Recording: Prince Nifty with Colin Fisher

Artist: Prince Nifty with Colin Fisher

Songs: [excerpt, in two parts]

Recorded July 12, 2022 at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Most Popular Mic Touching Sounds).

Prince Nifty with Colin Fisher - [excerpt, part 1]

Prince Nifty with Colin Fisher - [excerpt, part 2]

Something a little different here with an ambitious duo effort from sound-sculptor Matt Smith and multi-instrumentalist Colin Fisher, who both brought some extra gear along. Smith had a full-sized monitor and a stack of sound interfaces to wrangle and manipulate sounds, while there was a rare appearance of Fisher's guzheng — and he played piano (!) and tenor sax as well. That meant there was some extra troubleshooting that lead to this encounter being one slightly-extended set instead of two in their timeslot, but that was enough space to explore bow-scrapes, reverb sizzles, hazy vox and spaces beyond.

Recording: Houle/Sorbara/Gill/McCarrol-Butler

Artist: François Houle/Joe Sorbara/Tania Gill/Naomi McCarrol-Butler

Song: [set 1 excerpt]

Recorded at The Tranzac's Southern Cross Lounge (Most Popular Mic Touching Sounds), June 14, 2022.

François Houle/Joe Sorbara/Tania Gill/Naomi McCarrol-Butler - [set 1 excerpt]

Amongst the things that I didn't really notice I was missing was a night like this, where a visiting musician is given a chance to mix things up with some local faves. Unlike last time I saw him, Vancouverite clarinetist François Houle was playing without his cool effects rig, but there were still plenty of sounds to be wrung from his instrument as he was joined by Naomi McCarroll-Butler on sax, Tania Gill on piano and Joe Sorbara on percussion, stretching out through a spontaneous suite of ideas.

[François Houle will be playing a free and outdoor show with his quartet (including Gord Grdina, Mark Helias, and Gerry Hemingway) at the Jazz Festival, Sunday afternoon, July 3rd.]