JazzFest 2 - rocking in the Heart of the City


Rain-drenched early crowd

Second day of JazzFest complete with full waterproofs and wellies. A few hardly souls, myself included, headed to Confederation Park to see, in theory, the Laila Biali Trio. Another new one for me, but the JazzFest profile promised pop-oriented jazz from the pianist-songwriter plus George Koller and Larnell Lewis on bass and drums respectively. Sadly, Biali was held up at Ottawa Airport by the adverse weather, so the impromptu Koller-Lewis duo performed a set for the bedraggled attendees - at this point there was not so much a crowd as people in a field! The show also included a demonstration on dismantling Koller's new bass, which was very interesting!

By the time Elvis Costello & The Imposters took to the stage the downpour had abated and more people had arrived. As a taster of things to come, the set started with Pump It Up and went on to include gems such as Watching The Detectives, Red Shoes and Alison, as detailed below (from Elvis Costello Wiki):


Elvis Costello

01. Pump It Up
02. Heart Of The City
03. Mystery Dance
04. Everyday I Write The Book
05. Strict Time
06. Clown Strike
07. Almost Blue
08. New Lace Sleeves
09. Beyond Belief
10. Clubland
11. Stations Of The Cross
12. This Wheel's On Fire / The River In Reverse / On Your Way Down / I'll Take Care Of You

Encore 1
13. A Slow Drag With Josephine - EC solo
14. Jimmie Standing In The Rain - EC solo
15. (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea
16. Watching The Detectives
17. Alison

Encore 2
18. Honey, Are You Straight Or Are You Blind?
19. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes
20. I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down
21. High Fidelity
22. Out Of Time
23. (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding? - including The Kids Are Alright

Maybe it was to spite the weather, the impressive set varying from mellow back to a great rendition of 'Out of Time' replete with singalong, but the combined show was amazing with the crowd on fire and dancing around. One to remember, and for those who chose to stay at home, to regret missing!

Similarly, within the confines of the OLG stage the late night audience were whooping and dancing to manically popular three-piece Elliott Brood. A mix of indie-roots-folk-rock with (for me) hints of Hey Rosetta! and Rural Alberta Advantage. Another band with whom I should become more familiar... Certainly most of those inside the OLG tent were familiar with the Elliott Brood oeuvre and were singing heartily, dancing and hitting tin lids with spoons (props provided by the band). The band have a new album in the autumn and based on this show, future shows look promising! One to watch....

Pigeon Funk

Notes on a very random purchase. Earlier today I acquired Venetian Snares 'Rossz Csillag Alatt Sz ü letett ' purely on the basis of the language and artwork. Its certainly something different - and most definitely not pop. After a bit of searching: Venetial Snares is, according to Wikipedia, the performing name of Aaron Funk, who seems to specialise in experimental tracks in odd time signatures. Article here . The sleeve notes for this album (whose title is Hungarian for 'Born under a bad star') poses the question: what if, for just a day, we could both be pigeons? Interessant. Apparently this concept (a day in the life of a Hungarian pigeon) is non-typical of Venetian Snares sound, but one could ask, does Mr Funk do 'typical'? On first listening, the sound of this CD mixes classical/traditional Hungarian sounds and breakbeats. but aside from that? Definitely a 'listen for yourself' artist; try the website , fan site or myspace .

Lang Lang: a little bit of stardust in Southam Hall

Lang Lang with Anita Pari Like many National Arts Centre regulars, the idea of a Lang Lang concert sounded fantastic... except that for me the Gala tickets are rather too expensive. As a result the turnout for today's masterclass with young artists Anita Pari (Ottawa), Alexander Malikov (Calgary), and Tina Chong (Banff) in Southam Hall was pretty good. No surprises that there were photographers and a TV camera all over the stage... so much so that during Lang's analysis of Malikov's rendition of Transcendental Étude No 8 'Wild Hunt' (Liszt), someone shouted at the cameraman to move. To my mind they seemed a little intrusive on the performances, but none of the artists seemed to take any notice. Lang Lang with Tina Chong Up first and for me the best performance was Anita Pari with the captivating Ballade No 1 by Chopin. In comparison, Malikov's performance did not have anywhere near as much projection. Final performer Tina Chong seemed

Piano salons

Catching up on LinkedIn after a vacation, I came across a link for The Saturday Piano Salon . This caught my eye as I organise and attend an adult amateur piano group here in Ottawa. The Saturday Piano Salon, based in London, is an impressive step up from our friendly afternoons, giving amateur (and semi-professional, according to their site) pianists an opportunity to perform on a Steinway Model D at Steinway Hall. I read the review of their first Saturday event with interest. Maybe next time I find myself in London...

PrettyInScarlett

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