21st EDITION OF THE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF MUSIQUE ACTUELLE IN VICTORIAVILLE, QUEBEC - MAY 20th - MAY 24th, 2004 - REVIEW by BLG



This was the 16th year in a row that I've attended the adventurous and unpredictable Victo Festival, and as always, surprises were in store. This year we traveled up with only four people in our rental car, as opposed to upwards of 7 folks in previous years. This was mostly due to the fact that two of my Victo-loving buddies are getting married, Len & Andre (not to each other, but to two wonderful women, Debbie and Amanda respectively; mazel-tov to both!) and have other responsibilities to deal with. Our carpool included Jason Roth (my loveable pal from Brooklyn), Kurt Gottschalk (covering the event for Coda & Squidco) and Lawrence Donahue-Green (editor of All About Jazz, the free NY monthly jazz tabloid). All good friends with different but overlapping tastes, so this made for interesting conversations about each gig that we attended.

We had a late dinner with Luc, the founder of the great new music store L'Oblique in Montreal, and drove nearly two more hours to get to the charming little town of Victoriaville, half way between Quebec City & Montreal, surrounded by farmland and small mountains. We stayed at the Colibri Hotel, where all the musicians also stay [seems more in need of renovation every year].

We had dinner the next night (May 20th) at Mykonos, one of the few great (Greek) restaurants in Victoriaville and one we go back a few times that week. Concerts take place at three locations in Victo - the cinema, the college (or cegep) and the coliseum, all of which have great sound thanks to the hard work of the Victo sound staff.

The opening set was, appropriately enough, the Eskelin/Parkins/Black Trio, who are celebrating their 10th year and the first time up at Victo. I say appropriately since most downtown bands seem to bring that crazed sense of adventure and diversity that NY often provides and the attendance is better for these sets. You can tell that this trio has been around for quite a while since they work so well together, moving as one solid, yet quirky trio. Each member, Ellery on tenor sax, Andrea on accordion & sampler and Jim on drums & percussion, all get a chance to take inspired solos, as well as blending their unique styles/sound together. Their pieces are tight, yet fractured and move with an inner logic that becomes more apparent as the set evolves. I dig the way Andrea mixes some delay with the lush acoustic sound of her accordion and the way Jim works some autoharp or zither from atop his snare into the mix. More quick-spinning focus chaos from some of New York's finest. Check out their wonderful self-produced DVD, which we sell for $20.

Cyro Baptista's Beat the Donkey was up next at the coliseum and obviously worked hard at putting together a more spectacular set than I've seen them do at Tonic. They filled the entire large stage with loads of bizarre looking percussion and danced around in a funky costumes (which changed a few times) - that was as much fun to watch as to listen to. Their music covered a wealth of ethnic influences, from Brazilian to eastern, their infectious grooves moved from funky to more rockin' tunes. There was an astonishing tap-dancing competition, a tasty tambourine ensemble, a lovely berimbau & vocal solo from Cyro, an Asian woman named Chikako who danced up a storm in different styles and costumes, a mimed tennis match, a gulantag ensemble, some impressive electric guitar solos from another woman named Viva and lots of incredible percussion workouts. Even that Led Zep cover of "Immigrant Song" couldn't keep me from smiling.

The main disappointment for myself at this year's fest were most of the sets from the Quebec based artists, Morceaux De Machines, Sam Shalabi and Fly Pan Am. Midnight sets are often difficult to get through, since we've already sat through 2 to 5 other sets that day. Morceuax's set was mostly dark electronics & samples with equally dark images projected on the screen above. One member of Fly Pan Am caused some controversy during the Acid Mothers Temple set by nearly getting into a fight with another audience member who he was dancing right in front of. The tired repartee of shouting "Sit down!" and "No! Get up & dance!" is always a futile effort, yet many folks eventually did get up and dance. Fly Pan Am's set was loud, ugly, obnoxious post-punk noise with screaming vocals that was disturbing and even painful at times. Perhaps I am getting too old for this. Sam Shalabi is someone I've dug at previous Victo fests on both guitar and oud, but his set this year was a low-point for many of us. It was a mess with some rude spoken word sections, some tired blues/psych rock grooves with bad blues/rock singing that I haven't heard since I had to endure bands like Foghat in the 70's. For more than a few of us, this was not "new music", no matter what the agenda was. Another somewhat disappointing set was by Andre Duchesne, who used to play guitar with the Guitarists of the Apocalypso Bar with Rene Lussier. Andre had a trio and string quartet together. The string quartet's music and playing were pretty amazing, yet the guitar/el bass/drums trio was only occasionally interesting and didn't connect with the string quartet at all times.

