Recording: Luscar

Artist: Luscar

Songs: Hackle [composer: Robert Diack] / Improvisation / Etude 178 [composer: Emily Denison]^*

Recorded at Array Space (Somewhere There presents), April 13, 2016.

Luscar - Hackle / Improvisation/ Etude 178

It's been exciting to see this cadre of younger players — many of whom are familiar to each other through music studies at U of T — making their presence known at recent Somewhere There events, both in the crowd and increasingly on stage as well. This group isn't afraid to get noisy, and after Solon Gee's echo-ringing disruptive intro, everyone starts chopping away. That the subtleties of the compositions are pushed aside a bit as the group bashed through the pieces isn't something to complain about — if anything, I'm quite happy that these musicians, all of whom with chops to spare, aren't settling for something merely "tasteful". (That was reaffirmed in the set's final piece, an ambitiously absurd love song from Anthony Argatoff called "Burrito Girl" that featured vocalist Laura Swankey in a high-shrieking duet with Argatoff's sax.)

^* Thanks to Andrew for passing along the titles to these!

Recording: BOBAN GrieviNg

Artist: BOBAN GrieviNg + the BOBAN GrieviNg Supergroup

Songs: [excerpt from first piece] + Boban is Just a Word

Recorded at The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge), January 27, 2016.

BOBAN GrieviNg - [excerpt from first piece]

BOBAN GrieviNg Supergroup - Boban is Just a Word

Some things look quite straightforward on paper. This Wednesday evening show from Somewhere There was billed as a night with two duos — Logan Mills (piano) with Montréal's Raphael Foisy-Couture (bass) as BOBAN and Karen Ng (sax) with Robert Grieve (guitar) as GrieviNg — but things ended up being much less straightforward. Indeed, the night began with all four playing together in a sort of scuffling/banging skritchscratch clangcrunch before adding Paige Stewart for some recited wordtextures.

But then, after a break, all hell broke loose. Mills' skill-set includes an ability to draft collaborators as conspirators in anarchic free-form play and that might explain how suddenly there were nine performers on stage, including Laura Swankey (vox) and Emily Denison (trumpet) plus duelling percussionists Robert Diack and Andrew Miller facing off against each other. In the end a t-shirt was destroyed, dice were rolled, hats were exchanged, and an impromptu fire drill was narrowly avoided as a gleeful frenzy erupted — all while various members of the ensemble shouted inquiries about the true nature of Boban.

Recording: Broken Consort

Artist: Broken Consort

Songs: The Sylph/Great Dane [edit]

Recorded at Array Space ("Somewhere There's Slow Burning Torch Series"), July 21, 2015.

Broken Consort - The Sylph/Great Dane [edit]

This occasional series from Somewhere There gives younger musicians a chance to share their work while sharing the stage with longstanding members of the community, creating opportunities for interaction and inspiration. At this show, the emerging forces were represented by guitarist Mike McCormick's Broken Consort ensemble. Joined by Anthony Argatoff (alto sax), Robert Diack (drums), Andrew Furlong (bass), Morgan Gardner (trumpet) and Laura Swankey (vox), the crew tackled a series of McCormick's compositions. The material ranged over a lot of terrain, showing off a range of McCormick's stylistic preoccupations, many garnered from a term spent abroad in Europe. Special mention should be made of Swankey's wordless vocalizations, bringing to mind local favourite Felicity Williams, giving the songs a little extra elevation.