Thursday, December 17, 2009, 8pm
Ironworks, 235 Alexander Street
Tickets through Tickets Tonight • ticketstonight.ca • 604.684.2787
$18.00 (general) / $15.00 (students & seniors)
It was during the 2008 Time Flies series that Vancouver cellist and musical innovator Peggy Lee was inspired to create Film in Music. More specifically, it was the improvised solos by Evan Parker, Peter Evans and Mary Oliver on tenor sax, trumpet and viola respectively that started her thinking about the project. Lee says, “I was struck by how, on one level such exploration can be so subtle and personal and yet on another level, be filled with such a sense of drama and suspense.”
Lee began to envision a context in which such exploration could work within a set of written music, pieces which would heighten the dramatic experience of the solos. She wanted to experiment with the kind of impact a particular written piece would have on the improvisation that followed. Inspired also by David Milch’s excellent HBO drama, Deadwood, Lee wants to convey the cinematic effects of that drama using musical choices, not as an attempt to tell that story or any story in particular but to evoke a similar tension between players, creating suspense and absolutely focused, driven performances.
The piece is structured as a musical drama in two parts with three soloists: Jesse Zubot on violin, Torsten Muller on bass and Dylan van der Schyff on drums, playing the main “characters”, each of whom will be featured in an improvised solo. Lee’s compositions will provide intros, segues, commentary and epilogue and the through line on which to hang the “story”.
This project is a bit of a departure from Lee’s past work with her group, the Peggy Lee Band, where an improvisation often serves to segue between written pieces. In Film in Music, Lee wishes to truly feature these wonderful soloists. The superb ensemble featuring, Kevin Elaschuk on trumpet, Chris Gestrin on piano, Ron Samworth on guitar, Andre Lachance on bass and Lee herself on cello, will interact with the soloists. This work will allow Lee, as its creator, as well as the seven other performers to further explore the musical spectrum that lies between free improvisation and through-composed work.
Cellist Peggy Lee has built a reputation as an improviser, composer and performer of new music in numerous ensembles, including Standing Wave, the Turning Point Ensemble, Talking Pictures and the Tony Wilson Sextet. Her own group, the Peggy Lee Band, has released four cds of original music, the most recent being New Code on the Drip Audio label. Peggy also records and tours internationally with Wayne Horvitz, Robin Holcomb, Larry Ochs, Miya Masaoka, Dave Douglas, Jesse Zubot and Veda Hille.
Presented by Barking Sphinx and Coastal Jazz.