Curves and Levels

Double Dutch

The first night of Festival Mix'Arts, brought to you by boulevardsaintlaurent.com.

From the Netherlands, a bicycle named Double Dutch. If you look at the headset and stem, you'll see two gears that reverse the direction dictated by the handlebars. Turn the bars right, the wheel goes left and vice versa.

This was a carny challenge with the trickery right in the open: ride this reengineered two-wheeler a mere fifteen feet without touching feet to ground and win $25.00. Only $5 for four tries. Even pushing off and coasting across the five-meter space was deemed worthy of the award.

Average unpracticed punter's achieved distance: between a foot and a meter.

Counter-intuitive steering advocacy has swept Holland, the spokesperson informed us, and he was on a mission to demonstrate that it was indeed possible to ride from one white line to the other. He insisted this chance to win money was a way of giving hope in tough economic times.

Another demonstration of balance. He seemed genuinely happy to find a winner and finally pay out his prize.

There will be more from this festival. Please excuse the redesign in progress.

Les FrancoFolies, Saturday Night

I was a fish out of water, this new Montrealer from western Canada sampling the celebration of music and language that is Les Francofolies. This is the latest offering in Montreal's summer-long season of festivals, held at the Quartier des Spectacles on Rue Ste.-Catherine.

I felt a more laid-back vibe here; not so keyed-up or pressing as my memory of the Jazz Festival as happy listeners ambled from show to show like they were enjoying a small-town Saturday night.

Far from being under-attended - the pictures show the numbers - but one felt a little more fluidity and elbow room when navigating the crowd. I first watched Oumou Soumaré (left), la gazelle du désert, a Malian now residing in Moncton, New Brunswick.

Across the street, almost hidden away amid construction and crumbling buildings on a tiny riser in a non-descript parking lot, was a nice musical surprise. French Kiss, they were called, from Montreal, a trio combining amplified harp, fuzztone bass, and a soundmaster with laptop and other devices. Their playful sound and visual appeal deserved better than a paltry crowd with a backdrop of urban decay. Not that they seemed to mind.

Unfortunately, the only info I can dig out of Google is this online article from Canadian Business (scroll down to French Kiss: the sound of the future) about Videotron's festival sponsorships. This led me to these videos; but no names, no recording history. I also learned that they're not the only musical group in the world named French Kiss.

Les Fatals Picards

I made my way to the big stage, first stopping for a listen to Les Fatal Picards, a four-piece rock band playing hard.

l'Orchestre Métropolitain

The evenings signature event featured a full orchestra and conductor backing Jorane, a Montreal cellist and singer. The lighting was quite dim and the fact that the stage was situated uphill from the audience made finding a decent camera angle impossible without upsetting security and other listeners. Just the one of the conductor, I'm afraid.

Finally, I found another small stage up against Avenue de President-Kennedy, where they were preparing for Guillaume Arsenault and his band, local boys with down home instruments and an alt-country sensibility. Technical issues delayed their entrance by almost an hour and I kept busy photographing the moon (always a challenge) and taking test shots of stagehands.

Guillaume Arsenault

Once again, I was facing dodgy illumination, the angle of the spots putting deep shadows on the singer's face. I bailed early. The picture above was heavily tweaked with software to look somewhat presentable.

African Night

Idy Oulo from Cameroon.

The Festival International Nuits d'Afrique de Montréal runs from July 14-26 and most of the performances are indoors at various clubs around town. Yesterday was the one outdoor dust-up at Place Émilie-Gamelin (Google Map) near UQAM, free to the public.

Once again, the weather was dodgy, and the Just for Laughs festival was competing for visitors only a block away, so attendance was a little light. Those who did come were treated to an African bazaar as well as hypnotic, lilting music.

I suppose some would see an advantage having two events side-by-side, but this Montreal newbie humbly suggests a different location next year, up the hill in a greener place.

Juan Sebastian Larobina from Mexico, now of Québec, and his band, playing a blend of Latin rhythm and Gaspésie folk.

Boisterous Duality

Music and dance, that is. In fraternal, if not identical, measures. (I promise not to strain this analogy any further.)

Not the traditional floats and military bands at yesterday's Twins Parade - instead the exuberance was raised by high-energy dance troupes, drum collectives, marching salsateers, funksters blowing brass and even martial-artists swooping forward with kicks and rolls.

Twins On Parade

As part of Montreal's Just For Laughs Festival yesterday, the Twins Parade marched from Place des Festivals on Ste.-Catherine Street to the Quartier Latin on lower St.-Denis for the 12th consecutive year.

This post features some of the nearly 2000 twins (and triplets!) of all ages who joined the event. The next will display the many musicians and dancers who provided musical and visual accompaniment.

More photos after the link:

Festwrap

A fireworks barrage helped close out Ben Harper and Relentless7's second encore late yesterday night as the 30th edition of the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal wound to a halt after thirteen days. Look through the festival's website to get an idea what a colossal undertaking this was. A revelation, really, to this calcified and culturally-deprived observer - I saw more quality shows in the last week and a half than in the previous fifteen years in my former Calgary digs. And it was all free!* So, a very large merci beaucoups to this year's organizers and volunteers for making it possible.

