The Pro\finee Friday, September 29, 1989

81

Lunar Adventures flying On the fringe
Making a living as a jazz musician is difficult enough. Making a living as a musician
who plays on the experimental fringe of
jazz would seem to be impossible.
Nevertheless, the members of Lunar
Adventures have been making their entertaining and original musical mark for four
years as a quartet and even longer with the
New Orchestra Workshop.
"I'm hoping the CD will give us a chance
With a CD ready for release on the Los to tour in Europe and Japan, where there's
Angeles-based Nine Winds label, which has more interest in stuff that hasn't been seen
distribution in North America, Europe and on Entertainment Tonight. I think there's
Japan, the group - Coat Cooke, saxo- more curiosity there about experimental
phones; Ron Samwor~h, guita_r; Clyde Reed, music and performance art."
Oregon bass; Gregg Simpson, drums/ perCooke arrived in Vancouver from Winnicussion/ sound collages - is looking peg in 1975 and is one of the original memforward to a somewhat rosier future.
bers of the New Orchestra Workshop.
"We did a seven-city cross-Canada tour
" I've played in every type of band this summer," says Cooke.
Latin, R&B, rock, jazz - you've got to
"It was successful - but we played in live, right? By 1979 I was composing in earvenues where 75 to 100 people was a nest - I was tired of hacking out bar
respectable house.
tunes.

"The NOW orchestra, a 17-piece band, gory Corso and Alan Ginsberg at the Italian
-··
gave me a chance to hone my skills, to Cultural Centre. - - ---- -write for a large ensemble. I was approach■ ■ ■
ing other musicians and composers, saying
The mainstream jazz of Roy Reynolds 'don't write stage band stuff - there's lots and friends is back on Thursday afternoon
of that around. We have no money, we - at least for the moment. can't pay you, but here's this interesting
Andiamo Restaurant at Sinclair Centre
instrumentation and here's a chance to has been persuaded to give Thursday jazz
use your imagination.'
a shot, Oct. 5, from 5 to 8 p.m.
"There's all kinds of influences - East
If enough people turn out, there's a good
Indian, African, improvisational, rock, the chance it will become a regular thing.
blues - what we do is some kind of syn■ ■ ■
thesis of all these.
"I call it a 'contemporary urban sound.'
Vocalist Kenny Colman has his way with
And we're not doing it just to be different. I popular jazz standards at Chardonnays
decided that if I was going to do anything with the Cuddles Johnston Quartet, 9 p.m.
with music, it had to say something for Thursday through Saturday.
me, what moves me - and this does."
Trumpeter Bill Clark takes a quartet into
·Lunar Adventures performs tonight at 9 the Soft Rock Cafe Sunday, 7:30-10:30 p.m. ,
at the Glass Slipper, 185 East 11th Avenue and Ross Taggart, Torben Oxbol and Gra(at Main), tickets ($5) at the door, and ham Boyle are at Crickets, Richmond Inn,
again Oct. 6 at a reading by poets Gre- 8:30-11:30 p.m.