A NEW CURATION SERIES
The vision for VIM House is to showcase the incredible diversity and wealth of music in Vancouver, as well as to host performers from around the world; to create a place where musicians and artists from different genres and cultures will meet one another, exchange ideas and experiences and develop new musical collaborations.
The New Curation Series will provide the first exciting glimpse at one of the many facets of the future artistic vision for VIM House. Curated by Cole Schmidt (NoSchMo) in cooperation with Rainbow Robert (Coastal Jazz), this series includes some of the most inspiring members of the jazz and creative music scenes in Vancouver: Tommy Babin, Sick Boss with Debra-Jean Creelman, Braveheart, and Waxwing. The series will open with one of the most genre defying new experimental groups from New York: Battle Trance.
This important curatorial collaboration combines the forces of Cole Schmidt, a community presenter whose work has made a massive contribution to the ecology of jazz presentation in Vancouver; and Rainbow Robert, representing an established not-for-profit presenting organization committed to serving both the local and international creative music communities.
Genuine, respectful collaboration between artists, curators and presenters will be one of the key strategies for creating a unique and dynamic environment at VIM House, a place where music and community will thrive.
VIM House and Coastal Jazz & Blues present
a NEW CURATION SERIES
Live in the Backroom at The Emerald 2014
555 Gore Street • Tickets at the door $10 • Showtime 9pm
Curated by Cole Schmidt
Thursday, October 30
Battle Trance (NYC) + Tommy Babin (solo set)
Travis Laplante’s genre-defying tenor saxophone quartet makes its Canadian debut at the Emerald on Thursday, October 30, 2014. Battle Trance is Travis Laplante, Matthew Nelson, Jeremy Viner, and Patrick Breiner. The group is in the midst of a North American tour in support of their debut full-length release Palace of Wind, a piece that not only transcends genres, but also transcends time and space. The band, the album and the tour have been garnering rave reviews, and we’re excited to kick off our New Curation Series with a performance from Battle Trance.
Bassist and composer Tommy Babin has recorded and performed worldwide with a wide and varying array of artists. Dedicated to pushing his own limits on his instrument, he divides his time between Vancouver and San Diego where he is a graduate student under Mark Dresser at the University of California, San Diego.
Thursday, November 20
Meger/King/Crosby and Freedman + Waxwing
Braveheart is a jazz saxophone trio that explores group improvisation and composition with an obstinate sense of honesty and integrity. Since their beginnings in Montreal four years ago, the group has developed a raw, acoustic sound, brimming with uplifting emotional honesty and a deep, soulful rhythmic feel. Their searching improvisations have no boundaries, and can at times be dark and reflective and other times playful and energetic. The band’s original repertoire is an eclectic mix of songs, influenced by everything from singer-songwriters to contemporary classical music to modern jazz. Featuring Ted Crosby (Vermont, USA) on saxophone and clarinets, James Meger on acoustic bass and Omar Amlani on drums.
There’s been a change, friends. In place of Braveheart, Meger/King/Crosby and Freedman will be playing.
Bass clarinetist, Lori Freedman, and saxophonist, Ted Crosby, both out from Montréal, will play a set of original compositions and improvisations with Vancouver bassist, James Meger and guitarist, Sam King.
Waxwing is a fully co-operative group formed by three veterans of the Vancouver creative music scene, Tony Wilson on guitar, Peggy Lee on cello and Jon Bentley on saxophones. Each musician has brought his/her compositional material and performs a variety of functions within the group, from soloistic to accompaniment, melodic to colouristic and/or harmonic. This trio runs the gamut on their debut release from the more spacious and reflective episodes to their driving rhythms, soaring melodies and fierce improvisations, in which they pack the punch of a large ensemble.
Thursday, December 11
Sick Boss featuring Debra-Jean Creelman + Khingfisher
SICK BOSS is a new ensemble lead by guitarist and composer, Cole Schmidt that charts the broad musical landscape of contemporary music. Performing beautiful and cerebral originals, with a smattering of unexpected covers, Sick Boss draws together influences from creative improvisation, rock, folk, and modern jazz. The band’s dazzling musicianship is rounded out by a cherry-picked cast of Vancouver all-stars who are recognized for their creative prowess as both bandleaders and collaborators.
Sick Boss is: Peggy Lee – cello (Film in Music, Waxwing); Tyson Naylor – accordion (Dan Mangan, Abramson Singers); Sam Davidson – clarinets (Brasstronaut, ElkHorn); Cole Schmidt – guitar (Pugs and Crows, Copilots); James Meger – bass (Braveheart, Proud Animal); Dan Gaucher – drums (October Trio, Fond of Tigers) with Debra-Jean Creelman – voice (Mother Mother, Frazey Ford)
Recording under the name Khingfisher, Craig Alan Mechler has released a self-titled album that emphasizes his folksy inclinations with ultra-stripped down arrangements of guitar and voice. These are vintage-sounding ballads with a hint of jazziness and Devendra Banhart-style quirk, and there’s a cover of the classic tune Georgia on My Mind thrown in for good measure. The album was recorded at Vancouver’s China Cloud with Mark Lawrence. It’s available for download at the following link, and listeners can give an optional donation if they choose. http://khingfisher.bandcamp.com/