+
Jazz fest ends
with uppe·d
attendance
AS OF Monday (June 29), attendance figures
for the seventh annual du Maurier International Jazz Festival were being pegged at an
estimated-and record-breaking-150,000, up
from last year's 135,000. You'd think these figures would bring a smile to the face of Coastal
Jazz and Blues Society marketing director John
Orysik, and you'd be right, but, says the cherubic promo man, "The wonderful thing about
this festival is that it's constantly keeping you off
balance." You'd also think that after a week
and a half of nearly 24-hour-a-day jazz, the
CJBS crew would have had enough music for
the summer, but no: after a week of juggling
the books and tying up loose ends, the team
goes off to soak in more sounds at the Montreal
jazz fest ...JAZZ HISTORY was laid out on key-

boards all week at the Vancouver East Cultural
Centre, but no one covered as much ground as
pianist Sir Roland Hanna. Performing with
master bassist Richard Davis on Thursday (June
25), Hanna displayed an effortlessly rhapsodic
command of his instrument, moving from
Debussy-like ballads to breakneck Charlie Parker
standards to Billy Strayhorn's sublime "Isfahan".
Davis, for his part, produced meaty plucked
sounds, and alternately cello-like and unearthly
bowed tones. Most importantly, the two veterans maintained constant, playful contact with
each other and the enraptured audience. Expect
to see the pair return soon: Davis and his nineyear-old daughter, Persia, were so smitten with
B.C. they rented a mobile home to investigate
our environs ... THE SILLIEST SHOW in a sunny ,
week of lunchtime Granville Island concerts was
a Wednesday (June 24) visit from the
Angstones, an Ottawa quintet dedicated to
Slavic wedding songs, Gypsy jazz, hillbilly
Klezmer, and mutant funk. The band's name
might suggest Edvard Munch, but its visual
presence was actually much closer to R. Crumb,
with every member wearing fezzes or other
ecc.entnc. headgear. Reedman Peter Kiesewalter and guitarist Kurt Walther did most of the
singing, with the latter notable for his pseudoYiddish "Kommen Een Der Karz". This is also
the title of the band's new album, which Kiesewalter says was sponsored by government
grants and a Pittsburgh Penguins hockey star
they happened to meet while playing at the
wedding of the athlete's sister-in Czechoslovakia !. .. VANCOUVERITES have come to love
Katie Webster's swampy brand of rhythm 'n'
swing. But not many, it seems, anticipated that
Webster's Thursday (June 25) thunder at the
Commodore would be stolen by gospel singer
Marion Williams. Williams' power-packed
readings of traditional gospel material clearly
stunned the crowd, thanks to the singer's sheer,
good-natured authority and uplifting voice. By
the end of her set, ordinarily secular music fans
were weepily rushing the stage to shake the
singer's hands and touch the hem of her garment...HARRY CONNICK. JR, may not be a
true jazz hero, but his band sure ain't from
slouchville, as several of its members proved at
the Alma Street Cafe. After earlier gigs at the
Orpheum, about half a dozen of Connick's sidemen visited with the Joshua Breakstone Trio
on Friday (June 26), and even more showed up
the next night to play tag-team with Ross Taggart's quartet. The doubly talented pianist/saxophonist's rhythm section was gradually replaced
by Connick's, with Russ Malone outstanding
on guitar. The amazing brass section of Brad
Lealy, Ned Gould, and Jerry Weldon locked
horns on fierce bop, blues, and a sweeping ballad medley until the wee hours came, as the
lanky Taggart, all weary and beneficent smiles,
looked on ... VANCOUVER JAZ.Z is nothing if
not incestuous, with many local players flitting
between as many as five different bands. Saxophonist/composer Coat Cooke's Evolution is
mostly made up of bandleaders, with trumpeter
John Korsrud, guitarist Ron Samworth, and
the sax/drum team of Daniei Kane and Stan
Taylor all having their own gigs elsewhere in
the fest. Pianist Kathy Kidd didn't show up for
the Evolution's Saturday (June 27) gig at the
sun-drenched Plaza of Nations, but with three
horns, two guitars, and a dynamic rhythm section, there wasn't much missing from the
band's aggressively harmolodic funk. Opening
with its harshest, most extra-terrestrial material,
the Evolution got everyone's attention, then
- proceeded to•get more listener-friendly with
increasingly beat-oriented material. ■

THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT • JULY 3-10, 1992 2 7

-----------@11111+1-------------

Patience and Planning Pay OIi
Hard-working Roots Roundup happy with What We Do

A

BY COLIN SMITH

sk working musicians about
their careers "in the biz" and
you're likely to hear complaints. The critics ignore us.
Club owners and booking
agents abuse us. The record
labels have no interest in art. The
music shop won't lease us equipment,
we can't pay the rent on our rehearsal
space (again), and the van needs a
tune-up but deserves a death certificate. Why then, if so few artists survive this torturous existence, are so
many others willing to try? Well, it
sure beats working for a living, right?
It's just that kind of cynical, shortsighted attitude that drives guitarist
Greg Hathaway to pull out his hair in

frustration. Limitless patience and
tireless planning have formed the
foundation upon which hrs band,
Roots Roundup, has built its impressive reputation.
In 1986, Hathaway, drummer Barry
Taylor, and singer Oym E. Tree formed
what was to become one of the hardestworking bands in Vancouver, if not the
country. Today, Roots Roundup
includes bass player Keith Rose, guitarist Mark Campbell, and keyboardist
Ford Pier, all of whom also sing lead
and background vocals. And although
in the course of its 150 performances
per year-including an upcoming
Commodore Ballroom performance on
Friday Ouly 10)-this outfit has experienced all the troublesome circumstances that normally accompany a
less-than-meteoric rise to stardom, its
members remain wholeheartedly committed to their craft.
Why, after six years of personnel
changes, cross-country tours, and independent releases, is Roots Roundup
still in the game? Simply because the
band loves to play. Its special blend of
ska, reggae, folk, funk, and punk i;ock
has earned it thousands of fans and the
respect of its peers. Like Toronto's
Rheostatics, Edmonton's Jr. Gone
Wild, and a few other veterans, Roots

With its first CD, What We Do, in the stores and selling respectably, Roots Roundup casts its sights towards conquering
the U.S. and Europe. Even the loss of co-founder and trombonist Dym E. Tree hasn't stalled the band's momentum.

Roundup remains a fine example of a ourselves, it takes a lot of time and
uniquely Canadian approach to alter- energy to put out a record we can all
native rock. But the success the band be proud of. No sooner than do we get
has earned has not come without a few off the road, then there's more bills to
pay, like studio payments, equipment
set-backs.
This spring, frontman Dym E. Tree purchases, and booking agent's fees.
left Roots Roundup just prior to the We don't lose money on the road, but
release of its debut CD, What We Do, we sure do spend it. On this last tour,
and another six-week national tour. we probably grossed $20,000 and spent
The popular singer and trombone play- $15,000 of that by the time we got
er's surprise departure (due to personal back home. But that's the cost of runreasons) may upset some fans, but ning this show. We're not complainHathaway states unequivocally that ing. It's what we 1o, right?"
1992 signals the start of a fresh, excitWhat We Do was recorded at Profile
ing period for the band. Speaking from Studios with producer Cecil English
a sunny front porch in East Vancouver '(NoMeansNo, OOA) and released on
recently, Hathaway reveals the source the band's own Groundup label. In
of Roots Roundup's eternal optimism.
keeping with the Roots Roundup tra"We had to tour western Canada dition of employing local artists and
four times just to raise the money nec- . photographers whenever possible, the
essary to put out this album, which album sports a magnificent cover by
was actually recorded last August," the painter Thomas Anfield . The 14
dishevelled songwriter says with a note tracks on the album include a dozen
of pride. "Because we do everything original songs, an indescribably insane

cover of Chuck Berry's "Maybelline",
and a hallucinogenic barnyard romp
called "The Chicken Strut" that really manages to capture the raw energy
of Roots Roundup's live shows.
"We are all really happy with it
because it's an honest representation of
the band but, at the same time, we'd
like to get back into the studio right
away," says Hathaway with furrowed
brow. "We'd like to do some recording
this summer and maybe release a live
album early next spring."
Perhaps some of that future project's
tracks will be recorded overseas. After
all those endless months spent driving
from coast to coast, Hathaway figures
it is now high time for his outfit to
head to Europe. But local Roots fans
need not worry: that trip will require
the outlay of considerable cash, so the
band will surely continue to play
shows throughout the province this
summer.■

Ladies, Spirit Charm Glastonbury Crowds
BY MICHELLE SMITH

G

LASTONBURY, EnglandHigh on a hill, in a meadow
overlooking the greenery of the
Somerset countryside, a dragon
is in labour. Built of aluminum sheets,
she stretches 15 metres from tail to
snout. Steam pours forth from steel air
holes in her back as the "baby"-,--a
mud kiln with a clay model of a baby
dragon inside-is fired and steamed.
Surrounded by a ring of fire, she looks
down on a sea of coloured tents
stretching for two miles as the sound
of drums, guitars, and cheering crowds
permeates the hazy midsummer dusk.
The site is known as the Field of
Avalon, and once housed a Neolithic
stone circle. Today it is host to the
Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary
Performing Arts, the highlight of
Britain's extensive music festival season. What started out in 1970 as 2,000
hippies and their kids listening to Marc
Bolan has exploded into upwards of
80,000 ravers, travellers, punks, and
everyday folk enjoying three days and
nights-Friday to Sunday (June 26 to
28)--of everything from rock bands to
circus perform.::rs, poets, and alterna-