A trio with Mike Hansen, Tomasz Krakowiak and Kaffe Matthews, with each member on computer, sampler or turntable, opened the second day and played a strong set of more extreme electronic weirdness that was well done and a bit disorienting, probably not the best way to start our festival day at 1pm. A better choice to begin our day might have been the duo of Charlotte Hug on violin and Chantale LaPlante on computer, who were up next. I know of the lovely Ms. Hug from her work on Emanem, but not of Ms. LaPlante. Their set was often very quiet and quite eerie. The restrained acoustic violin and subtle electronics took its time to swerve together into a hypnotic dreamscape. This gig took place in the center of the room at the college, with the audience surrounding on all sides, as did another rather similar duo set with Lori Friedman on clarinets and Kaffe Matthews on computer. Sitting up front for me was a good idea as it was easier to hear and see all the subtle sounds and gestures that Lori played on her two clarinets. Kaffe takes snippets of sound from the clarinets and then slowly twists them into odd shapes, also panning them throughout the quadraphonic sound system around the room. I am unsure whether both of these women are connecting at all times, since they are in their own sonic worlds, but they do come together enough to make this a successful collaboration most of the time.

Another mixed trio were up next - John Butcher on saxes, Thomas Lehn on analogue synth and Andy Moor (from The Ex) on electric guitar. This is an odd combination of three improvisers from different countries and with different styles. Mr. Butcher is British and one my favorite saxists, who works with sounds which come from a more European perspective, rather than a jazz one. Lehn is German and one of few players to only work with the ancient analogue synth, he has worked with Tim Hodgkinson & Dr. Chadbourne in the past. Andy is from Holland and plays guitar with the great post-punk band, The Ex. Butcher does an amazing job of concentrating on percussive bits by tapping on the keys, with tongue-slapping gestures and bird-call like squeaks. Butcher is most often the focal point, eventually wailing in spurts with some wonderfully distinctive sax squawking. Andy is usually a good foil adding some melodic fragments with his guitar, yet is not nearly as engaging or as inventive as Mr. Butcher. Mr. Lehn is more of minimalist in this situation, adding just a bit of blips and beeps at just the right place. He looks more like a mad scientist at work twirling knobs, sometimes looking like he is going into an orgiastic state, yet the subtle blips remain the same.

As a big fan of those hairy psych/rock Japanese freaks, it was a joyous departure from the more serious side of music making to witness the groovy Acid Mothers Temple once again. Recently slimmed down to just a quartet without the endearing Ms. Cotton on synth & cigarette, they still rocked the house with their unique blend of trance-inducing, swirling double guitar storm and primal psych/rock stomping grooves. They opened their second number by saying, "We love John Zorn" and giggling, not sure whether to take them too seriously. What they do best is work up that Blue Cheer-like cosmic sludge groove with Kawabata's heavy, wah-wah guitar screaming on top. Their somewhat quieter, even jazzy space jams featured some great bowed guitar and synth ambiance with weird operatic vocals. Another concert highlight is their acappella ditty which sounds like a Latin/Hebrew sea shanty folk theme. Most of us finally got up and boogied in the second half, it sure felt good!

The third day began with one of the best sets of the fest, the duo of Francois Houle on clarinets and Benoit Delbecq on prepared piano. I have and really love both cds by this duo, as well as most of the other dozen releases by both on their own. Francois used mild electronics and did some quiet circular breathing, both of which added a mesmerizing haze. On each piece Benoit worked with a different section of the piano that had been muted or prepared with objects placed strategically inside. He gets some incredible and unusual percussive sounds which he balances with the more normal unprepared notes of the piano. Francois is also a most impressive clarinetist, unique is his sound and approach. Their music was closer to modern classical than to jazz, although Francois sounds at home in a variety of styles and genres, acoustic and electric. This was a completely magical and engaging set, a perfect way to start the third day.

