F ESTIV AL R EPOR T

Copenhagen Jazz Fest

by Mathieu Bélanger

by Laurence Donohue-Greene

by Andrey Henkin

Photo by Chris Cameron

Photo by Andrey Henkin

Vancouver Jazz Fest

Photograph by Herb Greenslade

Suoni Per Il Popolo

Evan Parker & Gerd Dudek

2010 marked the tenth anniversary of the Suoni Per
Il Popolo Festival. How time flies! In those ten years,
the Suoni, as it is often referred to by regulars,
established itself as one of the most important and
interesting events when it comes to improvised and
other forms of experimental music in Montreal, but
also in Quebec. Actually, one can’t help but to
speculate whether there is a correlation between the
always decreasing room giving to more experimental
forms of jazz at the Montreal Jazz Festival - as clearly
exemplified by the total disappearance of the
Contemporary Jazz series - and the maturing of the
Suoni Per Il Popolo.
This tenth edition was characterized by one major
change in that it was shorter than previous editions,
which ran for the whole month of June. Indeed, this
year it lasted a ‘mere’ 18 days, that is from Jun. 6th23rd. In retrospect, this decision seems wise even
though it meant fewer concerts could be presented.
The Suoni Per Il Popolo felt more like a festival than
just a month with a higher-than-usual concentration of
improvised and experimental music.
As in previous years, most of the program was
divided into series. There were two in 2010. The first,
called “Imagine the sound”, was dedicated to jazz. It
featured, among others, the trio of Kidd Jordan,
William Parker and Hamid Drake, the first visit to
Montreal of Ken Vandermark’s Frame Quartet and the
return of the long-running Vandermark 5.
Still, the highlight of the series was a three-night
stand by none other than the Globe Unity Orchestra.
The first and third nights featured various subgroups.
One of those was a trio of pianist and orchestrafounder Alexander von Schlippenbach, bass clarinetist
Rudi Mahall and drummer Paul Lytton. Unexpectedly,
but not surprisingly considering Schlippenbach’s wellknown interest for Monk’s music and his involvement,
alongside Mahall, in the Monk’s Casino project, many of
the jazz legend’s pieces were quoted throughout the
two sets they performed.
The Globe Unity Orchestra itself performed two
sets on the second night of its sojourn. Their
performance lived up to expectations in that the
musicians’ playing sustained a high level of intensity
and energy, not to mention their loudness, without
becoming monotonous or linear. Crucial in this was
the orchestra’s ability to create parallel events by
forming subgroups on the spot and thus infuse
richness into the music by varying its organization. To
give a simple example, the trombones and trumpets
would often blow some chords in the background of a
soloist. This prevented the music falling into the
simplicity of a blowing competition over a frenetic
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Han Bennink

Stefan Pasborg & Alex Riel

Remnants of this year’s Winter Olympics were It’s hard to say what is more remarkable, coming to
nowhere in sight in this former host city, trekking to
and from the Vancouver International Jazz Festival’s
(VIJF) 40 stages Jun. 25th-Jul. 4th. In place of the sinceremoved Olympic banners, festival signage was
strategically placed and from the first day the focus
was firmly directed back onto the Canadian city, not
only for its local talent (eg, clarinetist François Houle,
cellist Peggy Lee, guitarist Tony Wilson, pianist Paul
Plimley, drummer Dylan van der Schyff, etc.), but also
the word “International” in the festival name. Global
bookings ranged from Denmark (Ibrahim Electric),
England (Evan Parker), Finland (Mikko Innanen),
Norway (Nils Petter Molvaer), Poland (Tomasz
Stanko) and Switzerland (Lucas Niggli) to America
(Chick Corea), Germany and Holland.
As for the Germans and Dutch, they not only came
close to confrontation in what would have been a
highly anticipated South Africa World Cup final but
also were passing ships in the night at VIJF’s silver
anniversary. While the first three days focused on
members of (mostly) Germany’s historic Globe Unity
Orchestra (GUO) in both small group configurations
and the ensemble’s eagerly awaited concert, the
second-week showcased Dutch improvisers, including
ICP Orchestra drummer Han Bennink.
Exemplary GUO microcosms included Johannes
Bauer and Christof Thewes (trombones), Henrik
Walsdorff (alto sax), Jean-Luc Cappozzo (trumpet) and
Paul Lytton (drums) at Granville Island’s Performance
Works. Resembling a New Orleans-style ensemble,
their rampant collective improvising quickly turned
around any such misconceived notions. There were
also unique GUO pairings with Vancouverites. Tenor
saxist Parker and Paul Lovens (drums) met German,
though Vancouver, resident bassist Torsten Müller for
a set-long improvisation that came in waves. At CBC’s
Studio 700, it was a rare opportunity to hear reedman
and original GUO member Gerd Dudek helming a onetime quartet; another one-off featured Rudi Mahall
(bass clarinet) and Axel Dörner (trumpet) with
Vancouverites Müller and van der Schyff.
At Performance Works, GUO leader Alexander
von Schlippenbach’s remarkable duo with bassist
Barry Guy included a 35+ minute improvisation, the
pianist reaching inside his instrument to pluck strings,
matching the tone of his partner. Guy, a longtime
Swiss resident, was featured at length the first week. In
a concert of solos and duos, he and baroque violinist
Maya Homburger navigated an intriguing crossroads
between contemporary classical and free improvising.
The day after, the two played with Houle, a trio with
orchestral potential. VIJF’s most ambitious project was

