PAN M 360 at FIJM 2024 | Depth and emotion with Melissa Aldana

by Varun Swarup

At the Pub Molson stage last night, saxophonist Melissa Aldana delivered a performance that firmly established her as one of the leading saxophonists of her generation. Playing selections from her latest album, Echoes Of The Inner Prophet (2024), the evening showcased Aldana’s evolving artistry and her remarkable ability to channel profound emotion through her music, no matter how complex the underlying form.

From the moment she took to the stage, it was clear that the audience was in for something special. Her tenor saxophone playing was both assured and immensely expressive, displaying a maturity and depth that belied her age. The concert opened with the esoteric number “The Solitary Seeker”, whose enigmatic harmonies were gracefully navigated by the band, inviting the audience into Aldana’s introspective and richly textured musical world. There was a certain spirituality in the Chilean saxophonist’s playing, and you didn’t have to be a musician to appreciate it. The crowd responded enthusiastically to Aldana’s music, adding to the energy of the band, which included pianist Glenn Zaleski, drummer Kush Abadey and bassist Pablo Menares.

Their interplay was spot-on, with each musician contributing to a coherent, dynamic collective sound. Zaleski was in top form, elevating the compositions with his solos. Melissa Aldana is more than just a saxophonist; she’s also a conductor and composer. Her talent for creating tunes that foster a four-way conversation, where each voice is heard and valued, was commendable and a pleasure to behold.

photo: YouTube page of Serendignity

Jazz / Salsa

PAN M 360 at FIJM 2024 | Audrey Ochoa Quartet, a convincing groove

by Vitta Morales

The Audrey Ochoa quartet gave a very competent performance last evening at the Pub Molson stage. Highlights of the show include several selections from her latest album The Head of a Mouse which was well received here at PAN M 360. Notably, the quartet formation resulted in versions of these songs that were more bare-bones, but still effective. Additionally, Ochoa showed off her talent as a vocalist singing “I want you back” by the Jackson 5. There were, however, a few elements that stopped this good show from being a great one.

When joking with the crowd, Ochoa comes across as rather clunky. Her voice also betrayed a nervousness when speaking that affected the vibe of her set. (Did someone forget to tell her that Montreal Jazz Fest was one of the happiest places on earth?)
This nervousness, fortunately, seemed to be completely forgotten as soon as Ochoa began to speak instead through her horn. When soloing, you can see she has a confidence coming from somewhere visceral; it would be nice for her to maintain that.

Another nitpick of mine was the use of sheet music on stage by some of the musicians. I wasn’t under the impression that they were absolutely dependent on their charts but having them visible, along with music stands, created a barrier between audience and performer. It felt to me like I was watching a high-level rehearsal of interesting compositions and that a final dash of showmanship was missing.

Finally, to my ears, the bassist and pianist didn’t nail the more salsa influenced moments of Ochoa’s music. It takes a while to learn salsa grooves with the proper inflections, and their interpretations lapsed into cruise ship level approximations at the worst of times. Only the drummer, besides Ochoa herself, seemed to have a decent command of Latin rhythms as the approximations percussion wise were quite serviceable and groovy.

Regardless, I believe Ochoa has a lot of skill and it wouldn’t take much work on her end to transform her concerts into true events. I’m glad the prolific Edmontonian trombonist was able to make it to this year’s festival as it was a pleasure to review her eclectic music and see her abilities in a live setting. Here’s hoping she finds just a little bit of arrogance to match her prowess musically.

photo: Artist Instagram page @audreyochotron

PAN M 360 At FIJM I Kurt Vile Goes Post Hardcore?

by Stephan Boissonneault

Kurt Viles’ notoriety isn’t exactly what it used to be 10 years ago when he released Wakin On A Pretty Daze, almost the pinnacle of slacker psychedelic rock of the 2010s. Since then he’s released several projects, including a duo ship album with Courtney Barnett, Lotta Sea Lice, which is a fine album but doesn’t have too much staying power.

In fact, many of his albums since 2015’s b’lieve I’m going down… don’t have much-staying power. The riffs are very KV and though catchy, the man doesn’t know how to end a song after 5 minutes. His lyrics are also something left to be desired always riffing on the classic words “man, down and tiiiimme,” like a stoned-out Tom Petty. So I wasn’t expecting to be blown away by Kurt during his 75 % sold-out FIJM performance, and though I wasn’t, he did surprise me. There were points in the set where he straight-up screamed the lyrics bringing a more punk rock/post-hardcore vibe to songs like “Pretty Pimpin,” and some of the newer ones from the album Back To Moon Beach and (watch my moves).

