I've had the great good fortune to participate in the "Minnesota Sur Seine" music festival in St. Paul and Minneapolis during the last three autumns. (Check out www.myspace.com/surseine; I'll also be telling you a lot more about this fabulous festival).
It's been an ear- and mind-opening experience, that's for damn sure! And I've had more than my share of ecstatic experiences listening to live performances by both Minnesotan and European musicians, all right here in River City.
It's been an ear- and mind-opening experience, that's for damn sure! And I've had more than my share of ecstatic experiences listening to live performances by both Minnesotan and European musicians, all right here in River City.
One of my peak experiences occured at the Dakota Jazz Club in October 2005, when I had a front row seat at the "Denis Colin Trio" (from Paris) "presents Gwen Matthews" (from the Twin Cities) show. These people absolutely knocked my socks off, messed with my head big time, and blew me away. The fact that Denis Colin is one of France's foremost jazz bass clarinetists drew me to the show; the magical potion that the four of them brewed up and served steaming hot and shiveringly cold kept me glued to my seat, with my head and spirit cavorting around the rafters like whirling dervishes.
Listening to Denis immediately banishes any lingering thoughts about the bass clarinet being a supporting harmony instrument. He wailed in all registers, inside and outside the tunes. Didier Petit played amazing cello, accompanied occasionally by his wordlessly haunting voice and some cello-top percussion. Pablo Cueco coaxed more rhythms and timbres and moods out of one stretched skin (on his zarb, a Persian drum) than I thought possible. And Gwen Matthews cajoled and pleaded and demanded and wailed with her outstanding set of vocal pipes.
It turns out they were working on a set of songs for their new album, "Songs for Swans". It is now available, in Europe and on the Web, through Hope Street records. Check out some samples at Denis' web site (www.deniscolin.com), under Projects - Trio & Gwen. Then buy the album (here: http://www.natomusic.fr/catalogue/musique-jazz/cd/hope-street-disque.php?id=57), and strap yourself in!
Thank you, Denis et compagnie, for sharing your searing musical/emotional insights with us!
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