Seattle native Aaron Parks has an impressive track record. The New York-based pianist demonstrates superior technique and open-mindedness, leading him to the most creative projects in new American jazz. Accustomed to Montreal stages and close to his community of musicians, this excellent instrumentalist brings on board double bassist Ben Street and drummer Damion Reid, this time around. Some of the material on the program could be from his most recent album Little Big, released on Ropadope, recorded with a different band than the one on the program at Salle Bourgie.
Packed with palace intrigue, pirate attacks, white-knuckle chariot races and a cameo appearance by Christ himself, the 1925 silent-film version of Ben-Hur offers plenty for musicians to play around with. Accompanying a pristine 16mm film print (care of Montreal’s Cinéclub/The Film Society) of director Fred Niblo’s epic Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ are Zoé Dumais on violin, Guillaume Bourque on clarinet, Joanie Labelle handling percussion, and at the piano, Guillaume Martineau, leader of the cinematically suggestive Lucioles collective and bearer of bona fides in both classical and jazz. Strap your sandals on tight, this promises to be a musically memorable evening worthy of the Circus Maximus.
