t 1eft in th old "fusion music" carcass.
, THE EDMONTON JO'"'"'
!n fact, saxman Coat C~ke, gui.
.
v~AL tanst Ron Samworth, bassist Oyde
'
~· Reed and drummer Gregg Simpson
Sunda Jul
have concocted a compelling ensem_.:...:_:~Y:__,- Y IO, 1988 ble sound from diverse inspirations
Lunar Advenhnt
- 0mette Coleman, Pat Metheny,
Centennial Llmllf1,Tlleatnt
John Scofield (circa the Bar Talk
LP), Captain Beefheart, John Surman, even Celtic music.
Nine days of 1812 City concerts in
All these elements came together
the basement of the Centennial Li- in a very heady brew Saturday, from
brary came to an end Saturday with the catchy Coleman-esque funk of
the cry of an alto sax, the swelling Cooke's Ranul, to the rollicking
feedback of an electric guitar, a bass' strains of Simpson's Celtic Calypso,
bagpipe-like drone.
and to the foreboding and feedback
The sounds were courtesy of Van- of Brooklyn. Occasionally it all
couvet's Lunar Adventures. Playing sounded like the mating calls of
to a, ahem, crowd of 35, the quartet rogue police sirens but in every inprovided one of the more interesting stance these "free" tendencies were
performances of Jazz City '88 - and balanced with winning lyrical
demonstrated there's still some life touches.
1

:.::======-'

G~lil 51Qi1f. ~ltt' ~t:,_')£t

Lunar Adventures, Unity,
Kate HammettVaughan
Review: Centre Culture!
Francophone,
Sunday.June 19
Centre concerts bow out
on sweet and sad notes
A sweet/sad feeling permeated the summer evening
last Sunday when the New
Orchestra Workshop presented its final show at Le
Centre Culture! Francophone, which will soon be
shut down. The three bands
(and the audience) revealed
many faces familiar to the
Centre from previous New
Orchestra Workshop concerts at the centre. Coat
Cooke's Lunar Adventures
was followed by a band fronted by Kate HammettVaughan, with Graham
Ord's Unity closing the
show. All three will be at the
Vancouver International Jazz
Festival that gets underway
this week, and all showed
the talent that has gotten
them there.
Lunar Adventures-which
consists of Coat Cooke on
saxophones, Ron Samworth
on electric guitar, Clyde
Reed on bass, and Gregg
Simpson on drums-may be
dominated by Cooke's writing. but on the stand It's a
whole concerted effort.
Though all the players do get
a chance to stretch out, they
don't simply trade solos, but
generally maintain the Intensity of four Instruments
full-out. Comfortable with
each other, the ensemble felt
very free to go on adventures. far and wide.
Kate Hammett-Vaughan
wasn't with her regular
group, Turnaround, so that
level of familiarity wasn't
quite there In her set. Roger
Baird was on drums. Scott
White played bass, and Ron
Samworth was on guitar

(again). All are good players,
yet there was a tentative
quality to their work together. This problem did
seem to go away as they got
Into the set. however. and
the free Improvisational
tunes were dynamic and Interesting. Hammett-Vaughan
was In fine voice, taking up
the slack of the missing saxophonist with lots of nonverbal lmprov.
The final group. Unity,
opened with a blaze of horns,
bass and drums. all-out fullstrength. Later, the Individuals surfaced-Graham Ord
on saxophone, Daniel Lapp
on trumpet, Paul Blaney on
bass, and Roger Baird stayIng In the drummer's seat.
The frenetic pace occasionally calmed to sparse moments
In which the sweet tones of
the horns could really be appreciated.
This band capped the evening with a driving energy
that. unfortunately. was not
there In the small audience.
Perhaps the Vancouver jazz
audience Is saving Itself for
the festival. If you missed
this three-band special.
catch Lunar Adventures July 3 at the Commodore.
opening for Ornette Coleman. Unity opens for Andrew Hill on June 25 at the
Vancouver East Cultural
Centre, while HammettVaughan ·s Turnaround
opens for Michele Rosewoman on June 30 at the
Cultch. □ Maura Volante