>>REVIEW
C-JAZZ CARNIVALE!
Jesse and Josh Zubot
Friday, September 8
Beat Niq
Think about the sounds of jazz legends like Ornette Coleman, Anthony Braxton or Billy Bang. You know, that ’70s style free jazz vibe. Now consider that two of the foremost Canadian improvisational musicians are getting together to play a free jazz gig as part of the upcoming C-JAZZ Festival. What could be better than brothers Jesse and Josh Zubot jamming with locals Simon Fisk and Eric Hamelin in a band they call Mendham?
This is a special performance since the Zubots seldom get to play together – one lives in Vancouver and the other in Montreal.
"We have never actually done a free jazz gig together because we’ve always been living in different cities and we’ve finally managed to work something out. It’s a first and we are real excited about it," Jess Zubot says.
We should be excited about it, too, since the Zubots have established themselves in the heart of the Canadian improvisational music scene – Jesse’s recent work with the groundbreaking Fond of Tigers and Josh’s mix of classical, free jazz and electroacoustic influences. It hasn’t always been that way though, as many fans would readily associate Jesse Zubot with the well-known acoustic roots sound of Zubot and Dawson. This improvised direction has been an evolution, and at least in Jesse’s case, it’s deepening.
"Before, I was touring a lot with Zubot and Dawson and that project became somewhat successful as far as (being) a bit commercially viable," Zubot says. "At that point it was more playing music, and yeah, this is what I do, I like it, I’m making some money, great. Now, it’s more like I’m really into ideas. I think there’s another whole level of existence that is there with music that I’m trying to tap into as much as possible. This thing has just slowly developed and right now it’s quite prominent with what I do."
Zubot also credits his change in focus to age and the influence of a few older musicians like Jim Byrnes and a recent free jazz project in New York.
"You learn (from older musicians)," observes Zubot, "and they tell you things they’ve been through and you come to the point where things become more meaningful.
"Right now I’m actually just finishing an album with an older free jazz musician from New York. His name is Joe Fonda, and he’s worked with like Anthony Braxton and Billy Bang and he still has a band with Billy Bang and Leo Smith and lots of really hardcore free jazz New York dudes. I really learned a lot; we did an album together and toured last year."
Ultimately it is always about learning and pushing boundaries and in the case of the Zubot brothers, both originally classically trained violinists, it’s been about taking that instrument into new territory. For Jesse, the challenge started as soon as he chose his instrument. "It was like, OK, I’m going to take this instrument and use it in situations that might not be totally expected or normal as far as what most violin players would do," he says. "That became really interesting, and trying to play in different situations like, for instance, the Fond of Tigers band which I’m in, it’s kind of like an orchestrated experimental, classical noise band. It’s really interesting taking this instrument and trying to do things in as many different ways as possible and I think there’s a long way to go." |
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