The next set was supposed to have been Derek Bailey/John Zorn/Ikue Mori, but Derek had hurt his back when he fell off a step-ladder and couldn't make it. Zorn had also decided to not to come up, since the gig was more a favor to Derek and Zorn likes to have a new project prepared whenever he makes the long journey up to Victo. Zorn had just gotten back from ten days in Europe with Electric Masada and was wiped out, he came visit us at the store and looked beat. The replacement set was also an all-star trio from NY - Henry Grimes, William Parker & Charles Gayle, and they were an ideal trio as well. Many now know the great story of sixties free/jazz bass legend Henry Grimes who disappeared for over thirty years and was discovered living anonymously in LA by a journalist. Henry played on many historic dates with Ayler, Sonny Rollins, Roy Haynes & Perry Robinson, but then mysteriously disappeared during the seventies. He is now living back in NY and received a bass as a gift from William Parker and is playing well once again. His memory is a bit foggy, but he plays strongly and had just gotten back from Europe where he toured with David Murray. Both bassists, William & Henry, are well matched and strummed, plucked and bowed beautifully together. They pushed each other with layers of inter-connected lines as Charles Gayle played alto sax only, riding on top of their waves righteously and sounding a bit like Jimmy Lyons at times. It was indeed a marvelous set and built to powerful conclusion, with some touching and humorous words from William Parker at the end.

Daunik Lazro is from France played solo baritone sax, which is no easy feat. I caught him at Victo some 13 years back in a trio with Michel Doneda and Le Quan Ninh, which I remember digging, although I had no clue who they were back then. Daunik played acoustically in the college, so the setting was quite intimate. He started very quietly, with just breath-like sounds and percussive effects, eventually bending notes, with circular spirals and stretching the notes out in odd ways. He later started to play a couple of lines at once, even building up to some near heavy blasting before the conclusion.

Later that day we were treated to another vastly different solo set from one of the more famous solo electronics players - Christian Fennesz. Playing in the vast coliseum space, with just a computer, guitar and mixer, this was also one of most anticipated sets of Victo and was pretty amazing. Fennesz began with hushed lines of drones, slowly layering shimmering electronic textures with different shades and colors, warm waves washing over us - pulsations, luminous, eerie, throbbing, shifting and melting. It was exhilarating and somewhat overwhelming by the end. The second half of the same concert was a video by Tina Frank with music provided by Pita (Peter Rehberg), who is in a trio with Fennesz & Jim O'Rourke. Ms. Frank's video began with a few angles, which slowly built into more complex diagrams. As Pita's enchanting electronic soundscapes became more dense, so too did the video become more complex. It became more mesmerizing as it evolved and eventually more violent and extreme before the end. My brain started to hurt, my head was spinning and it felt better when the video and music came to the conclusion.

Another highly anticipated set was by Tim Berne's Expanded Science Friction band, which added David Torn on sampler and el. guitar to the already amazing quartet of Marc Ducret on el. guitar, Craig Taborn on electric keyboards, Tim Berne on alto sax and Tom Rainey on drums. This was Tim's first appearance at Victo and it is/was certainly about time. Tim's tunes are long and often built upon a repeating phrase, where each member plays the theme over and over, as they add and weave layers of notes around the repeating central phrase. Their long pieces often begin spaciously, with Tim's sax and Tom's drums slowly spinning their web as they ascend through a dreamscape. Craig's keyboards and Ducret's guitar also begin to pepper the proceeding with fragmented lines that later evolve into solos. David Torn, who has produced and mixed the last few Tim Berne cds, here does a similar job by sampling snippets of lines from Tim, Craig and Marc, and then reassembling them into some twisted alien space-scapes. Ducret took a few fascinating solos, even employing a Fripp-like tone on one of them. There was only one point when both guitarists play together and push each other into some strong interaction. This is by far the restrained set I've heard from Tim's band and still it is one of his best, as noone felt the need to push it too hard into the difficult listening zone.

