folk sur le Canal at St-Ambroise Terrace takes place rain or shine, 5080 St-Ambroise. $20, free for kids under 12. Gates open at 12 pm. Info: 514-524-9225 or hellodarlinproductions.com

From Friday, June 27 to Saturday, July 5, The Segal Centre presents Houdini as part of the International Jazz Festival. Info: 514-739-2301 x 8324

Festival Lanaudière - music and so much more

Festival performers (photo: Baptiste Grison)

Kristine Berey

Montrealers must count their cultural blessings. Just as the greatly anticipated Jazz Fest winds down, another international music festival dedicated to classical music opens, less than an hour away from the city.

Now celebrating its 31st season, the Festival Lanaudière has presented indoor and outdoor concerts performed by international artists in its spectacular Amphitheatre and beautiful heritage churches, some of which date back to the 17th century. Though the festival’s program has blossomed from eight concerts in 1977 to 26 this July, the organizers’ vision – to create “a place where a large audience can listen to beautiful music performed by the greatest musicians” – remains intact.

This year an array of activities are geared toward young people making the festival an ideal opportunity for families to spend time together and build a lasting love of music in their youngest members.

The festival begins Saturday, July 5 with a resounding rendition of Carmina Burana, Carl Orff’s greatest masterpiece that grandchildren will recognize as the unmistakable inspiration for the soundtrack of the video game Final Fantasy I. The score calls for four choirs and a symphony orchestra – 200 musicians performing together.

Opera lovers won’t want to miss the 150th anniversary of Puccini’s birth, which the festival will honour with performances of his great arias, from La Boheme, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot on Friday, July 11.

Fledgling ornithologists will enjoy learning that the great composer Olivier Messiaen loved birds so much that he actually recorded their songs and wove them into his music. All the music performed on Saturday, July 12 will be devoted to birds, and will include Messiaen’s Oiseaux exotiques, Stravinsky’s Firebird, and Saint-Saens’ Le rossignol et la rose. Afternoon activities are free and will include a sound installation by Oswaldo Macia, an open rehearsal of the night’s concert with commentary, and an onsite exhibition of birds of prey. The evening concert will be accompanied by the winning entries in the bird photo contest organized by the Festival and the Regroupement QuebecOiseaux.

Little astronomers can be fascinated by projections of NASA photos on a giant screen on Friday, July 18, accompanied by Gustav Holst’s orchestral suite The Planets, with Jean-Marie Zeitouni conducting the Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal.

Starting Sunday, July 6, outdoor concerts for the whole family include the famous London vocal quartet Cantabile, swing from the 40s by The Easy Answers, and Romeo and Juliet in the passionate universe of the Tango.

On Saturday, July 19, a day declared by Festival Artistic Ambassador Alain Lefèvre as “a day of piano and youth,” everyone under 25 will be admitted for free to hear Lefèvre and his confrères push the limits of piano playing in performances of concertos for two, three, and four pianos with eight virtuosos taking part. To engage the “pianistically reluctant” free hot dogs will be served, compliments of Maple Lodge Farms.

Other treats include tourist outings along the St. Lawrence, featuring a boat trip to the Lac-Saint-Pierre Archipelago, a unique nature reserve recognized as a biosphere by UNESCO on Sunday, July 7, and a dinner cruise on Friday, July 11, going from Montreal’s Old Port to the pier in Saint-Sulpice, where guests will board a luxury coach for the Amphitheatre.

For those who don’t want to drive, a shuttle service to the Amphitheatre, the Festival Express, leaves from downtown Montreal.

Info: 450-759-7636 or lanaudiere.org

Fifty years in the band still isn’t enough

Marshall Allen (photo: Alan Nahigian)

Paul Serralheiro

Montreal will be awash with jazz in the next few weeks, with a total of four festivals going on. There’s not only the International Jazz Festival that everyone around the planet knows about, but also two equally appealing festivals (if not more so, for hard-core jazz fans) following in short order, plus the festival Bryan Highbloom has been offering at the Jewish General Hospital. That spells a lot of music.

