THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT • FEBRUARY 3-10, 1995 · ••••••• fr?./-:•Gr.oss-Gountry._ -~gllaboration_ :·• - :;:t.'Qu~bec's Rene Lussier brings ·new ide'as'to NOW band . .. . . . . ' . .:•···:c,, M·,~to::t tR\,onnRSeanmewLoussnh• . 1e'eansnamd . :hee as Fred Frith and Hans Reichel---'-' ·,,,·ensemble's tendency to play what he Lussier has won international acclaim. ; describds ·.is·~very, ah, maelstTom kind .; laughs. Samwonh is ·direc- But his chosen form of mllSiC, which '; ,of things'! is something he hopes to · tor of the New Orchestra he calls "musique actuelle", remains .rein in, and he jokes about the "tenor : . . . . W~rkshop musicians' col- underappreciated both in Quebec.and :-madness" aspect ofNOW's admitted·Jeci:ive, which next week brings in Canada at large.His two Glass.Slip- ,.; ly iriipressivesaiophone .section.· : ~Luss~~i_l!Ild his.frequent playing pan- . per concerts-with Tanguay, pianist • "I need:,t,(:) _~e~ rr,i()re.,1:f ~1(instru:- ~: . :;iii!~t perciissfonist Pierre Tanguay, to P.aul Plimley, ._and saxophonist Co~t ""· me[l.ts," ht: explaiJ¥ __"ere. are some ; ; ty_;iil.ceitJVerfur .two concerts as pan ()f Cooke on-Thursday (Febrµaryl6) and i;:;fns.trumen~~fu'tj'ier . ~ke·ccello and .., 4 ~ ~ &1 Heat IfNOW music fosti- with, the NOW Orchestra on Frid~y .·. voice, t_h ~(arf y:ery; \~ery _differ,e nt ; U:ItVi.rui ~~:One of those perfor- . (Feb~ry .17~ould help to chiing~ ".faspects ofd1f ~us~c~:ma5,1 would like ',\ - :.· '1· _ :'.. " ,.:._ .~·: , . ·,,.~·,.· ~ :_. _.·.:··. ·o·.··.'. , :.,···_._ ·. " · '. ' ,l. :.·-,_ •·:..,:__ ·.- e"'.· .· ·',·.:,·.·. · • "hybrid tha~:~::::~:~:,~;;:~;~t; ;~·s:~:i.r;;i~rRti:t~:; blend". "It's a courant~a cur-r- · -There a¥ceftii.inly:'~ gto be t~~ some ~- i.~ ,.•.-,.~.•. ,:.·.1· · ..... _• .·.c.·.:. __ :·.,.:•. B· •. . .,.. rend-that's borrowipg in a lot of periods wh~re'tnerfare going to be . avenues, Hke free music, rock music ...a .very delicate 'thirtgs;"Hrtle enSC!mbles. " lot of music,"· he explains from his· ' · It won't be like a 15~piece song that ~. - · --- · - - -- - -· - · • - ·-- · - .Montreal home, spealcing in occasion- · lasts for art hour. It's going to benfure . mances f~~e ari ~xtend~d ·work ·. ally fractured English. Essentially, it's a · : like sketches. Therc?s a piece for' two that Lussier has scored for the NOW pC>~tm<;>ci~r,i::i._isr° f~r~, drawing fr!!elx ~ms_ aJ}d_piar10.,.1Ji,e.r~'.s gq~~ -~ a "" /.• ffll;J!f4l~lt]ij~tjl1 '~ill rTu~iii~!Ei :~tfm~,1~•r•1 ;::.;"~'"=.1.::s;.::{bt, J:: ,·ti~1t~t~~i;~~rtf~,rtr 0 , ,.. . iSarrt"wonh:1 says; ."and, jusi: 'out'~f the : '.its key tools. But it's also an idiom . e·cti v~?e'°ctioti.s,~ . or~NiJce·j:' ·.• ~.bJ ue, J1e:,~0)9: :µi.e , tl:ill~ ~a yb~~-~-e. ~ ~ '"'n,ew ~3--?.,~h..~::,_~nd. ~~ri~~e·!o()S O •• , , ~~ll:~~~~~~~~f ~~~:~tit~~ enough :. ,i:o_allow, 1fa practitione·rs:;;;;:Tu.it,'as,ydti n6t1ce:l~~1.lmo\\'. ~ct.• 'i ~~·jtu~~ .;• 00 ;·idea of using a government-issued . The local ensemble's ~usic is grourult tdJ?_~;dis.misseqt 11.nd •the mu.s it •· · code to suggest a melodic sequence ed in contemporary jazz, but, iru:lividu:~tsh~iild always' remain ~exible eno\igh . had never occurred to him. ally, the fousiciaru are experienced in -'.:!' that·it bm adapt ·to th:i! panic# of ·. · For Lussier, though, s·µch sociomu- rock, funk, Latin, and varjous classical c' .any glveri situation'.>,. . .;; ,,:;.,.-:,; ,:; . :sical puns are second nature. After . forms. Lussier) scor~ shoi.il.dillow the '. · "In improvised,projeci:s su~has · all, he and multi-instrumentalist Jean group to present more diversity and -: -this, it.'s ·always more difficult to work Derome, performing as Les Granules, musical colour than ever before. . . .. with a band that is· already in exis~ · cowrote on~ of the comic classics of "What I would really like to tence/ Lussier says. !'When you do a the Canadian avant-garde in their would be to put everybody's strengths •~ workshop and people come from all "Avez-vous cravaille?", which puts a . up front instead.of just having col 0 , · over the place, everybody's an-indi- · . dadaist spin on the dry prose of the lective thing,".,he says. "At the end; •. viclual, so everybody's even. When , unemployment-insurance repon card. the project's going to be collective,'••. you arrive ·wii:h :a group that 11,as. A larger and more serious project, the because it',s going to be' a ·suite .o f \ . akeady been working for years, there's ' 1 CD Le Tresor de la langue, used events-a table~u, would you say?7 :':: going to be a hierarchical thing transcriptions 9(the rhythmic and but I hope that everybody's going tci ' there.,:;_the_good improvisers o.r 'i:he melodic.cadences of rural Quebecois ·find his place there, to give the ·tnost '> good readers~: And I would,Jike·to speech as its source material and is beautiful thing he can give." ·· · ' . avoid ·t his direction, even. if l ask one of the most intensely focused Lussier says that although he has ; .· questions about who\a -good reader musical explorations of regional cul- been impressed by some of NOW's .. or whatever.- . . . · ture this country has produced. recordings/ especially the group's ·"Maybe the thing to do is to niake For works such as these-and also recent collaboration with British · improvise •the goodireaders and to for his ongoing performances with bassist and composer,Barry Guy, make read the goo,Umprovisers," he English and European improvisers such Study: Witch Gong Game 11/19~ the .· jokes. ''.There's no rules."■ a . .,