The solo set this year at Victo that really seemed to knock out everybody in attendance was by Belgian pianist Fred Van Hove, who so rarely makes it to this side of the ocean. Mr. Van Hove started out ever so quietly with a few stark wisps of sound, his playing was rather harp-like, especially the rounded way his hand would curve and strike clusters of notes, reminding me of the way Don Pullen also employed a similar technique. Fred would develop a few themes one at a time, playing inside the piano on occasion and then building into waves with dark undercurrents rising underneath. During the second half of the set, he balanced the suspenseful sections with some scary and intense depths, reminding me at points of Keith Tippett and Cecil Taylor, yet Fred's approach was still very original and most distinctive. We got a chance to hear him again in a duo with trombonist Johannes Bauer at the Vision Fest and again were blown away.

Another highly anticipated set was by an Erstwhile all-star unit called the Keith Rowe Guitar Quartet, which is a rather misleading name. The quartet featured Keith Rowe and Oren Ambarchi on guitars, Fennesz on computer mostly and Toshimaru Nakamura on non-input mixing board (he used to play guitar). As expected of most Erstwhile (Grob & Potlatch labels) groups/concerts, it began quietly and rarely got much louder. It did force those in attendance to listen more closely and be patient with the slow way it developed. The hushed whirring of the non-input mixing board was constant and often reminded me of the chirping of crickets, a drag for some of the jazz journalists amongst us, but I found it sort of soothing. Each member of the quartet took their time to sprinkle stark spicy sounds to the slow development of the rich and haunting blend. Some folks just didn't get it, but I found it immensely satisfying.

Louis Sclavis is probably my favorite clarinetist and this was the sixth time I've had the good fortune to hear him up a Victo. Although his career stretches back some twenty years with almost as many fine releases under his belt, he has only played the in the US a few times (at Tonic & Merkin Hall in last year or so). Each set I've heard from his various groups at Victo has been great and he is always using different personnel and as well concept-wise. For Victo 2004, Louis brought his new quartet with Vincent Courtois on cello, Hasse Poulsen on guitar, Mederic Colligon on trumpets, sampler and voice and Mr. Sclavis on clarinets and soprano sax. Louis' quartet was supporting the release of his new ECM cd, 'Napoli's Walls'. The sound in the coliseum was just perfect and the quartet had their own soundman who did a marvelous job, often panning the solos and sounds around the room. The main sound of the quartet was acoustic - clarinet, pocket trumpet, cello and acoustic guitar and it was a perfect combination and balance. All four members of the quartet are amazing players and took consistently inspired soloists. The music for 'Napoli's Walls' was incredibly diverse, often complex, occasionally hilarious and they pushed each player to come up with some extraordinary solos. The one musician here who seemed to irk the more serious listeners in attendance was Mederic who did a lot of silly singing with occasional air guitar accompaniment, played much drum machine and other select samples and soloed well whenever he had either trumpet in hand. I found him immensely charming, his humor much needed at times of too much seriousness. There were a number of astonishing solos throughout, especially the guitarist who recalled early McLaughlin during his 'Extrapolation' era.

While I was expecting great things from CIMP all-star FAB Trio of Billy Bang (violin), Joe Fonda (acoustic bass & flute) and Barry Altschul (drums), they were much better than anticipated and were another of the festivals' high points. They opened the final day at the cinema with a mostly improvised set which had a number a great surprises/moments. You could tell that all three members of this trio were masters of their instruments and that they a great deal of experience in doing music like this, even if they hadn't played with each very much previously on any recordings. Completely acoustic, often explosive, they moved and worked together perfectly, blending ideas, swinging, dancing and playing freely in just the right balance. My old friend Joe Fonda has an especially infectious spirit and positive glow that radiates as he dances around with his bass, spreading his good vibes, his smile making everybody feel so good. Billy Bang, of course, took a couple of outstanding solos that really got the audience going. There was one moment that really blew everyone's mind when Joe Fonda plucks the strings below the bridge and then pulls on them to evoke some feedback like deity from his amp. Like wow!