As usual, veteran musicians are a big part of the draw, whether they are jazzers, like pianist Hank Jones, or jazz-related like the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin, who is still belting it out. Locals like drummer Guy Nadon and pianists Oliver Jones and Vic Vogel are also in on the fun. All of these performers are appearing at the high-profile Festival International de Jazz de Montreal. The two other festivals, the Suoni Per Il Popolo (run by the Casa del Popolo) and the Off Festival (run by and featuring Montreal musicians), have an equally interesting lineup, and this year they are teaming up to present a couple of events, the most prominent being the Sun Ra Arkestra.

Led by Marshall Allen after Sun Ra’s passing in 1993, the Arkestra follows the big band tradition but with an avant-garde twist, as likely to play When You Wish Upon a Star or There Will Never Be Another You as they are to revisit Sun Ra’s quirky themes like We Travel the Spaceways or one of the many tunes Allen has penned. Formed in the 1950s, the Arkestra is still thriving. I spoke to Marshall Allen, who still lives in the Sun Ra house in Philadelphia, a couple of days before his 84th birthday as he was preparing for a celebration in New York at Sullivan Hall.

I asked him about his long association with the band and about his long life in music. “It contributes to my well-being and in my 80s, that’s what I’m doing,” he said. “When you’re younger, you’ve got adventure, you’ve got a strong drive to move forward and get something down. Now I’m not that youthful, but there are still things I want to do, and I don’t have to go through a lot of that stuff like when I was younger. Now I have more time to stay with the music and more time to concentrate.”

He went on to tell me about life before Sun Ra, playing in Paris, Germany, and England, and spending time in the Army until he met Sun Ra in Chicago. “He lived a few blocks away from me and he rehearsed his band, and I went to rehearsals and listened and his other band in New York was breaking up and I got into the new band.”

That was 1958, and Allen waxed enthusiastic when he realized that this year marks the 50th anniversary of his joining Sun Ra. “Back in those days I didn’t think I’d still be playing in the band in 50 years,” he said in his endearing Kentucky drawl.

He has a simple answer to what keeps him committed to the band: “It’s the music! Sun Ra was a good teacher and that was like a gold mine. All I had to do was put in the time.” The time, in this case, has meant a whole career devoted to the Arkestra, which has required a lot of study, given the founder’s unique vision.

But there are also more practical issues: “Through the years, music gets displaced, songs are there with no names on them. It’s quite a thing to try to get the parts back together. It’s like a puzzle.”

He also still studies the challenging music: “Sometimes there’s time against time, or different times together. He always had a large band and a lot of stuff going on. So I just do the main thing and sometimes rework some of the music. He has about a thousand pieces, some of which haven’t been played yet. He would write for different people, change things, chords, melodies, depending on the person who would be playing… tailor made. So I still got some challenges, interpreting the music.”

The audiences are still coming to the concerts and include lots of young people. “We make a little story with the band going way back and coming right on up, so it’s like a music lesson for those who weren’t born. We show them what they were doing in the 30s and early 40s and what they’re doing now.”

The Sun Ra Arkestra under the direction of Marshall Allen will perform at the Sala Rossa Sunday, June 14 at 8:30 pm.

Info: casadelpopolo.com

Victoriaville festival celebrates 25th

Barbara Moser

Saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell (photo: FIMAV)

Every year, the town of Victoriaville, once famous for producing hockey sticks, draws hundreds from across North America for a five-day festival that celebrates Musique Actuelle.

Musicians also flock there, eager to participate in what is considered a premiere showcase for music that pushes the conventional envelope beyond accepted norms of harmony, melody and rhythm.

No, you will not hear Norah Jones or Paul Anka at this 25th Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville, which gets underway May 15 in the town, halfway between Drummondville and Quebec City.

What you will get is a broad range of music that can be classed as musique actuelle, a term invented to embrace creative music that ranges from free jazz and improvised music to electronica, Noise, vocals, alternative rock – even a group or two that could be classified as folk.

The variety is astounding, considered without equal in its scope and the level of the musicians.

This year’s lineup was conceived as a retrospective and includes some stellar performers who have given Victo its reputation.

The regulars who attend include a Calgary physician, a McGill University mathematician who develops models in the Faculty of Medicine, and a saxophone player from Niagara Falls, NY. Part of the fun is walking from one venue to the next, chatting about the highlights – and lowlights.