Copenhagen in the middle of the 32nd edition of its
jazz festival (Jul. 2nd-11th): that you’ve already missed
over 500 concerts or that there are still 600 more. And
all this in a lovely Scandinavian city easily traversed
by foot along the world’s longest pedestrian mall, on
one of the many free city bicycles or a timely subway
and bus system that would give any New Yorker
pause. The furthest venues are a paltry seven miles
apart but most are clustered in a two-square mile area,
good for on-the-go sightseeing and filling up from the
countless Pølsevogn, or sausage wagons.
The Copenhagen Jazz Festival is unparalleled in
the world for the breadth of its programming. A visitor
has so many options the 10 days can seem like festivals
within festivals. There is the official t-shirt option: a
gaggle of concerts by touring American musicians like
Joshua Redman, Kenny Barron, Joe Lovano, David
Sanborn, Jason Moran, Herbie Hancock, Bill Frisell and
others. Or you can spend your days at the numerous
free outdoor concerts at many of the charming squares
littering the metropolis. It’s even possible to spend
days reliving the beginning of the last century by only
seeing Dixieland. The options are so many that this
Danish capital challenges New York for jazz
supremacy, at least for a week and a half.
One of the more compelling routes a visitor can
take is to focus their attentions on the indigenous
musician population. There are few non-US cities more
closely associated with jazz in all its forms than
Copenhagen, whether it be local players like late
bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen or saxophonist
John Tchicai with great international careers or the
many Americans, Dexter Gordon and Ben Webster
most notably, that called the city home. But more
recently, there has been a groundswell of exciting
younger players operating out of the city. It is to the
credit of the Copenhagen Jazz Festival that it features
these “unge løver” in dozens of concerts throughout
the festival.
Your correspondent chose this latter option,
making his way through a warmer-than-usual
European summer to hear some of these compelling
Danes. Saxophonist Lotte Anker was featured in an
expansive trio with American pianist Marilyn Crispell
and French bassist Joëlle Léandre at Statens Museum
for Kunst. Their 50-minute free-improvised set was
most interesting during the pieces when all three
began simultaneously and had equal discussions.
Electric bassist Peter Friis Nielsen, most known to
American listeners from his work with saxist Peter
Brötzmann, brought his frenetic style to a trio with
younger saxist and drummer Lars Greve and Håkon

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ALLABOUTJAZZ-NEW YORK | August 2010 13

