Suoni river

>> June brings jazz and more to the Casa/Sala combine

by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

It’s only year two, and the nice folks at Casa del Popolo and la Sala Rossa have already given up trying to cram their now-annual Suoni Per il Popolo noise parade, running through most of June, into the constricting “jazz fest” box. While there’s enough good jazz to match last year’s spread, there’s so much more to catch too. Cheaper advance tix, BTW, can be scammed at the Casa, Cheap Thrills, l’Oblique and CD Esoterik.

On the jazz-proper tip, the astounding David S. Ware Quartet is at la Sala Rossa on Friday, June 7 ($22). Ware’s sax stylings echo the spirit of the Impulse! label’s glory days (think Sanders, Coltrane etc.)—exploratory yet firmly grounded. He’s joined by no less than bassist William Parker, drummer Guillermo E. Brown and crackerjack pianist Matthew Shipp, so don’t miss this. Parker returns the following night—Saturday, June 8, at the Casa this time—for a neo-beat jazzoetry jam with poet David Budbill, preceded by a spread of local spoken word talent ($10).

Wandering over to the dub and left-handed hip hop departments now. On Friday, June 7, at Casa ($6), there’s Ark of Infinity, the all-star dub-jam house band for Mossman’s Dub Lounge Wednesdays at Jupiter Room. At Sala Rossa on Sunday, June 9 ($15), the recent wave of Anticon-collective sightings in Montreal comes to a head with a visit from Ninja Tune signees cLOUDEAD, featuring out-there abstractivist Doseone, who also promises a solo set backed by DJ Boom Bip. A worthwhile wing-ding, devoid of bling-bling. More Ninja action the next night (Monday, June 10, free) at Casa when local rep Wig wigs out on the decks, flexes his pecs and signs the cheques. Or something. This will be fun.

The highlight of the Suoni daze, in my book, is the long-overdue appearance of New Orleans originals Mr. Quintron & Miss Pussycat (Sala Rossa, Monday, June 10, $12). I profiled Miss P in my recent puppet-power spread, so you know what to expect from her (or do you?). As for the Q himself, not only is he a kung-fu master of sleazy organ grind and stripped-down funk, he’s also the mechanical wizard behind the Drum Buddy, a light-activated analog beat generator that has to be seen—and heard!—to be believed. There’s nobody else like these two, and nowhere else to be that night.

Further down the line, stick your neck out for NYC’s No Neck Blues Band (Sala Rossa, Wednesday, June 12, $15), whose cathartic campfire cacophony would give Dan Akroyd and aneurysm (this is a good thing). On Friday, June 14, at la Sala Rossa, local folkster Thomas Hellman and his Afterhour Carnival treat us to some nocturnal cabaret vibes ($7).
Fiddle buffs (and you are legion!) have their plates full with three shows, starting on Thursday, June 13. DaZoque! is centered around the amplified fiddling of Rhythm Activism’s ubiquitous Norman Nawrocki and the Bagg Street Klezmer Band’s Minda Bernstein, drawing on Eastern European music and playing it off lo-fi loopiness (Sala Rossa, $9/$7 if you’re gainfully unemployed). Violin meets sax, as father meets son, when Joe & Mat Maneri unfurl a microtonal, avant-jazz episode of Father Knows Best (Casa, Saturday, June 15, $20) Later still, there’s Billy Bang, who drags his violin all over the musical map (Casa, Wednesday, June 19, $18).

Finally, what’s an avant-garde music fest in Montreal without a touch of IDM? Local soundscaper Mitchell Akiyama is, as always, up to the task. He’s joining l’Altra, an invitingly sweet and chill bunch of post-rockers from—where else?—Chicago (Casa, Friday, June 21, $10). :