It completely took me off guard, but I wanted more. Kurt is a wizard on the guitar, there’s no question of that (which is why some of his songs hit the 9-minute mark and he has like 12 guitars), but his vocals have always kind of taken a back seat for me. But when he screamed, I listened. Suffice today, I think I’m more of a Kurt Vile live fan than his recent albums.

I have to wonder, does Kurt Vile know exactly what he’s doing? Is he getting bored using the same kind of songwriting style for almost 20 years with the same old “recycled riffs” that “ain’t going anywhere soon?” His words, not mine. Does he need to evolve or could he just keep doing him for another 20 years? As long as he’s got a band that is down with him soloing for six minutes there’s no stopping him.

PAN M 360 At FIJM I Freddie Gibbs Hates the Police

by Stephan Boissonneault

If that title somehow got you to click on this little review of the Freddie Gibbs x El Michels Affair Jazz Fest main stage show, then my work is done. Freddie Gibbs does indeed, hate the police, like many rappers who have had run-ins with the law (from the street life he is so far from now), but he had to let it be known after every song, as he got progressively more and more stoned throughout his set from the consistent blunts he smoked. “Lemme hear you say Fuck Poliiicee,” he chanted with the crowd of 30,000.

This performance was a live reimagining of his work with The El Michels Affair, a neo-soul instrument group that has worked with The Wu-Tang Clan and most recently, Black Thought. But Freddie pulled out some older numbers from his Pinata days with Madlib and a few choice numbers from Alfredo, his seminal album with The Alchemist.

In fact, he stopped the track “1985” a few times as well as “Thuggin'” to get the bars just right. There were a few times when it sounded like he was just growling and forgot the words, but this was part of Freddie’s charm.—a monumental rapper who got a little too cooked on stage and forgot the words to his songs. Regardless, it was an enjoyable watch and a hell of a show.

Afro House

DJ Karaba at the turntables: Guaranteed fun!

by Sandra Gasana

That’s it, I’ve had my first experience at Piknic Électronik. I’ve been hearing about it for ages, and I’m delighted to have finally been able to unravel the mystery and attend a set by the great DJ Karaba, who has made a name for herself on the Montreal and international scene. She arrives dressed in a black top and jeans, wearing sunglasses and a scarf covering part of her braids.

Right from the start, she throws in a remixed version of Water by South African sensation Tyla, to blow our minds from the very first minutes. She seems to know the words to every song she revisits, dancing and interacting with her audience, with a smile on her face. She continues with sounds of Amapiano, a musical style that has just celebrated its 10th anniversary. With her subtle transitions between tracks, it’s not always clear when she’s moving from one to the next. With catchy choruses, she varies the intensity within the track to give it depth, and all the while living her music to the full. She does several dance steps throughout her set, sometimes even samba steps, reminiscent of her past as a dancer for American stars. She mixes old sounds such as Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Crystal Waters’ Gypsy Woman (She’s Homeless), with more recent ones like Rihanna’s Please don’t stop de music. It’s always very gradual: we detect a melody that reminds us of the classic, and slowly the song reveals itself to us with DJ Karaba’s signature touch. In this case, she gets the crowd dancing as soon as she adds the famous big bass that forces us to move.

“The last time I was here was during COVID. We were all separated, but it’s good to see you all together today,” she adds between songs.

A step back in time came when she remixed an old 80s classic, Yeke Yeke by Mory Kanté. In fact, she gave the song a new life without distorting it. During certain tracks, she would take long pauses, making it seem as if the song was over, only to resume again, doubling in intensity. These suspenseful moments were appreciated by the audience, who had a great time as the evening progressed. Another pleasant moment was the Portuguese songs she integrated into her repertoire, from Brazil but also from other Portuguese-speaking countries, with the Kuduro touch she managed to bring out. As night falls, we come to the end of the show. She puts her glasses back on, she got rid of the scarf and it’s as if we’re in an open-air disco, with lights all around her. The atmosphere was at its height, and she took advantage of the opportunity to remix a Nelly Furtado track, Say It Right, which the crowd knew by heart. The only hitch was that the microphone she used to interact with the audience at times didn’t work very well.

Before her set, DJ Karaba shared the National Bank stage with Mr Touré and DJ, musician and producer Poirier, who each played for around two hours. While the former mixed a number of African rhythms to danceable instrumentals, the latter took us on a world tour through his set. We went to Colombia with Agua Oro, a collaboration with Ramon Chicharon, to Brazil with Flavia Coelho’s Café com leche, and to Haiti with Teke Fren by Waahli, from the legendary group Nomadic Massive. We were also transported to Nigeria with remixes of Burna Boy, to Jamaica with some good dancehall and to the Ivory Coast, with the hit Coup de marteau. There was something for everyone.