There are plenty of fine concerts to choose from among the 23 shows. Visitors can always choose a combination that can be included in a package. For $99 a person, you can see two concerts, plus a night in the Hotel Villegia, double occupancy with breakfast the next morning. A range of accommodations includes camping.

The festival opens Thursday, May 15 with pioneering Montreal-based saxophonist/composer Jean Derome and a dozen of the city's best-known improv musicians with two pieces, including a tribute to Victo.

Fans will welcome the return of saxophonist John Zorn, who rose to prominence with his virtuosity and unique combination of Jewish-sounding themes and avant-garde harmonics. Zorn leads a sextet at 10pm in his “The Dreamers” project, recorded this fall on his Tzadik label, with guitarist Marc Ribot, drummer Joey Baron and Kenny Wollesen on vibraphone, and percussionist Cyro Baptista.

Zorn plays again Friday at 10pm, blowing that battered horn and leading his hard-edged Moonchild project, featuring experimental rock vocalist and guitarist Mike Patton.

Two other shows earlier Friday should be fascinating: Montreal guitarist Tim Brady presents three works for electric guitar, digital processing and tape at 1pm, accompanied by video, and then a “double quartet” tribute to the great Dmitri Shostakovich.

Then at 8pm, improvising electric guitarist Fred Frith premiers his Cosa Brava ensemble featuring violinist Carla Kihlstedt, accordion player Zeena Parkins, and drummer Matthias Bossi. Oh, they all sing. Skipping to Sunday, Shanghai-born Xu Fengzia returns for a 5pm gig with her zither-like guzheng, accompanied by German violinist Gunda Gottschalk.

Jazz fans will not want to miss two exciting shows Sunday. Saxophonist/pocket trumpeter Joe McPhee leads a quartet of European musicians at 8pm.

Roscoe Mitchell, a founder of Chicago’s ground- breaking Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, plays at 10pm with a double quartet that includes such exceptional performers as pianist Vijay Iyer and trumpeter Corey Wilkes.

Electric guitarist René Lussier kicks off Monday's triple bill, with turntablists Martin Tetreault and Otomo Yoshihide, who may also play guitar.

You may not like it all, but there is a lot of choice.

For the full lineup, ticket and accommodation information, go to fimav.qc.ca.

Music Music Music

Concert to benefit Extra Miles Senior Visiting Program

Wednesday, May 14 at 2:30pm the Montreal West United Church, 88 Balllantyne Ave. North, will present a brass chamber music concert featuring music from Bach to Joplin, from Brahms to Bernstein. Performers are members of the Low Bass section of the OSM. $10 at the door. Wheelchair accessibility. This concert is a benefit for MWUC’s Extra Miles Senior Visiting Program. Extra Miles matches up volunteers to be friendly visitors with isolated seniors in NDG, Montreal West and Côte St-Luc. Info: 514-482-3210 or mwuc.org

Cummings Centre presents Toxic Audio Live and Off Broadway

Tuesday, June 3 at Club Soda, the Cummings Jewish Centre for Seniors Foundation will present Toxic Audio Live and Off Broadway, featuring award-winning singers who will perform with nothing but their voices. To purchase tickets online in support of CJCS, visit cummingscentre.org.

Jeunesses Musicales - A pianophile's paradise

Kristine Berey

Many renowned musicians first gained international attention through winning an established musical competition.

From May 19-29, Montrealers will have a chance to hear some of the best and brightest young pianists in the world at this year’s Montreal International Musical Competition.

Organized in 2002 at the initiative of Jeunesses Musicales, each year’s event highlights either voice, piano or violin, the three disciplines presented in a rotating four-year cycle. This year’s competition received 130 applications from pianists under 30 from 28 different countries.

Chosen finalists will perform at the Quarter and Semi Finals at Salle Pierre-Mercure on May 20-22 and 23-24 and six will play at the Finals on May 26-27 at the Theatre Maisonneuve at Place des Arts. The young artists will prepare different repertoire for each concert.

The price of admission to each session is kept intentionally low at $10 as the MIMC wants to keep these concerts by these young musicians of great talent as accessible to the public as possible.

The event will culminate with the Gala Concert on May 29 at Salle Wilfrid- Pelletier where the finalists will be accompanied by the Competition’s resident orchestra, the Orchestre Metropolitain du Grand Montreal (OMGM) conducted by Jean Marie Zeituni.