(SUONI CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13)
pace set by Schlippenbach and drummers Paul Lovens
and Paul Lytton, a danger that felt very real by the end
of the first set.
The second series was titled “A little noise in the
system” and was dedicated to electronic music
understood in rather broad sense. One concert that
particularly stood out was that of Mecha Fixes Clock, a
project of electronic chamber music lead by drummer
Michel F Côté. This time, Côté was joined by Bernard
Falaise (guitar), Jesse Zubot (violin), Jean René (viola),
Philippe Lauzier (bass clarinet) and Martin Tétreault
(turntable). In comparison to the first incarnation of
the project, the sound signature of the ensemble felt
closer to standard improvised music than the aimed-at
electronic chamber music. Still, the ensemble was
animated by a great concern to create very cohesive
organized and at times rather melodic improvisations,
which is perhaps where the chamber music sensitivity
was to be found.
Also deserving a mention are the two evenings of
film and music presented under the name “What’s Up
Vienna, What’s Up Montreal”. While not all sets were
equally convincing, those of NTSC - the duo consisting
of dieb13 on turntables and Billy Roisz on feedback
video - and Radian certainly were and have to be
included in the highlights of this year’s edition. In the
case of NTSC, more than a complementarity, there was
a real unity at work between the sound and video. As
to Radian, despite a certain aridity, the trio’s music has
an impressive ability to lift up a room.
Outside of these series, Montreal-based string
quartet Quatuor Bozzini paired with French pianist
Benoît Delbecq for a concert where musical decisions
were essentially made through improvisation. The first
set consisted of one continuous piece made up of five
versions of John Cage’s “Variations III” linked one to
the other by improvised sections. As one can guess,
and perhaps as intended, it quickly became very hard
to distinguish improvised from randomized events. As
to the second set, it was entirely improvised. The result
was quiet and dry, yet very nice music characterized
by slow tempi and subtle dynamics.
Overall, this tenth edition of the Suoni Per Il
Popolo Festival was a good one. Moreover, concerts,
especially those part of the so-called jazz series, were
warmly welcomed by enthusiastic and large crowds.
Indeed, any claustrophobic and ochlophobic person
certainly would wish they had avoided the Casa del
Popolo on the evenings the Frame Quartet or the
subgroups of the Globe Unity Orchestra performed.
Actually, those evenings recalled the crowded and
sweaty atmosphere of the un-airconditioned Casa del
Popolo of 2001! K
For more information, visit casadelpopolo.com

(VANCOUVER CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13)
“Fixed, Fragmented & Fluid”, a collaboration by the
bassist with Quebecois animator Michel Gagné at The
Roundhouse. Basically improvised animation in real
time with an allstar ensemble - Peter Evans (trumpet),
Parker, Homburger, Lee, Plimley and Niggli - the
images, however, frequently were secondary to the
music.
Marking the beginning of the final week, the
Dutch arrived. Perhaps Holland’s most celebrated
jazzman, the 68-year old drummer Han Bennink was
also responsible for this year’s catchy program and
poster design. At Iron Works, he rekindled his
association with Plimley alongside the nearly
inaudible bassist Wilbert de Joode. The pianist tried
his best to match wits, but ultimately was
overpowered by his partner’s unrelenting, ferociously

swinging drums. At Studio 700 there was more headto-head combat, this time with reedman Frank
Gratkowski caught in the crossfire. Another DutchVancouverite ensemble featured Bennink and de Joode
flanked by Houle and local guitarist/oudist Gordon
Grdina. The drummer broke out his bag of tricks rapid rolls on his muffled, toweled snare; drum stick in
mouth as if a Jew’s harp; cross-handed syncopation
and leg-up-on-drumhead. Of other Dutchmen,
trumpeter Eric Boeren and clarinetist/altoist Michael
Moore played in various contexts, also together with
de Joode and Bennink (on snare drum only!)
performing music of and inspired by Ornette Coleman.
In the city’s southwest section, Kitsalano, The
Cellar - Vancouver’s primary jazz club - offered soldout
nights
of
straightahead
jazz.
Recent
septuagenarian, scatter extraordinaire Nancy King
turned out a fantastic night of originals and standards.
So did Swing-based tenor saxophonist Scott Hamilton
with veteran Vancouver guitarist Oliver Gannon’s
quartet and guest Cory Weeds (the impressive
tenorman is also the club’s proprietor) in a jam sessionlike atmosphere.
Free outdoor concerts were plentiful. On Jul. 1st,
Canada Day celebrations filled streets, parks and
waterfronts with the country’s red and white national
colors. 15 bands on 5 different stages graced Granville
Island from noon up until ‘round midnight. Over a
dozen acts performed on the first weekend’s afternoon
Gastown street concerts, most memorably a Jimi
Hendrix project curiously, but successfully, performed
by Swiss-American vocal acrobat Erika Stucky, IrishSwiss guitarist Christy Doran, Swiss drummer Fredy
Studer and American electric bassist Jamaaladeen
Tacuma. And VIJF’s penultimate day at The
Roundhouse served as a fest within the fest,
workshops and performances filling several stages
under the same roof. K
For more information, visit coastaljazz.ca

