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September 2002

August was music filled with plenty to hear around the city with that festival feeling somehow continuing long past our own jazz festival was over. One of the outstanding artists that I was able to see during the Festival Vancouver was the Cuban pianist Ernán López-Nussa and his wonderful group. This was a true jazz concert with improvising at an incredible level of musicianship and skill. Many people may have expected to hear a tradional Cuban group but what they got was a killer jazz quartet. The quartet consisted of Ernán on piano along with a string bassist, a drummer and a chekere player who also sang and played other various percussion. They fused their Cuban roots with modern jazz harmony and recreated several jazz standards with thrilling arrangements that had the audience beaming in their seats. They included some folkloric tunes that had been revitalized as well and captured everyone with their relaxed presence on stage. I always assumed that the chekere (the gourd with the beads) was a fairly simple instrument whereby a musician might add a touch of color and rhythm here and there. Boy, was I wrong, The Chekere player was a master, truly, playing complicated exciting rhythms as a type of counterpoint to the rhythm that was already happening with the drummer and meanwhile dancing some steps and singing too. What I find exciting in the music of jazz currently is that there are so many elements from world music that are being fused with the jazz we already know and it seems to lead to all kinds of possibilities. Luckily living in Vancouver we get a taste of that as Coastal Jazz and Blues Society bring in artists such as Danilo Perez, Omar Sosa and so many other greats. There has always been improvisation in Flamenco and in Salsa and other forms of world music and when certain elements from that music are meshed with jazz harmony and sensibility; new and exciting things await the listener. I like that and enjoy how it opens my ears to new directions.

Another concert that I was very excited to see and hear was that of Dee Daniels and her group led by Miles Black on the piano. They were celebrating the release of Dee's newest CD "Feel So Good" in West Vancouver on a gorgeous summer evening. Dee was in top form as she sang through the songs that appear on the new CD; standards and originals that she truly dug into. She let loose that night and using that remarkable range and depth that she has in her voice and with her superior knowledge of how and where to really build a song, she had everyone in the palm of her hand. Dee is always so relaxed and gracious on stage with an unassuming manner that has you enjoy her personality even before you enjoy the soulful way she delivers. Man, can she sing!!

Another singer that I have admired for years is Britain's Norma Winstone. Two CD's we bought recently that are not new CD releases were new to me. AZIMUTH is a group with Norma on vocals, John Taylor on piano and Kenny Wheeler on trumpet and flugelhorn. As Azimuth they have released two recordings, one in 1985 and one in 1995 so perhaps in 2005 they will release another one if they are following the every decade pattern. The music is breathtakingly beautiful. At times the voice and the flugel play melodic lines together as the hamony is being built by the piano. Sometimes Norma's voice is wordless and it really is a delightful sound to hear the voice as another melodic color in the trio sound. Other pieces include lyrics but never run of the mill lyrics, always reflective or insightful and poetic. Sometimes the harmony is very dense and dissonant and then there are remarkable releases where you as a listener simply breathe along with the phrases as they unfold. The writing and arranging really is brilliant and well thought out. There is overdubbing in some songs where you will hear the voice doubled or singing against itself and one piece (one of the few standards) is just Kenny Wheeler playing with several tracks of overdubbing so that you hear an entire trumpet section playing. Both CD's keep you interested all the way through with the grouping changing sometimes to a duet or to a solo but the prime focus is the music being made between all three musicians. Both CD's have a gorgeous sound as well with the famous ECM piano sound captured forever. Now there would be a group for our jazz festival…

Enjoy the rest of the beautiful summer everyone.

Karin