The Competition’s stated aim is to “discover, reward and assist” young musicians all over the world who distinguish themselves through the mastery of their art and to give them a chance to showcase their talent before the international artistic community.

The jury is composed of a panel of eminent musicians from several countries and the event is the only Canadian international music competition held each year.

Info: 514-845-4108

Tickets: 514-842-2112

Cantabile celebrates

Kristine Berey

Founded in 1985 and formerly known as The Knight Singers, the Cantabile Chorale has performed many of the major choral works in the classical repertoire.

Their next concert will mark the 15th year composer and conductor Peter Willsher has directed the choir and the choir’s 10th with its own symphony orchestra.

“Last year we premiered a work that I wrote for the choir and orchestra, a cantata called The Journey. It is appropriate in many ways that this concert is also called Journey,” Willsher says. “It is a Journey that Cantabile and I have travelled; it includes music from Canada, UK, France, Germany, Austria and Italy. Not least, is my own personal musical journey of which Cantabile has been integral for most of my Canadian life.”

Highlights from the program include selections from Brahms’ Faure’s and Mozart’s Requiems, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion and Handel’s Messiah.

The concert begins at 7:30 pm at Ste. Genevieve Church, 16037 Gouin Blvd.

Info regarding the concert or to join the choir: 514-634-1275

After the flood, sound the trumpet

Paul Serralheiro

Tales of destruction by flood are retold in nearly every culture, wherein the event is endowed with mythical qualities, an act of God that forces reflection on its victims. The devastating storm that flooded New Orleans is no longer news, but its aftereffects are still real to the survivors who are trying to pull their lives back together. Musical stories of that flood are told by two jazz musicians from the Crescent City — trumpeters and composers both — in their most recent CD releases.

For his Tale of God’s Will: A Requiem for Katrina (Blue Note Records), Terence Blanchard, the elder of the two trumpeters, was awarded a Grammy for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. With Blanchard, the rhythms are recognizably New Orleans, starting with the march-like drum beat that opens the suite of pieces, announcing the requiem that this project presents. The title of the disc asks listeners to consider the storm as part of God’s plan — how else to explain the destruction and loss of life and home for so many? This must have been the reasoning behind the music, much as it is in the Old Testament story. Blanchard’s trumpet voice is compelling in its nuance as it dominates the varied textures of the compositions, some of which originally appeared in Spike Lee’s documentary film “When the Levees Broke.” Blanchard, one of the young lions from Wynton Marsalis’ generation, has scored many a film in recent years and knows how to create mood and meaning with sounds. Here his sextet (trumpet, saxophone, piano, bass, drums and percussion) is augmented in several pieces by the lush, yet subtle strings of The Northwest Sinfonia.

The tunes urge the acceptance of God’s will, as in “Ghost of Congo Square,” “Mantra Intro” and “Mantra,” mixed with clearly programmatic pieces like “Wading Through,” “In Time of Need” and “The Water,” and references to past storms in “Ghost of Betsy” and “Ghost of 1927.” Inevitably, there is also grief expressed in the blues laments of “Levees” and “Funeral Dirge.”

The younger trumpeter, Christian Scott, a couple of decades Blanchard’s junior, leads a smaller group, with sonorities that are more contemporary. However, the mood in Anthem (Concord Jazz) is equally reflective. The twelve pieces featured have titles that directly reference the flood, like “Katrina’s Eyes,” and the title cut appearing in two versions, “Anthem (Antediluvian Adaptation)” and “Anthem (Post Diluvial Adaptation)” — the first having a kind of ominous foreboding vamp that launches the quiet storm of melody and rhythm, and the latter featuring a lyrical commentary by rapper Brother J of X-Clan on the human struggle that was brought into relief by the storm and its aftermath. Through it all, Scott’s keening horn (he plays trumpet, cornet, flugelhorn and slide trumpet) is a lyrical, compelling voice addressing the drama that is both social and cosmic. He and his quartet (horn, drums, bass, and guitar) offer jazz with a contemporary urban beat, but with lyrical content that maintains a thread with tradition.

It is fitting that the trumpet is featured in these almost religious musical mediations. Considered by ancient people as the sound of the voice of God and used as a heraldic instrument to announce divine interventions, it is strikes a deep, resonating chord in the human soul.