Vancouver Jazz Society Spring 1979 Concert Series Dollar Brand Vancouver East Cultural Centre, 1895 Venables Lee Konitz, Martial Solal Western Front, 303 E. 8th Ave. Presented in co-operation with the Western Front Society January 28, 29 8:30 $6 (Memb. $5) February 12 7:30 & 10 $6 (Memb. $5) Belt Carter--------~-------Februar ---18 --~ Queen Elizabeth Playhouse Don Cherry, Charlie Haden Vancouver East Cultural Centre, 1895 Venables Art Ensemble Of Chicago Vancouver East Cultural Centre, 1895 Venables Marion Brown Western Front, 303 E. 8th Ave. Presented in co-operation with the Western Front Society 7:30 & 10 $8 (Memb. $6.50) March 11 8:30 $6 (Memb. $5) April 15, 16 8:30 $6 (Memb. $5) May3 8:30 $6 (Memb. $5) Dollar Brand Solo Betty Carter and Trio Art Ensemble Of Chicago Individually, the Art Ensemble Of Chicago consists of Lester Bowie, Malachi Favors, Joseph Jarman, Roscoe Mitchell, and Don Moye. Five musicians who in 1968 formed an aggregation that is today one of the most forceful homogeneous units on the contemporary music scene. With a stage filled with instruments from bass saxophones to banjos, fender bass to log drums , whistles and gongs to tenors and flutes , The Art Ensemble Of Chicago is as much theatre as it is music, an art exhibit as much as it is a pageant with faces painted in Pianist Dollar Brand (Abdullah Ibrahim) is a South African Moslem for whom the function of music is both a celebration and a prayer. A rich mixture of influences runs through his playing, Ellington, Monk, Taylor mix with mission hall hymns and zikr, the repetition of the holy attributes of Allah . A percussive, repetitive player, he uses rumbling left-hand figures and a lot of pedal to sustain the dense, droning climate. It is almost as if he beats upon the piano to release its inner voicings, proceeding at the tempo of a stately cortege. First brought to public attention by Duke Ellington in I 962, an impressive career followed which has included playing and recording with, among others, Elvin Jones, Gato Barbieri, and Don Cherry. Introduced to local audiences by the Vancouver Jazz Society in 1976, he has become one of our most popular attractions. Lee Konitz Martial Solal Betty Carter is the best jazz singer in the world . A fiercely independent and uncompromising woman with an original, purely jazz-based style and a thrilling voice, she has, over the years, become something of an idol to an ever growing legion of zealous fans. In the three year life of the Jazz Society, she has been our most often requested performer, and we are extremely happy to present her in her first live appearance in Vancouver. Betty made her professional debut in 1946, toured with Lionel Hampton from '48-'51, one of the few real jazz singers in terms of improvisation and feeling, she continued to appear in clubs, concerts, and college dates backed by her own Jrio. Recording offers from major labels \vere turned down as Ms . Carter refused to have her art transformed info corporate "product". She has released two albums on her own label, others on ROULETTE, IMPULSE, and the now classic Ray Charles & Betty Carter album on ABC. She will appear here, in two performances, backed by her own trio, John Hicks (piano), Cameron Brown (bass), and Kenny Washington on drums. Don Cherry Charlie Haden African ceremonial designs, grass skirts and straw hats . After spending two and a half years living and performing all over Europe, recording over ten albums and three film soundtracks, the musical thrust of The Art Ensemble Of Chicago has always been total music, total sound, complete with all the trimmings for a "Great Black Musical" experience. Possessing, individually, a remarkable mastery of their respective instruments, collectively the ensemble produces a startling synergistic effect which is at once "free" and cohesive, drawing on the entire history of Black Music, from Africa to R&B, from binding ostinatos to random coloristic effects from their vast array of exotic percussion. Marion Brown Duo Duo Solo The near-legendary Lee Konitz was scheduled to appear as a soloist as part of our Fall '78 series but was unable to appear due to illness. He is now fully recovered and this has proven fortuitous for us since he will now be appearing with the phenomenal European pianist, Martial Sola! who is in America for a rare concert tour. Martial and Lee were born in the same year, 1927 (the former in Algiers) and their association dates back about ten years . While Lee, having developed the most distinctive approach to the alto after Charlie Parker, reveals no obvious influence, Martial continues to disclose touches which refer to Tatum, Errol Garner, and Bud Powell, subtle and restrained, yet free. Lee's playing in the 70's reflects the further development of an already mature style whose influence is traceable in altoists as diverse as Paul Desmond and Anthony Braxton . Both Don Cherry and Charlie Haden first came to prominence as members of the legendary Ornette Coleman Quartet, one of the pioneers in developing the revolutionary language of free jazz in the early fifties, and have both gone on to establish themselves as major figures on their respective instruments (Cherry on trumpet, Haden on bass). Since the 60's, Cherry has played and recorded with such giants as J oho Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Gato Barbieri, Archie Shepp, and Dollar Br'and and has, more recently, been exploring various ethnic musics, becoming proficient on a variety of flutes and exotic percussion instruments. Since leaving Ornette, Haden has played with many fine musicians, most notably in the Keith Jarrett group for a series of fine IMPULSE recordings . Two recent A&M , recordings are comprised of a series of duets with a number of players, e.g., Cherry, Ornette, Alice Coltrane, Hampton Hawes. The results are magnificent. Born in Georgia in 1935, altoist Marion Brown was a frontline member of the second generation of so-called New Thing players that emerged in the early 60's. His debut album (on ESP) and his recorded work with Archie Shepp and John Coltrane demonstrated a more traditional approach, lyrical and not given to some of the tonal distortions and extremes of the period, than that adopted by many of his colleagues. A continually developing artist, Brown, in recent years, has been exploring such instruments as the Japanese shakuhachi, bamboo flutes, the Ghanian antenteban. He spent part of the latter 60's in Europe playing and recording with Gunter Hampel, Barre Phillips, Han Bennink, etc., and in the early 70's returned to the South where he further absorbed the basic afro-american elements that are the foundation of his music. ••························································································· The Vancouver Jazz Society is a non-profit society whose aims are to promote the appreciation , understanding , and above all , the of contemporary improvised music . Since 1975 we have presented , in concerts and workshops, many of the leading figures ••• experience in the jazz idiom, with the accent on the newer forms and directions of jazz music . •• •• • '•• • To continue we depend upon the efforts and support of those who share our desire to nurture the growth of creative music in our community. If you value music that is stimulating and challenging, then enstire its future in Vancouver by becoming a member of the Vancouver Jazz Society, by making whatever {tax-deductible) donation you can afford, and , most important, by attending concerts regularly. Your ten dollar membership fee entitles you to receive notice of events, the V.J.S. Newsletter , and reduced admission costs to concerts for one ear.