Reviews

GGRIL. Combines. The GGRIL (Grand Groupe Régional d'Improvisation Libérée) is one of Canada’s few large improvising ensembles, a feat made more improbable by their location in relatively isolated Rimouski. From a population of 46,000, bassist Éric Normand has managed to[...] Read more

Recordings Stuart Broomer Issue 118

Juan Blanco. Nuestro Tiempo / Our Time. Through most of the twentieth century, Cuban composer Juan Blanco (1919–2008) was an active and collaborative creator and cultural leader in his homeland—primarily, though not exclusively, through his work in electroacoustic music. “No Cuban composer epitomized musical[...] Read more

Recordings Jennie Punter Issue 118

Bart Plantenga. Yodel in Hi-Fi, From Kitsch Folk to Contemporary Electronica. Yodelling is one of those “always wanted to know but were afraid to ask” topics. While deejaying at the independent New Jersey radio station WFMU, music writer Bart Plantenga stumbled upon a staggering variety of people engaging in yodelling. He discovered that the technique had[...] Read more

Books René van Peer Issue 117

Jazz em Agosto, 30th edition. Jazz em Agosto’s thirtieth edition added a few more performances than usual, but stuck to what it’s done so well for so long. The festival is presented by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, sponsor of a symphony, a concert hall, a major museum, and a modern art gallery, all in[...] Read more

Concerts and Events Stuart Broomer Issue 117

Suoni per il Popolo, 13th Edition. Long-running festivals conserve freshness by avoiding stale recipes based on previous successes. Montreal’s Suoni per il Popolo retains the same inviting aroma as the nearby twenty-four-hour bagel factories. With 150 sets of music, film, and workshops spread over eighteen days of[...] Read more

Concerts and Events Lawrence Joseph Issue 117

Festival International de Musique Actuelle, 29th Edition. A coup for Victo this year, the all-day Zorn@60 birthday celebration prompted the return of fans who had been absent for a decade or more. Long lineups winding from the downtown Cinema Laurier had local Sunday strollers stopping to inquire as to what event was drawing such a crowd. It’[...] Read more

Concerts and Events Frédérique Arroyas Issue 117

Tuen Verbruggen & Arve Henriksen. Black Swan; The Bureau of Atomic Tourism. Second Law of Thermodynamics. These two recent CDs give a strong picture of the breadth of Belgian percussionist Tuen Verbruggen’s playing, showcasing a duo in studio and a live performance as part of a sextet.   Verbruggen’s duet with the Norwegian trumpeter Arve Henriksen was done[...] Read more

Recordings Chris Kennedy Issue 117

Mecha Fixes Clocks. Beau comme un aéroport; Pink Saliva. Il parait que. These two CDs, released on Eric Normand’s Tour de Bras imprint, have in common the trumpet of Elwood Epps and the drums of Michel F. Coté, both players dynamic forces on Montreal’s improvised and musique actuelle scenes. Coté’s work, both as a composer[...] Read more

Recordings Mike Chamberlain Issue 117

Beverley Johnston. Woman Runs with Wolves. Woman Runs with Wolves, percussionist Beverley Johnston’s fifth solo release on Centrediscs, is undoubtedly her most eclectically programmed to date. Pulling from her sixty-plus commissions of Canadian composers’ work, the selections range across two decades of creation to shape[...] Read more

Recordings Jason van Eyk Issue 117

Bruno Heinen Sextet. Karlheinz Stockhausen: Tierkreis. Tierkreis (German for zodiac) is Stockhausen’s most accessible, most adapted, and likely best-known work. It may also be the most symmetrical, its twelve movements conforming to the zodiac’s twelve signs, each melody based on a twelve-tone row, the pieces arranged in the sequence[...] Read more

Recordings Stuart Broomer Issue 117

Drumheller. Sometimes Machine. Supergroup is both an apt and a ridiculous descriptor for Drumheller, which comprises some of Toronto’s most celebrated experimental and jazz musicians—Nick Fraser, Eric Chenaux (now a Parisian), Brodie West, Rob Clutton, and Doug Tielli—each member teeming with personality and[...] Read more

Recordings Nick Storring Issue 117

Anthony Braxton. Echo Echo Mirror House. At the 2011 Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville, composer and saxophonist Anthony Braxton led a septet in his Composition No. 347+. That “+” in a Braxton title will usually be followed by a series of numbers indicating interpolated compositions, but in No. 347[...] Read more

Recordings Stuart Broomer Issue 117