One of the other temples of improvised music is The Western Front in Vancouver. It’s one of the countries oldest artist-run centres, and it has shown or presented many of Canada’s most important visual and performing artists over its long history.
It’s a great feeling to be as familiar as I am with The Front. I’ve played there 3 times, now, attended meetings there, and I consider DB Boyko, the Music Director there to be my friend and one of my great musical and organizational inspirations. The space reeks of years of performances, not to mention a little mystery from the buildings past as a secret society of some sort! I could walk behind the stage and know exactly where the garbage can was, and I have to say I felt strangely priviledged.
Getting off the plane into spring was quite an experience for Tim, Lukas and I. Seeing green and feeling warmth made us a bit giddy! I could feel a weight lifting as we realized we didn’t need coats. Our show there was coloured by our long day of travel and our experiences in Montreal. The sound in the room was clear and although the audience was smallish, it was high quality!
As we play more the music is broadening. We’re not yet falling back on old tricks, and I tend to think we won’t ever! It’s inspiring to just let the pathof the piece open in front of me and to contribute what I can to keep it rolling. The intensity and volume is relatively high and we’re all feeling it in our arms now!
Apr 4, 2015 at 11:06