Edmonton Journal du lieu suivant : Edmonton, Alberta, Canada • 25

77m Edmonton Journal Thursday, June 29, 1998 C3 Pop Philosophers hit jazz fest hard Review JNOTES set from the Jeff Hendrlck Group had a lot more depth, more intriguing grooves with the singersax-man's smooth mix of pop-funk and hip hop beats, and some terrific musicianship too with funkster guitarist Jim Head and Kurt Ceisla's rubbery bass lines. So loud rock isn't my cup of tea. I'm just a mellow jazz guy, but it can't be a bad thing for a gig this size to add to the coffers of the jazz festival. Meanwhile, the real jazz was happening downstairs. The late start made it impossible to hear much of Don Thompson's Banff Jazz (all workshop-alumni) All Stars octet but the initial tunes from this collection of Toronto's finest 30-something players offered exquisite arrangements as they played for about 120 in the Westin Marlboro Room.

There was real finesse in the soloing too from the likes of trumpeter Kevin Turcotte and jazz veteran Thompson at the piano as they tapped into material from their new CD on Jazz Focus. Roger Levesque Special to The Journal Edmonton Wednesday night, you might have been hard-pressed to remember it was a Jazz fest. At least one recent concert in the Westin Ballroom has had the intimacy of a small club but iThe Philosopher Kings' loud pop-' Clock sound and the 800-plus mostly fans who cheered them on Hmnde it all feel closer to the coliseum. is a jazz fest and all that," reclaimed Kings' lead singer Gerald 22aton in the middle of the opening number I Am The Man, "but this Hiere is still a rock concert, all right?" -As if to underline his point, the band's two guitarists revved up their and the rest of the rhythm section fell in line to cut a sonic Iswath througth the air. Some sections iHf their act had enough space and a tfew funkier licks but for the most 1 part, it felt loud enough to turn the 'Room into one big noisy speaker.

An opening set at this jazz gig from Jim Brenan's Quintet offered finely crafted bop with two strong tenor sax soloists up front between Brenan himself and guest Jeff Antoniuk. There were snappy unison parts and some fiery blowing from both but Brenan in particular seemed to make excellent use of the tenor range with his full rounded tone. Early on, exotic European jazz variations started their own combustible chemistry drawing the raves of some 150 at the Library Theatre for the Seven O'clock series. American saxophonistclarinetist Michael Moore (transplanted to the Netherlands now) led his Available Jelly quintet in a fascinating set of material quite unlike anything I've heard lately With some classical influences and loose pulses, it worked a keen sense of counterpoint from the three horn players, gradually meandering towards an intense outside soloing and but logical finales on most pieces. Rare and wonderful.

The Philosopher Kings Don Thompson Banff Jazz All Stars Available Jelly and others Where: Various concerts at Jazz City When: Wednesday night When they hit a Latinesque pulse for a few minutes of speedy piano, the drums took over to drown out any detail there was. When Eaton slid into You Don't Love Me (Like You Used To Do), the audience seemed more clearly defined between the bodies standing on the dance floor and the folks sitting further back who kept on talking. Though he urged them to "get intimate" and "half-naked" (apparently they got that reaction in Vancouver recently) I didn't see any moves to bare it all before I left to catch another act For these ears, the show's opening IN CONCERT Colin James and his Little Big Band with Lester Quitzau Band Winspear Centre, 8 p.m. David Sanchez Quintet Westin Marlboro Room, 9 p.m. Doctor Eugene Chadboume and Hellington Country Stanley Milner Ubrary Theatre, 7 p.m.

Decidedly Jazz Danceworks: Classic Jam 8 p.m. AT JAZZ STREET (Sir Winston Churchill Square) The Jazz Rascals, noon to 4 p.m. Rufus Hartey, around the square, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. EBBS Big Band, 5 p.m.

to 9 p.m. IN THE CLUBS The Dino Martinis Big Daddy's Nightclub, 8 p.m. to 1 am. The Dixie Cats Iron Bridge, 9 p.m. to 12 am.

Jeremy Davenport Mickey Finn's Taphouse, 9 p.m. to 12 am. Chris Andrew, solo piano Pradera Lounge, The Westin, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Julie Mahendran SorrenrJno's Bistro Bar, 9:30 p.m.

to 12:30 am. Arfie Zappacosta Urban Lounge, 9:30 p.m. to 1:45 am. 110011 James is ttho toss kii After two prominent rock records, B.C. artist decided to swing Preview Colin James and the Little Big Band With: Lester Quitzau When: 8 p.m.

tonight Where: Winspear Centre Tickets: Sold out Shawn Ohler Journal Music Writer Edmonton Unlike some acts who have seemingly released swing albums to Gash in on the hot trend, no one can accuse Colin James of leaping on the 7 big-bandwagon. James has already i File photo Three years ago, after he released his third rock record Bad Habits, he sat down with his corporate minders at Warner Music Canada and charted his future course. "I said I wanted to make an acoustic blues record with Colin Linden (the Juno-winning National Steel), because I wanted to lay some delta blues down," James said. "After that, I said I wanted to make a second Little Big Band album. I wish I was that smart that I intentionally timed it this way, but I'm not It just worked out" After touring his Little Big Band through soft-seat gigs like the one tonight at the Winspear Centre, James will start work on another rock record.

