FFWD Weekly
Copyright © 1998 All Rights Reserved.
| MUSIC Three Big Guys Over the past few years, Pat Belliveau's telephone has been ringing with delicious gig offers: Mel Torme, Harry Connick Jr., David Foster - heavy players, to say the least. But he received a call recently, and things got a lot heavier. "I remember David Thiaw's wife reached me at home and asked if I'd be interested in a concept called 'Three Big Guys,'" he says. "I immediately said 'Sure.' It sounded like a great twist on things." It's a refreshing twist, indeed. Here we have three of Calgary's most established musicians united not by common musical interests, but by size. Along with jazz violinist Karl Roth and percussionist David Thiaw, there will literally be a ton of musicians on stage this Saturday night at the Jack Singer Concert Hall. Thiaw - Calgary's champion of African and world music - measures 6 feet 8 inches. Roth, is... well, really large. (He doesn't know this, but I once tried on the suit jacket he left lying around at a gig. It took me two hours to escape out the sleeve). Pat Belliveau, rather than being offended by the offer to join, sees the humor in the whole idea. "C'mon, the truth is the truth. Let's face it, none of us have minute statures," he laughs. But the beauty of Three Big Guys goes beyond the fact that local musicians can laugh at themselves for once. The biggie-sized concept has forced each musician to play with a new form of instrumentation. Through the saxophone, percussion, and violin (as well as a handful of smaller back-up players), the band has stayed fresh by exploring different arrangements and sounds. There is no room for laziness. No standard jazz laurels to rest on. "It will be sort of an African, contemporary fusion sound," says Belliveau. "It's a virgin concept for us. We're taking songs from everyone's CDs and adapting them into the situation. I mean, I have no arrangement for violin. But this is a good combo - the world is getting smaller and smaller and influences have to come from all over." Belliveau completed his first recording last year, an eclectic showcase of his rich jazz playing, called La Zona Blanca. The album was enhanced by the presence of drummer Paul Wertico (from the Pat Metheny group), trumpet old-timer Bobby Shew, and the cream of the local crop of jazz heads. It not only showed off Belliveau's chops on tenor and baritone sax, but his constant push toward outside sounds and playful soloing - something he had to keep in check for Three Big Guys. "David would give me funny looks in rehearsal. Karl told me not to go too outside. But we have fun together. I just want to stretch out a little bit. I'm not going to make it weird - I just want to explore." Although Belliveau, Roth and Thiaw see the band as only one of many facets in their careers, Three Big Guys will be shooting a video later this year and are in the process of planning a tour around summer jazz festivals. Belliveau admits that while playing up the schtick that size matters in this band, the most entertaining thing will be the sound they create together. "We'll be talking and joking around on stage, but the music is the real focus. We're not going to be lighting fireworks and hanging from the rafters." He pauses, then laughs. "Can you imagine us hanging from the rafters? We'd bring the roof down." |