Publicité panam

Ambient / Electronic / expérimental / contemporain / Neo-soul / new age

PAN M 360 at FIJM 2024 | André 3000 at the frontier of smoke and mirrors

by Alain Brunet

André Benjamin, aka 3000, has already shown great vision in hip-hop. With Antwan “Big Boi” Patton, he was prodigious in integrating elements of jazz and electronics into his rap, G funk or neo soul. The reunion of the famous group Outkast, pride of Atlanta as Janelle Monáe is, was grandiose at Osheaga in 2014. Marked by this concert and Outkast’s concrete reputation, we listened to his New Blue Sun solo album at the end of 2023.

We were initially sceptical about the choice of electronic flutes as the solo instrument for an art form at the crossroads of electroacoustic and new-age. In the end, we were charmed by these soaring environments, conducive to relaxation, meditation or even the gateway to a restful sleep.

The overwhelmingly positive reviews certainly motivated André 3000 fans to get their hands on a ticket for the concert version of this album. On a Sunday night at the Wilfrid-Pelletier Hall, the superstar took to the stage with 4 unknown musicians, two of whom he met in a grocery store not long ago: keyboards, percussion, guitar and electronics.

It’s a free improvisation between contemporary musicians. Vague soul and jazz harmonies creep in here and there in a simmering pot. The textures emanating from digital lutherie are familiar. The guitar’s pedal effects are familiar. The vocabulary of percussion is familiar. The amalgam of all this is known… by very few local music lovers, who only show up in a tiny minority at the exploratory programs of the MUTEK and Akousma festivals. Fortunately, inspired images and laser lines added to this “experience”, to use a polite term.

These collective improvisations are relatively interesting, but unfortunately diminished by the playing of their main creator. André 3000 tells us that he took up electronic flutes in the same way he took up rap in the 90s and 2000s. The problem is that this self-taught musician has only acquired textural skills with these melodic instruments, whose sounds are reminiscent of the recorder, bagpipe or gazou. The problem is that André 3000 has no mastery of melodic articulation, and his little beginner’s phrases soon become a serious irritant in collective improvisation, rather than a transcendent melodic-textural discourse.

At the end of this too-long and too insubstantial improvisation, the level of intensity was raised, the 5 musicians were more violent, more intense, and André 3000 was still as limited as ever with his instrument, which he should learn to play before performing in front of an audience. A lazy, pointless concert, inferior to the album New Blue Sun… and bordering on a sham.

Funk / Groove / jazz groove / Soul/R&B

PAN M 360 at FIJM 2024 | Adi Oasis, on fire!

by Alain Brunet

From Paris, Adi Oasis (real name Adeline) set out to conquer the New World. Established in New York, she has everything in her power to become a creature prized by soul-R&B-funk-jazz fans. And now she’s touring the world, sharing the stage with Anderson .Paak, Lee Fields, Chromeo and more.

Adi Oasis surrounds herself with the finest musicians: guitar, drums, keyboards, and herself on bass. The quality of her solos, her mastery of groove and her harmonic choices are all there in this context. Her soprano voice regularly takes to the alpine trails, projecting all its power at just the right moment. With the pedal to the metal until the very end, and a superb cover of Christal Waters’ “Gypsy Woman (She’s Loneless)”.

This Franco-Caribbean musician is downright blessed by the gods: an excellent musician, an excellent singer, haughty on stage, beautiful and sexy. So why isn’t she already a superstar? Perhaps because her musical proposition is based on high virtuosity performances and grooves of the highest order, an approach that appeals more to music lovers than to pop culture fans. Perhaps it’s also a question of entourage… What do we know?

All we know is that she’s got mad talent, and we wish her all the best in the future.

PAN M 360 at FIJM 2024 | Ekep Nkwelle, a star not yet born but…

by Alain Brunet

International jazz is struggling to find new female vocal jazz stars to add to the cohort of living artistes as Dianne Reeves, Cécile McLorin Salvant or Samara Joy. Here’s another first-round draft pick: Ekep Nkwelle.

At around 8pm on Saturday, the small outdoor amphitheatre on the Esplanade Tranquille, named Pub Molson for the duration of the FIJM, was one of the few places protected from the insistent rain, which later eased off, fortunately for our very own Dominique Fils-Aimée, who was able to give an imperious performance on the Scène TD.

On a smaller scale, this 25-year-old woman, born in Washington DC of Cameroonian parents, knocked the hundreds of people present at this authentic discovery on their asses. The illustrious unknown recorded very little, as we were all there by chance of discovery.

