THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 25 JUNE 17-24, 1988 • Ornette Coleman appears at the Commodore, July 3, as part of the du Maurier Jazz Festival. His show is one of columnist Alex Varty's picks in a survey of the most promising prospects at this year's festival. Jazz Feast on the Way W !th only two weeks to go until the opening of the third annual du Maurier International Jazz Festival, public interest and ticket sales are heating up, so now·s the time to plan your festival itinerary if you want to avoid missing out on some Off Beat ALEX VARTY of the most soulfully creative music ever heard around these parts. To help you pick out a schedule, here are capsule summaries of some of the "don't miss" events that the festival has in store. Certainly you won't want to miss the gala opening on Friday, June 24 at the Expo Theatre: ex-Weather Report leader Joe Zawinul's aptly named Zawinul Syndicate should be explosive, with rhythm demons Cornell Ro: chester and Gerald Veasley driving a band that's primed to cover all the bases, from bebop to 21st-century funk; while Senegalese singer Youaaou N'Dour has one of the finest bands to emerge from the Third (or any other) World, plus an impassioned, often heartbreakingly beautiful vocal delivery. Three under-appreciated pianists should provide some of the festival's finest hours: veterans Andrew Hill and Horace Tapscott and r..,!. ative newcomer Michele Roaewoman are all capable of producing music of great depth and subtlety. Hill, at the Vancouver East at 8 p.m. on June 25, was a fixture on the Blue Note scene In the '60s, producing some of that renowned era's most provocative recordings with a style that perfectly blended the bluesy touch of the hard bop players with the more cerebral approach of the young radicals of the time. Tapscott, to the best of my knowledge, has never recorded for any of the major labels, but has spent 30 years teaching and playing around the Los Angeles area, where he is almost legendary for his thorough knowledge of jazz history, and the very modern, very personal ways in which he has reinterpreted that legacy. He'll play the Western Front at 5:30 on Sunday, June 26. Rose- woman, a New York resident, adds elements of the AfroCuban tradition to her similarly complete understanding of the jazz piano. She's a sparklingly powerful soloist and for this tour has assembled an equally bright band, featuring saxophone lions Gary Thomas and Greg Osby, bassist Lonnie Plaxico, and the prodigious young drummer Terri Lynne CArrington, all members of the new generation of New York-based jazz extenders. At the Vancouver East Cultural Centre on June 30. In only three years the du Maurter festival has already established a worldwide reputation as one of the places to hear the jazz avantgarde, and three concerts In that idiom that should not be missed are George Lewis's solo recital at the Western Front (June 27), the doublebill of Semantics with the Luaaier/Derome/Cora trio at the VECC (July 1), and the Ornette Coleman/Lunar Adventures package at the Commodore on July 3. Lewis is an outstanding trombone technician, a master of contemporary approaches to his Instrument, and also a pioneer In the uncharted waters of computer music. When he puts the two together, the results can be bizarrely unpredictable, or blissfully lovely, but always eminently musical. Semantics is one of the wildest groups playing the festival. With New Yorkers Samm Bennett, Ned Rothenberg, and Elliott Sharp on board, their influences. run the gamut from Japanese shakuhachi music to Yoruba drumming to Jim! Hendrix. Perversely humorous and lnfini tely inventive, their range and scope has boosted them out of the Improvising underground and onto the avant-punk record label SST, where they can be heard stretching out on music that's radical, rhythmic, and memorably melodic. Multi-instrumentalists Rene Lussier, Jean Derome (from Montreal), and Tom Cora (from New York) will open with a set that's sure to be similarly Intense and surprising. The Vancouver band Lunar Adventures, arguably this city·s most interesting "fu. sion" ensemble, will unleash its spiky chops as a fitting appetizer for the latest edition of Ornette Coleman's controversial Prime Time outfit, which now apparently Includes a tabla player, but will be without flash bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma, out on the road with his own band. Ornette is always lnteres tlng-whe the r you think he's a genius or notand our consensus is that he Is. There's no denying that few other artists can match his scope, from acoustic quartet jazz to avant-funk to full-scale symphonic works. If something a little more Bassist Charlie Haden is part of a VECC line-up that includes sax player Ernie Watts. straightforward Is calling you, hear the Horace Parlan/Archie Shepp duet instead (also on July 3, but at the VECC at 8 p.m.). Shepp, one of the '60s jazz radicals who came up In Coleman's wake, has mellowed remarkably, and along with the richsounding pianist Parlan, now flexes his considerable saxophone capabilities on vintage blues, gospel, and Bird numbers that sing and swing with warmth, humour, and quiet fire. Two bands led from the rhythm section but long on saxophone talent will explore the modern approaches to the jazz tradition at tne VECC on June 29: local drummer Claude Ranger will lead a three-horned quintet (Perry White, Rob Frayne, and Phil Dwyer will blow, Skywalk's Rene Worst will bass) that could be mightily impressive, while ex-Ornette bassist Charlie Haden, one of the world's most musical human beings and a poetically beautiful player, will work with exRolling Stones sax sideman Ernie Watts, pianist Alan Broadbent, and drummer Paul Motian In an ensemble that should, theoretically, be able to do just about anything from the deep blues to the most abstract pointillisms. And, finally, for more magnificent African singing, catch Salif Keita, with Themba Tana's African Heritage , at the Commodore on Friday July 1: like Youssou N'Dour, Keita is a modern West African waller who combines traditional sounds (in his case, the Afro/Arabian vocal styles of Mali) with the sophisticated electronics and Irresistible rhythms of Afro/American funk. Advance reports Indicate that he's a concert performer on a par with Stevie Wonder or Peter Gabriel. No one can fault this year's festival for range or diversity: these may be our recommended events, but there and dozens of other worthwhile concerts planned. Stay tuned for a look at some of the Vancouver musicians that will be prominently featured over the 10-day program, and in-depth interviews with and appreciations of some of the visiting masters. ■ THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT 26 JUNE 17-24, 1988 ~ m - 2 am daily ••• •• •• •• ••• • •• • 111111 •• • •• •• •• : LION HEART •• •• •• •• June 20-25 ••• • •· •• •• •• • •• :STREETTALK: •• • • •• Every Monday •• Every Friday • VIDEO EVENTS June 16 to 22 Thurs. 16 REGGAE NIGHT Marley • Tosh • UB40 Mon. 20 SPORTS NIGHT Work out with our VJ Fri. to Sun., June 17-19 COLLEEN SAVAGE BAND .;;-/-rte ~/h fl-_ ■ : cu ■ : • ~ flt/4J¥! fHE sfRAVLiGt--if CAFE THE ALLSTAR JAM • LADIES DIAMOND NITE AT REAR ENTRANCE : : ■ l!I • : FLAMINGO HOTEL: I 733-8633 ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ., LIVE THIS WEEK ., ■ ■ ■ Weather permitting: Climate Change and Our Future 2629Arbutusat11th ■ ■ EVENING OF AWARENESS Tues. 21 Until June 18 : : . 581-3344 1076~ ,Ki_~g ~eo. 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