Quintet hears different voices, speaks fluent melody

Opinion

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This article was published 22/02/2010 (5674 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Drumheller’s sound emanates from all over the musical map, but in the end what they turn out is definitely jazz.

That’s what patrons can count on when the quintet takes to the stage at Thursday’s Jazz Winnipeg Jazz Innovators series concert, says drummer Nick Fraser.

“There are a lot of varied relationships with jazz within the group,” Fraser says from his Toronto home.

Drumheller — the name comes from a combination of drums and hell, not from the Alberta community known for its dinosaur museum — includes Fraser, guitarist Eric Chenaux, trombonist Doug Tielli, alto saxophonist Brodie West and bassist Rob Clutton.

They all have a strong connection to improvised music — Fraser names band influences from Ornette Coleman and Misha Mengelberg to Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk — and “mainly play our own music,” the drummer adds.

All five compose music for the group, he says: “A lot of different voices at work.”

“A lot of the music is melodic, open to different forms of improvisation; sometimes formal; sometimes a piece is just a jumping-off point for improvisation,” Fraser says.

The band’s recently released CD, Glint, has some interesting music, proves Fraser’s point that the band is melodic and suggests we’ll see a good show next week.

The band has been together since 2003 and while members perform together as bookings and their individual schedules permit, Drumheller always plays at least once a month in a Toronto club.

This year is busier than usual, Fraser said, with the CD release and the current Western Canada tour which includes a performance at the Cultural Olympiad in Vancouver and stops in Regina, Edmonton, Calgary, Brandon (Wednesday at the Music Studio) and Winnipeg.

Drumheller performs at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Park Theatre. Tickets — $18 advance/$22 door (students: $13/$15) — are available at www.jazzwinnipeg.com, 989-4656, at the Jazz Winnipeg office (007-100 Arthur St.) and the Park Theatre.

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Tomorrow night, Mardi Jazz at the Franco-Manitoban Cultural Centre, takes on a New York City feel with French-born, Big Apple saxophonist Jerome Sabbagh fronting a trio with the great jazz drummer Victor Lewis and bassist Ben Street.

It should be a great of night of jazz with three very good musicians playing in a club setting, and it’s free (well, almost, you have to buy your own drinks and popcorn).

Winnipeg pianist and composer Michelle Grégoire heard Sabbagh perform in New York in June 2007 when she was on a walking and jazz listening trip. She went to clubs a couple of times a night and on her last night, feeling burned out, she accompanied Canadian drummer Greg Ritchie who was checking out drummers.

“Jerome’s playing was some of the most beautifully crafted stuff I have ever heard,” she says. “He carefully creates each solo, his lines are unique, and so incredibly well developed, he does not waste any of his ideas and works them out as far as they will go… Jerome’s group was by far the best stuff I’d heard all week. It was honest and fresh, it was what was really happening right now. Serious music making.”

And local drummers are eager to see and hear Lewis in action (actually, aren’t we all). He has performed with some of the greats in jazz, and co-led the band Horizon with saxophonist Bobby Watson.

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If you want a real New York jazz feel, right down to your toes, the double teaming of pianists Kenny Barron and Mulgrew Miller for three shows as part of the Izzy Asper Jazz Performances series is the place to be.

Both are renowned jazz musicians, a show by either one would be a reason to celebrate, so the duo piano performances on Saturday, March 6, 8 p.m., and Sunday, March 7, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., in the Berney Theatre should be twice the fun.

I predicted months ago that the Barron/Mulgrew show would be the best of the series, and I’ll stick to that despite there being one more show to go.

The concerts are largely a subscription series but casual tickets are still available at the Rady Jewish Community Centre at 477-7534.

Miller will also take part in a TD Jazz Lab, March 6, 12:15 p.m., Berney Theatre, 123 Doncaster St. Tickets are $10, free for students with identification, from www.jazzwinnipeg.com, 989-4656.

chris.smith@freepress.mb.ca