It starts with jazz that’s very much inclined towards gospel and soul jazz. Then it plunges straight into the world of the great Abbey Lincoln, and once again you realize that this African-American vibe is absolutely inimitable. As is the case with Ekep Nkwelle, you have to be steeped in black American life to express it in this way through jazz.

Ekep Kwelle then moves on to Betty Carter covers arranged by Brazilian Djavan, where Betty’s spirit is warmly appealed to.

La chanteuse passe ensuite à l’évocation fervente de Nina Simone et sa si puissante blackness.

And then there’s Ellington’s Solitude, and then Bobby Timmons’ Moanin’, and so on until the end of this thrilling hour.

By choosing this rather predictable repertoire of modern jazz and female vocal jazz, Ekep Kwelle could have left us cold, put us to sleep or directed us to other stages. Not so! This young singer performs miracles of expressivity, power, exuberance, ease, sensitivity, passion and guts on the table.

In her white dress, she’ll have everyone present. Without exception. There weren’t enough of us to use the “a star is born” cliché, but… we’re not far off.In her white dress, she’ll have everyone present. Without exception. There weren’t enough of us to use the “a star is born” cliché, but… we’re not far off.

PAN M 360 at FIJM | Madison and Alicia, soul pop from opposite direction

by Alain Brunet

Madison Ryann Ward has a beautiful voice and can count on Mother Nature’s best physical assets – and perhaps a touch of plastic surgery. Madison’s hits are certainly not for nothing on FIJM’s largest outdoor stage… despite the insistent rain on a Saturday, June 29.

Madison sings smoothly, her mezzo voice subscribing to all the vocal standards of feminine soul pop. A luxurious bandana covers her golden hair, a minimalist tattoo appears on her forearm, and our luxury gypsy wears chic clothes.

Madison can count on a top-notch black band to serve up silky, elegant soul, quiet storm, with a hint of jazz in the harmonies. So far, so good, right ? Behind this apparent perfection, there’s a certain retreat from the vulnerability and viscerality essential to vocal expression. Soul, quiet storm, pop, a hint of jazz… a little out of her depth… Madison seems to remain suspended in her own halo. Fortunately, she manages to break this impression a little when she starts rapping.

Alicia Creti doesn’t sound and look like that at all. A Montrealer relocated to Los Angeles, she’s the girl-next-door with a secure career and a toxic relationship to migrate to California, become a professional singer and heal her wounds. You’ll understand that the emotional burden is not the same. Less aesthetic, less sexy, much more visceral;

Alicia Creti is a contralto of power whose timbre electrocutes and tears. She recently released Selfless, an album that sums up and expresses her situation well. It’s not yet a real hit, which justifies a performance on the small FIJM stage, but it’s definitely pop, it’s soul pop, nothing rocket science, predictable forms, a competent band as it should be, a tad rough around the edges on stage but… so credible, so true.

Latin Jazz

PAN M 360 AT FIJM 2024 | NOÉ LIRA : A Latina Bombshell!

by Michel Labrecque

The Mexican-Quebec singer and actress Noé Lira gave a free open-air concert, in somewhat rainy weather. But we didn’t feel the rain, because the singer-musician was radiating with her all-female group. Noé Lira is a beast of the stage, her energy is contagious.

Her proposal is certainly Latina, but it is a committed, intelligent music, far from the clichés of the genre. The actress has established herself in several Quebec television series, including The Emperor and La Candidate. In 2021, the musician and singer released Latiendo la Tierra. Three years and a pandemic later, we can feel that Noé Lira’s voice and musical posture have matured and progressed. Noé Lira addressed the audience in Quebec French, but chose to sing mainly in her father’s language. The result is very nice, no offense to certain Quebec nationalists, who could accuse her of weakening French in favor of another language. Noé Lira is also a committed, resolutely feminist artist, who affirmed last night that “the borders were artificial”. She plays the accordion, which she mixes with cello, keyboards and percussion. She is a perfect illustration of a mixed Quebec and proud of it. This plural artist never ceases to amaze us. This woman has fabulous potential. She will tour throughout Quebec this summer. Go listen to her!

Jazz

PAN M 360 AT FIJM 2024 | AMBROSE AKINMUSIRE & DAVE HOLLAND: a sublime dialogue

by Michel Labrecque

I told you yesterday about my enthusiasm for the solo concert of trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire at the Gésu, who made his little instrument sound in so many astonishing ways. So I was very happy to be able to attend Ambrose’s second show with veteran British double bassist Dave Holland.