(COPENHAGEN CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13)
Berre for an enthusiastic reading of the free jazz sax
trio tradition at the since-closed record shop Jazz
Kælderen.
The aforementioned Ørsted Pedersen was fêted at
a trio of concerts at the just-reopened Jazzhus
Montmartre, Copenhagen’s (and perhaps Europe’s)
most famous jazz club. The bassist was part of the
house rhythm section for players like Gordon and Stan
Getz and was remembered by several of his
countrymen: pianist Ole Kock Hansen, bassists Jesper
Lundgaard, Mads Vinding and Bo Stief, drummer Alex
Riel, vocalist Bobo Moreno and saxist Frederik Lundin.
At some of these shows, there was confusion on the
part of your correspondent as to what exactly was the
connection between NHØP and the music played (the
apparently hilarious stage banter was all in Danish)
but there was no misunderstanding with a wonderful
duo set between Lundgaard and Vinding on a number
of standards and originals by two Oscars, Pettiford
and Peterson, NHØP’s longtime boss.
Tchicai is still active and vibrant, perhaps
sounding better each time one hears him. Of his
several appearances, he performed one night at Husets
Café as a guest of the Dødens Garderobe piano trio,
freebop loving frosted by Tchicai’s keening tone, a
delicious example of young inspiring old and vice
versa. Back at the Statens Museum for Kunst, Tchicai
appeared with his quartet of cornetist/pianist Jonas
Müller, bassist Nikolaj Munch-Hansen and drummer
Kresten Osgood for a set of moody originals by
members of the band, highlighted by a fervent
saxophone-drum duo that hopefully didn’t damage
any artwork.

38 August 2010 | ALLABOUTJAZZ-NEW YORK

Speaking of Osgood, Denmark cannot possibly
have a better ambassador for its jazz scene than the
drummer. Playing everywhere throughout the festival
(and bringing his kit with him!) Osgood could be seen
in every context imaginable: avant garde blowout
(quartet with altoist Jesper Zeuthen, pianist Søren
Kjærgaard and bassist Munch-Hansen or Andratx, a
pan-Nordic trio with saxist Jonas Kullhammar and
bassist Ole Morten Vågan); party band (his own Hvad
er Klokken, featuring guests such as Loren Stillman
and Nils Wogram); modern jazz exposition (a reunion
concert of sorts for the group Babop with reedman
Benjamin Koppel, saxist Jesper Løvdal, bassist
Thommy Andersson and guest pianist Uri Caine);
performance art (Zick Hitti Zopp with homemade
instrumentalist Zlatko Buric) or trad-jazz workout
(bassist Hugo Rasmussen Allstarz with pianist Heine
Hansen, saxist Jacob Dinesen, bassist Mads Hyhne
and cornetist Kasper Tranberg).
There was obviously plenty more but two shows
in particular need highlighting on their own. The trio
of saxist Evan Parker, trumpeter Nate Wooley and
drummer Chris Corsano, birthed in New York last
October at The Stone, played only their second concert,
at Råhuset. This reviewer attended the first but was
perhaps more taken with the second, a wonderfully
cohesive hour-long exploration. And at Borups
Højskole, the long lineage of Danish drumming was on
display with Alex Riel performing alongside the organ
trio Ibrahim Electric, led by drummer Stefan Pasborg.
The 20-minute duo between drummers to start the
concert and the subsequent pyschedelia made the
whole show feel more like ‘60s San Francisco than
modern-day Copenhagen. K
For more information, visit jazz.dk