He promises big tilings. "I want to make that contemporary record that I can sit and look at myself in the mirror with. The next one I do has to be excellent It can't be kind ogood. It has to be right in there or I'm not going to come out with it" So you haven't made a contemporary rock record that you're proud of "Nope. Uh-uh." What were the other ones, then? "That was me trying to learn to do it better.

But as you get older, you start to learn to edit yourself you start to learn about what you can and can't do. And hopefully you make that record where you pinch yourself and say Man, I did it' "When I started out, nobody wanted me to play blues. They wanted me to play pop songs. I had people saying I should be making Eurythmics records. "They were people doing things in good faith, they were trying to be smart, they were trying to sell records.

When you're young, they don't take your word for it. They take their word for it But that's time, that's the way it goes. I'm at the point now where I'm having my own say" Colin James made the successful leap from rock to swing music File photo John Scofield has a new CD CD REVIEW JOHN SCOFIELD: A Go Go (VervePolygram52 minutes) What might sound like ultra-sophisticated lounge music to one person could add up to just a lot of noodling around for another. Guitarist John Scofield (born in Ohio in 1951) has an extensive experience in R'n'B, jazz, fusion and blues-oriented grooves as an alumnus of bands led by Gerry Mulligan, Billy Cobharn, Charles Mingus, Gary Burton and Miles Davis. His own projects have veered from a trio with Steve Swallow to a great quartet with Joe Lovano but they always showed off his ability to turn his solo phrases around into interesting little curlicues of melody that seemed to circle around the other players as he sent conversational shots or asides their way.

It probably seemed like a natural thing for the guitar player to wind up in the studio with keyboardist John Medeski, drummer Billy Martin and acoustic and electric bassist Chris Wood who have already been developing their own quirky way with grooves (funky, jazzy, hip hop, even reggae) since the early 1990s. And been there, done that. In 1993, on the heels of two successful rock records, James released his first Little Big Band project, an album of obscure blues that had industry insiders shaking their head in amazement. "The people at my American record company thought I was out of my mind," recalled James recently from his Whistler, B.C, home. "I walked into the L.A.

office and said, 'This is what I want to The president just sat there and said, 'Why would you ever want to do "But if I walked into the office now with the new record, it's right. It's so trendy right now, it's unbelievable." James just released his second Little Big Band album, a similarly authentic collection of originals and covers from genre heavyweights such as Jackie Wilson and Cab Calloway The immediate reaction has been far stronger this time around. Though the first Little Big Band record went on to sell nearly 200,000 copies, the initial six months of the record's life were pretty bleak. "When I did the first one, there was nothing like it I was about three or four years early unfortunately There was no crossover scene back then," he said. "But I did it because I really felt blues-rock was hitting a wall.

It was becoming redundant Kids were moving on to alternative and new country and all this stuff that had nothing to do with it I felt I had to do something to perk interest and keep myself fresh." James said he has always loved "little big bands" high-energy, smaller combos from the '40s and '50s fronted by electric performers like Wilson, Roy Brown and Roscoe Gordon. "This is something I did when I was 17," said James, a Regina-born prodigy who got his big break in the early '80s opening for Stevie Ray Vaughan. "I wasn't doing it with a horn section, but I was doing obscure Jackie Wilson songs and early Junior Wells and Buddy Guy that was less blues and more flashy" For the second Little Big Band record, James, with the help of record collector friends, found dozens of potential songs to cover. Some of the ones that made the final cut Jimmy Wilson's Jumpiri From Six to Six, for example were songs James had never heard. "I knew nothing about the guy You'd think after this amount of time I'd know something, but I keep finding people I've never heard of," he said.

"This era got so smoked by the tidal wave of white rock'n'roll that happened after Elvis that people's heads are just starting to pop up now." i He insists the timing of his new release and swing music's recent resurgence fuelled by the movie Swingers and breakthrough acts like America's Cherry POppin' Daddies is just a happy coincidence. the match seems a good fit on Scofieid's new (second) Verve disc A Go Go The only complaint is that it never really breaks out of the groove, a mid-tempo one at that and a pulse with a pretty narrow dynamic range. The tracks are all Scofield compositions and he takes most of the solos, picking up on the easy swing of Medeski, Martin Wood but keeping his chords pretty close to the pulse of their gently bubbling snareorganbass sound. In Classic Jam proof that you can dance to jazz fact A Go Go never really stops grooving at the same pace and for that reason it's probably choice music for fans rather than those who like to hear the axe man soar further out. Preview Sco Show Note Scofieid's set for the HendersonDavenport triple-bill show at the Winspear Centre Saturday night will not be featunng despite this new release.