Vernon Reid and Masque were also supporting their new release and they were completely electric, loud, intense and filled the Coliseum with their own powerful sound. The line-up featured Vernon on assorted electric guitars, Leon Gruenbaum on electric keyboards, Hank Shroy on electric bass and Marlon Browden on drums. Their sound mixed electric funk, fusion, rock and jazz into a hard-hitting blast with heavy grooves and many inspired solos from Vernon and their keyboard wiz. I've always felt that Vernon was an especially great soloist and here he got a chance to hear him stretch out on most of the tunes, showing the taste of Jeff Beck and the speed/metal playing of Buckethead. I dug the way his quartet took Monk's "Brilliant Corners" and revved it up and turned it inside out, as well as the P. Funk meets 'Jack Johnson' like grooves that they pulled off and even some Booker T & the MG's meets The Meters type of slamming groove bits on some of the later tunes. Their new cd should be a blast.

Perhaps the most fun set at Victo was from our good buddy Han Bennink, Dutch drummer and crazy person. Han is without a doubt, one of the most charming and ridiculous musicians I've ever known. Just seeing him on the streets of Victoriaville made me smile and feel good inside. He gave me a big, hard hug and lifted me off the ground and said, "Bruce, you've gained some weight?!" His solo drums set was a complete blast. He is just so musical, swinging his big tush off one minute and then using his foot to mute his drum the next. He does this thing where he puts one drumstick in his mouth and then taps on it with the other stick. He pulls the snare out from the drum-set to center stage and plays an incredible snare solo, with brushes and sticks both. He is constantly telling stories through his playing, whether on the drums or cymbals or even on the floor or in the audience. He is consistently entertaining throughout and has us all in stitches time and again. He has that sense of wonder that we only find in children, until we turn into sarcastic adults. And, he will playing in a duo with the equally ridiculous Eugene Chadbourne this Wednesday (6/9) at Tonic.

The final concert at Victo was also an appropriate one with the Dutch post-punk band The Ex, who are celebrating their 25th anniversary this year. The Ex are a phenomena, unique in the way that they have always followed their muse, oblivious to marketplace, always staying true to what they believe and feel. Their music is a joyous blast of churning, rocking, pounding and turbulent vibes with especially wise lyrics that deal with absurdity of the human condition. They had many of the Victo folks up and dancing and it sure felt great. The Ex have toured Ethiopia twice over the past few years with Han Bennink joining their ranks and now include some Ethiopian traditional songs, adding another dimension to their Fall-like primal rock pounding stew. Special guest Han Bennink joined them again here at Victo and surprisingly (for some) played the best rockin' drums I've heard from anyone usually associated with the jazz-world. It was a perfect way to end another great festival in Victoriaville.

Sadly, this year's Victo Fest was somewhat poorly attended, compared to previous years. Perhaps it was the fact they had no heavy hitters there this year, like Electric Masada or The Fantomas. I thought that 19 of the 24 sets were pretty great and that's a pretty good batting average. It will not stop Michel Levaseur from coming up with more surprises for the next Victo fest and you know that the DMG/NYC contingent will be there again next year. Thanks to Michel and his great staff for another great festival that will not soon be forgotten.



Here's my annual list of recommended artists for next year's fest:

1.SOFT WORKS (Elton Dean, Alan Holdsworth, Hugh Hopper & John Marshall)
2.HENRY KAISER/LEO SMITH'S YO MILES! (or any other project that Henry has in mind)
3.LEO SMITH'S NEW GOLDEN QUARTET (Vijay Iyer, John Lindberg & Ronald Shannon Jackson)
4.BARRY GUY'S NEW ORCHESTRA or THE GLOBE UNITY ORCHESTRA
5. THE SCORCH TRIO (Raoul Bjorkenheim, Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten, Paal Nilssen-Love)
6,TISZIJI MUNOZ' COSMIC MESSENGERS (Pharoah Sanders, Ravi Coltrane & Bernie Senensky)
7.EVAN PARKER'S ELECTRO-ACOUSTIC ENSEMBLE
8.ANTHONY BRAXTON (solo or Ghost Trance Music)
9.DENNIS GONZALEZ NY QUARTET (or anything else Dennis gets together)
10.PAUL DUNMALL OCTET