*In addition, of course, were a number of indoor paid-attendance shows unattainable to this moth-pocketed blogger. Among the performers: Wayne Shorter, Joshua Redman, Kenny Garrett, Kool and the Gang, Jackson Browne, Tony Bennett, Buddy Guy, King Sunny Adé, Branford Marsalis, Charlie Haden... update...Jeff Beck

In this post, a few select photos from Friday, July 10, plus some crowd shots from last night:

Above, bet.e, bossa nova stylings from Montreal. Below, Quebec-born keyboardist Valérie Cormier with her five-piece band (drummer not shown), high energy electro-jazz with rock-inflected guitar licks and incandescent horn solos.

Unfortunately, I missed the big Patrick Watson extravaganza. Just couldn't get down here every night.

Part of the fun was just milling about with the crowds. I should say thanks to the thousands of anonymous visitors who provided me with subject matter as we waited for the shows to begin. I've posted a few of my favorites.

Note: And thanks, also, to you readers for tolerating the dodgy focus and grainy image quality of many of my Jazzfest images. Handheld telephoto and low light - dangerous combination. Enthusiasm got the better of me.

Below, I caught the tail end of these energetic and determinedly goofy acrobats cavorting to gypsy music and engaging with the crowd.

Random spectator stuff to follow:

Ben Harper

Last night, under threatening skies, the 30th edition of the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal ended with a free blowout concert by Ben Harper and Relentless7 at the big outdoor stage.

Except for occasional sprinkles, the rain held off. The cool evening air was a perfect counter to the searing blasts of blues-soaked slamrock issuing pellmell from Harper's classic two-guitar-with-bass-and-drums outfit.

A dinosaur might hear underpinnings of southern-rock rootsiness in Harper's brand of rock and roll. The lapsteel was certainly a clue to his sense of history, but he brings a fresh sensibility and a soulful voice to the old traditions. The anthemic sound belongs to this century. Even the covers of Zeppelin, Hendrix and Queen felt youthful and forward-looking.

Strong musical chops? Yes. Improvisation? Yes. Jazz? Not really.

I don't think anyone cared.

More photos below:

Rocksteady!

From the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal:

A historic reunion of Jamaica's pre-reggae stars was last night's free extravaganza at the festival grounds. Rocksteady is the name given to the music that sprang from Kingston's burgeoning urban culture in the mid-1960's. 40-something years later it was all joyful noise and dazzling color for the all-ages Montréal crowd swaying to the infectious rhythms and peppery horn fluorishes.

I was in the mix, rubbing shoulders, on tiptoe trying to steady a telephoto lens, inching my way to the front to pick off shots of the performers. Thus, I couldn't write down the individual names, as they were introduced, to match my photos. Needless to say, these are historic musical figures: Ken Boothe, Stranger Cole, Hopeton Lewis, Leroy Sibbles and The Tamlins, as well as Marcia Griffith and Judy Mowatt - who sang backup for Bob Marley. You've heard the songs: The Tide Is High (covered by Blondie), The Rivers Of Babylon, Stop That Train...

The final number was Bob Marley's One Love, a tribute to the legendary pioneer of Reggae music, Rocksteady's child.

More photos after the link.

Friday Night At The Site

More from the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal.

I broke out the telephoto lens last night and wandered among the stages, grabbing shots while there was still some light. First up, from Japan, the Nobuki Takamen Group, with some lyrical but hard-hitting jazz in the traditional mold.

It's not only music down here. I didn't catch the name of this inventive pair, but a good crowd enjoyed their combination of vaudeville, slapstick and acrobatics. If anybody reading knows their name, please leave a comment.

The Weather Network is forecasting unsettled conditions for at least the next week (raining heavily as I write this). Just before 8:00, the skies opened with gusty, torrential drama, leaving spectators scrambling. No umbrella for me, just a black slicker - need two hands for the camera.

Despite the downpour, Amsterdam outfit, Room Eleven took the stage right on time. Cocktail Jazz? Indie Rock? They are new to me so I won't categorize based on a couple of songs. They were great and the lead singer had a gorgeous, powerful voice. I feel safe saying that. Click the MySpace link I posted.

Federico Aubele

More from the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal...

Merely a gentle patter, last night's rain, allowing the Scène Du Festival crowd an umbrella-free view of Argentinian guitarist and singer Federico Aubele. (Link to Wikipedia page: note warning. His MySpace page is here.) Aubele and his four-piece band offered up two 55-minute sets of a unique and elegant sound that, to my ears, blends Latin-American folk, Caribbean dub and electronica. It's all about amor, Aubele explained to the audience.

Two more photos on the following page: vocalist and melodica player Natalia Clavier, who has an EP of her own, and barefoot bassist Ashish Vyas.