Improvising Musicians and the Titanium Trio

I braved yesterday evening's wintry blast for a new gig experience courtesy of Improvising Musicians of Ottawa/Outawais (IMOO) and Umi Cafe. A quick note on Umi Cafe - my first visit impressions are of a well-liked local cozy cafe: lots of fair trade options (plus tasty cookies) and open mic nights. My initial impression of IMOO (via their website and Facebook page) was of an open-mic style with extras but it seems that their regular events are much more 'small gigs with a twist'.

IMOO's Facebook promo enticed me to attend Concert #42. A trumpet-led trio? Sounds fun. Titanium Trio, comprising Lina Allemano, Rob Clutton and Nick Fraser (trumpet/music writer, electric bass and drums respectively) played 2 very interesting half-hour sets in front of 20-odd people, plus a few random customers who came in for coffee and were intrigued enough to stay. Whilst the style of music played by Titanium Trio isn't my usual bent, it was fun listening, from the melodic line/rhythm interplay of the first song, #2, to the third track, '#7 Bagpipe', which to my ears had fragments reminiscent of an AABA song format whilst also being completely different! In between songs, Allemano explained that most of the pieces until recently didn't have titles, just numbers; although some retained their number as an official title.

The second 'set' started with an energetic track (funky bass line) labelled 'Titanium'; the following 2 pieces featured Allemano changing her sound by using firstly (I believe) a 'tin' straight mute, followed by an empty pop can.

As a live music series, IMOO has a lot of promise; it's certainly worth checking their website and Facebook for future listings. Forthcoming events include a concert by the IMOO Orchestra (IMOOO!) at Ottawa Jazz Festival's Winter Edition - they play on 4th February, 3pm at Club Saw.

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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

New talent at Southminster

As a follow-on from last weekend's excellent Chopin concert, there is an afternoon of New Artists from the NAC's Summer Music Institute at Southminster United Church on 17th June. Entitled 'Dover Beach and other works for summertime', the concert features new artists Katarzyna Sadej , Emily Nenninger , Drew Santini, Hannah Min, Paul Casey , Karen Kang and Bryan Wagorn. I had the chance to hear Bryan Wagorn at one of University of Ottawa's Concerts at the NAC 4th Stage concerts back in February and thoroughly enjoyed his performance. The proposed programme is very enticing: MENDELSSOHN String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13 MONIUSZKO Sen (The Dream) Prząśniczka (Spinner Girl) SZYMANOWSKI Lecioły Zórazie (The Swans Were Flying) Ściani Dumbek (The Dark Forest) CHOPIN Piosnka Litewska (Lithuanian Folksong) Moja Pieszczotka

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