tive technology exhibits.
"The look of the people here is
amazing," said Spirit of the West's John
Mann. The Vancouver band played a
60-minute set on Sunday afternoon to
an enthusiastic crowd-some already
familiar with the group through its
1990 tour with Britain's Wonder Stuff.
"It's this whole subculture ... Everyone is
so laid back and accepting."
"Laid back" could be Glastonbury's
catch-phrase. But the festival does
have a purpose beyond bringing
together thousands of people to
dance all night or chant with the
Hare Krishnas. Organizers hoped to
raise £150,000 ($300,000).for Gteenpeace, mostly from a percentage of
ticket sales. At £49 a shot, the soldout festival shouldn't have a problem.
Still, this year's Glastonbury event
was a bit of a risk for Michael Eavis,
the farmer who has staged the gathering for 20 years. It was cancelled last
year because local residents complained of the noise, the litter, and
the thousands of "travellers" who
have, in the past, made Eavis's fields
their post-festival campground.
This year, though, the low-key
presence of the police helped affairs
run smoothly . Smiling men and

women in bobbies' hats mixed amiably with festival-goers, seemingly
oblivious to the cries of "Hash fudge!
Get your hash fudge here!"
One aspect of festival policing was
left to headliner Billy Bragg, who
encouraged revellers to pick up their
empty beer cans and be wary of anyone standing on a soapbox. He also
had harsh words for one of Canada's
biggest cultural exports.
"People have asked me if I wanted
to leave the country after the Tories
got re-elected," said the "big-nosed
bard of Barking". "I'd rather have left
when Bryan Adams was number one
on the charts for 16 weeks."
While Adams wasn't on the bill for
Gl astonbury, Ontario's Barenaked
Ladies were.
"I just got here today, but it's wild!"
exclaimed the Ladies' Steven Page. "I
never imagined anything this big!"
Wild is a good word to describe the
reaction the Barenaked Ladies got
from a tired, hot, and unsuspecting
Glas ton bury crowd. Fans leapt,
screaming, to their feet for "If I H ad
A Million Dollars", and yelled even
louder for an encore.
"I didn't know anything about this
band," said one British listener, New-

castle's Rob Borthwick, "but they
were bloody fantastic. At the end of
the show, everyone had huge smiles
on their faces."
"It's really nice to play for an audience who have come to listen to
music just for the hell of it," confirmed Page.
Perhaps the Barenaked Ladies succeeded because their eclectic sound
reflects the Glastonbury ethos. The
festival's bookings-everything from
Tom Jones to Lou Reed-are presented on four main stages and dozens of
smaller venues; culinary diversions
range from tofu delight to greasy
chips and beans; and, of course,
there's the dragon kiln.
The weariness of three days of sense
bombardment brought hundreds to
"chill out" at the Dragon Mother's
birthing site, and the dragon baby was
hatched. The four-foot sculpture was
brought from the kiln with an air of
ritual-appropriate enough, as this
artistic undertaking was intended to
symbolize the fire of the universe and
the rebirth of the earth.
"The epitome of Glastonbury?"
said Mark, one of the dragon's three
creators. "Yeah, everyone is totally
bonkers!"■

28 THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT• JULY 3-10, 1992
O • ~ ~ c ~ ~ ~ ~ • O ,
0
0

0

Don't be Afraid,

0

It's only Country Music!

jCountry
J

July 7 - 11

PONTIAX

July 2, 3, 4
from Chicago

CLUB

LUTHER GUITAR
JR. JOHNSON

Live and Kicking Country Bands Tues. - Sat.

July6

July 13

One Night Only/

JOHNNY
CLYDE
COPELAND

OLIVER & THE
ELEMENTS

THE WES
D'S
LIVE JAZZ PIANO & BL
THIS WEEK
MON -THURS 8 - 12 PM
JULY 6 - 9

featuring

NEXT WEEK
JULY 13 - 16

BOBBI
LEE

RICHARD
STEPP

EVERY WEDNESDAY NIGHT
LADIES NIGHT featuring

FRIDAY JAZZ
JULY 3&10 • 5:30 - 9:30 PM

WILLIAM S. TAYLOR
TRIO+ ONE

THE BOVZ OF SUMMER
Doors 7pm • Showtime 8pm

Don't miss the return of

~~~

[
~l
~TAAL~

~
VVEDNESDAV

THE STONE

JULY 15

Tickets $5 at the door
Doors 7pm • Showtime 8pm

~ There is no substitute ~
GREAT FOOD
GREAT WEEKDAY
SPECIALS
GREAT CASUAL FUN

HAIR & SKIN TREATMENT CENTRE INC.

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Gastown

687-4322