Expect to see him here with keyboardist Larry Goldings (from Maceo Parker's band), bassist Steve Logan, and drummer Bill Stewart (who kept time in Scofieid's quartet with Lovano). Scofield is also the featured artist in a special series of concerts at the Festival International De Jazz De Montreal July 1 to 9. He's playing separate shows with Charlie Haden, Jim Hall, The Dirty Dozen, Toots Thietemans, Wayne Shorter and the Quiet band, and with Joe Lovano's group. Pamela Anthony Special to the Journal Edmonton Answering the age-old musical can you dance to Decidedly Jazz Danceworks offers a resounding "Yes!" You can dance to jazz. JD hits town tonight with proof -a colourful dance production celebrating all that is syncopated.

The Calgary-based Decidedly Jazz Danceworks is touring Western Canada's jazz festivals with a "best of show called Classic Jam: DJD's Box Set They're at the Citadel for three nights, as part of Jazz City Although it's a first, Hannah Stilwell says it's also "a natural" for Decidedly Jazz Danceworks to be part of the jazz festivals. "We've been described as "music for the eyes," so I hope we have quite a bit of appeal for jazz music lovers, she says. "It certainly fits for us to be part of a festive atmosphere, a celebration." Classic Jam is a "full on" jazz experience, says Stilwell, featuring 10 dancers, a seven-piece band, vocalist Diane Miller and "jazz poet" Sheri-D particularly happy the company is celebrating their 10th year of being "live" in summer meaning the company tours with a seven-piece band. Classic Jam brings together music from Big Miller (who worked with the company on developing the hit JD show No Small Feets shortly before he died), an original composition by Tommy Banks, plus-an eclectic selection of swing, funk, gospel and Latin. Arrangements for the show were handled by musical Jean-Christophe Leroy "It's been our tradition to thread shows together for a theatrical feeling, and that was actually my biggest challenge," says Stilwell.

"My solution was to create a dreamscape where anything can happen." She got "thematic" help from Sheri-D Wilson, a well-known writer and performance poet now based in Calgary Wilson created and performs the original text for Classic Jam. "Sheri-D's poetry has the driving force and rhythm of jazz," says StUweH "She helped enormously artistically the spoken word adds another dimension and makes the show flow" Classic Jam Company: Decidedly Jazz Danceworks Featuring: Vocalist Diane Miller, Poet Sheri-D Wilson Where: Shoctor Stage, Citadel Theatre When: Today through Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets At the door and TicketMaster Wilson. Stilwell, a founding director of the company was charged with choosing selections from DJD's repertoire, much of it by fellow director Vicki Adams (who is on rare holiday). "I picked the pieces that audiences cheer loudest for," she says.

"I also chose some that are personally sweet tome." DJD's repertoire, as seen in Classic Jam, encompasses soft shoe, rhythmic tap, swing, boot dancing and the Lindy Hop. Stilwell also choreographed two new works for the show a swing number and a "feverish" African-influenced piece Sco Discography On Enja: Shlnola, Out Like A Light (with Steve Swallow, Adam Nussbaum) With Miles Davis on Columbia: Star People, Decoy, You're Under Arrest On Grarnavision: Electric Outlet, Still Warm, Blue Matter, Loud Jazz, Pick Hits Live, Flat Out Liquid Fire (The Best Of John Scofield) On Blue Note: Time On My Hands, Meant To Be (both with Lovano), Grace Under Pressure (with Bill Frisell), What We Do (with Lovano), Hand Jive (with Eddie Harris, Goldings), Groove Photo: Trudie Lee Dancers Natalie Poissant and Jason Stroh show how it's done called, simply Heat. "We dance to reflect the spirit of jazz music," she says. "We're still out to bring people a broader, deeper base from which to understand jazz." Music is the starting point for what JD does, and Stilwell says she is Elation (with Goldings and horns), Can See Your House From Here (with Pat Metheny) On Verve: Quiet, A Go Go UR PLAYFR? JIMMY GOLDEN, visual artist, coordinator of family program at The Works What He's Been Listening To Lately: Gene Taylor and a lot of boogie woogie music "I'm really impressed with solo piano because there's such a wide range of opportunities. Oscar Peterson called it "the most complete instrument" Terry Morrison, Edmonton singer-songwriter Kathleen Battle CKUA and CJSR "I don't have a big record collection so it's a major source.

I listen to all the jazz shows and blues shows." What He's Seen Or Wants To See: Gerry Hemingway Quartet "It was so beautiful, so satisfying. I haven't had a bath in good music like that for a long time, just a live combo in a nice size room with people And Ray Anderson dropped by to ask for a cigarette and talked to us all about his life history with Dr John and all those peopla" Colin James' Little Big Band Joe Henderson and John Scofield Td love to see that because there's nothing like live music. It can't be usurped or replaced by anything else. I think it's human beings' highest art, one of the most divine things human beings da" MICHELLE FARNALLS, film assembler What She's Been listening Too Lately: U2, Bob Dylan, The Tragically Hip Swingers Original Soundtrack -Blue Rodeo What Shows She's Seen Or Wants To See: Colin James Little Big Band Philosopher Kings "They've got a good beat, a good sound to them." maybe Greazy Meal Ml Roger Levesque, The Journal Jimmy Golden: high on Hemingway Roger Levesque, The Journal Michelle Famalls: Colin James fan.