You must be telling yourself: “It will be a kind of remake, with the addition of solid double bass accompaniment”. However, it was absolutely not a remake. We witnessed an authentic communion, an open, fruitful dialogue, such as jazz can offer us when it is at its best. The 42-year-old black trumpeter and the 77-year-old white double bassist made us levitate and float in their exchange where every note counted, or at least that is the impression I had. The trumpet of Ambrose Akinmusire was as interesting as the day before, but totally different, since it interacted with the double bass, in a complementary way. There were as many, if not more, double bass solos than trumpet. Sometimes, Ambrose offered repetitive trumpet layers while Dave improvised at full throttle. Everything started around a basic theme, then the two instrumentalists listened to each other and decided on a direction that only they knew. I heard Dave Holland for the first time in 1975 at Laval University in Quebec, accompanying free saxophonist Anthony Braxton. This was my introduction to free jazz. Then, the community radio station CKRL-FM in Quebec adopted its pretty ballad The Conference of the Birds, as music for a callsign. Dave Holland has played with Miles Davis, Chick Corea, and just about every great musician in his fifty-year career. He is also a very gifted composer. On his personal website, there are more than two hundred records in which he took part. This meeting between him and Ambrose Akinmusire was therefore a meeting between two great instrumentalists and composers. A very high-level meeting. Was this the first meeting between the two? I do not know.
But it was serious jazz, my friends!

Jazz Pop

PAN M 360 at FIJM 2024 – Is Laufey’s huge social media success justified on stage?

by Vitta Morales

No other media outlet in Montreal has so many people on hand to provide expert coverage of the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal. Many of us are scouring the outdoor site and concert halls: Jacob Langlois-Pelletier, Frédéric Cardin, Stephan Boissonneault, Michel Labrecque, Varun Swarup, Vitta Morales and Alain Brunet bring you their album reviews, concert reports and some interviews. Happy reading and listening!

After a ninety minute concert of sentimental selections that enthralled her audience, Icelandic-Chinese artist Laufey can now add the Ella Fitzgerald Award to her artistic achievements. Before performing her final tune at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier on the evening of June 29th, Montreal Jazz Festival organizers surprised the mononymous singer with flowers and a trophy. This prize is given to a jazz singer of significant talent who has majorly impacted the international scene. Considering the spirit of the award, I frankly have no qualms with her receiving it. Judging by the standing ovation, I would say the audience didn’t either.

This is a major accolade for the young twenty-five year old, not least because the subject of whether her music is or isn’t “authentic” jazz has been debated since first enjoying online virality. Whether they admit it or not, I think her most cynical detractors take issue with the fact that Gen Z is using her music as a reference for jazz without necessarily looking further into the canon. Of course, Laufey herself admits that she sees her music as a fusion of jazz, pop, classical elements. Regardless, I don’t think this debate truly matters. Personally, I long ago lost interest in adjudicating what jazz is and isn’t. Instead, I am much more interested in relaying the listening experience of music that leads to such a debate in the first place.

With that in mind, Laufey is quite obviously a beautiful singer capable of reaching silky notes in the contralto range. In addition, she is a very capable multi-instrumentalist who can play heartbreaking melodies on piano, guitar, and cello. Her accompanying string quartet for this concert added a lot of sentimentality and her rhythm section players balanced this out providing nice moments of groove and dynamics. Furthermore, she has the capacity to write bossa novas that I believe Jobim himself would have approved of as well as the ability to solo competently over chord changes; (though I wished she would have given us more of these moments). What really surprised me, however, were the lights, the glamour, and her movements as a frontwoman.

Indeed, Laufey’s use of campy movements and audience interaction gave me the impression I was watching a musical theater actor or cabaret singer. This had the young audience, many of whom were young girls, extremely giggly. Countless would shout messages of love and encouragement which Laufey would meekly reciprocate. It was all very wholesome but did eventually grow tedious as this phenomenon lasted the entirety of the show. I suppose that’s the price of being such a glamorous musician.

Such tedium would unfortunately be found musically as well before the night was done. Although I do not retract my previous praise, (as every selection was beautifully performed and exceptionally sung), I think ninety minutes of mostly break up songs is a bit much. Laufey at least seems aware of this as she joked about it several times. Regardless, her faithful fans seemed to care little as they loudly sang along to her hits including “From the Start,” and “Falling Behind.”

All things considered, and regardless of any prizes won or not, Laufey is an impressive performer, and writer, who is arguably on track to being a prolific pop star if she isn’t already. With considerable musical talent paired with a willingness to be vulnerable with her fans, I foresee Laufey being a name we’ll continue to hear for as long as she is still interested in creating new music. We will have to see if the subject matter of her music changes significantly with time, but for now they make for a still fresh addition to any playlist in need of some sentimentality.