Le Vivier presented a double program of free improvisation last night. First, the Montreal violin/electric guitar duo of Adrianne Munden-Dixon and Raphaël Foisy, followed by the atypical Vancouver trio Squid in Chains, consisting of John Oliver on synthesisers, François Houle on clarinets, and Douglas Schmidt on accordion.
Munden-Dixon and Foisy, two regulars of the avant-garde scene, offered a noise performance in free improvisation, closely blending their two instruments. Foisy’s granular chirps on his electric guitar found a complementary echo in the jerky, random rubs of Munden-Dixon’s violin. Sometimes rough (the strings rubbed with the wood of the bow), sometimes ethereal (the strings barely touched), the sounds expressed by the violinist had something frenetic and nervous, while the guitar seemed to laugh playfully. About thirty minutes of very focused listening, not for all ears, certainly, but stimulating for those with enough muscle to tackle it.
The most substantial performance of the evening was that of the trio Squid in Chains. Fairly free improvisation here too, but more structured and linear, as one can guess, from a script that guides the artists for about 45 minutes. While it starts in a fragmented impressionism, the soundscape transforms to become, for a few minutes, melodic, thanks to François Houle’s Jewish-influenced clarinet, which reveals certain klezmer affinities. Then, it transforms again to become denser and more ecstatic, alternating or juxtaposing timbral fractures (Houle again), accordion pulsations, recessive and expansive waves from the synth, etc.
One comes away well-fed and impressed by the quality and coherence of the overall play of the three Canadians.
Squid in Chains will be in Ottawa tonight, November 6, and on Salt Spring Island (BC) on November 12.
