In its program, FIMA described the West Coast string quintet as dazzling, performing the music of violinist Joshua Zubot, whose world premiere suite was commissioned by FIMAV. Needless to say, Josh Zubot took the commission very seriously, as we were treated to the perfect distillation of his virtuosity.
Former Montreal resident and very active musician Josh Zubot, back in his native British Columbia, was surrounded on Friday by his brother Jesse, a violinist whose reputation precedes him, having been a pillar of the international propulsion of the great Inuit artist Tanya Tagaq, as well as the renowned cellist Peggy Lee, bassist James Meger and violist Meredith Bates.
This suite was so fresh it didn’t even have a title yet. A first listen allowed us to appreciate its cohesion, inspiration, and relevance. Josh Zubot stared at the floor, offering us a telegraphic intro to THAT, while he waited to find a title for it.
What I personally admire about Josh Zubot is really the balance he achieves between high virtuosity, mastery of several musical references, contemporary jazz, contemporary classical, noise music, onomatopoeia, blues, rock and other folk music, a complete and dynamic lexicon but distinct from the vast corpus of current music.
The whole thing was served up at different tempos, with different axes of communication between instruments, different stylistic moments, different degrees of gentleness or violence, in short, a convincing concentration of human existence expressed by a composer who had reached full maturity.
I wasn’t aware of these qualities in Josh Zubot, whom I saw perform many times when he lived in Montreal. I wasn’t expecting such high-quality writing and such exacting standards for his seasoned performers. Except for the violist, this ensemble shone the following Saturday alongside Darius Jones, whose chamber music they have left its mark on with their own unique style and the exceptional quality of their individual and collective playing. I eagerly await the album from this string quintet and the concerts to come wherever music lovers are receptive to such offerings.
Photo Credit: Martin Morissette
