January 2, 2008
CHRIS GESTRIN CD RELEASE CONCERT AT THE CELLAR
Tuesday January 22, 2008, 3611 W. Broadway (604 738-1959)8:30 PM (2 sets, 8:30 and 10:00)
Admission: $10
Vancouver keyboard wizard Chris Gestrin is celebrating the release of his latest record, After the City has Gone: Quiet on the Vancouver label Songlines. This is the first public performance of music inspired by the project, in which Chris (on piano) was paired in the studio with 9 different duo/trio groupings of fellow Vancouver improvisers. It’s the latest signpost on the path of one of our sonic visionaries, whose Stillpoint project was called “some of the most original and innovative new music on the scene today” by Popmatters.com.
Tonight Chris will in fact premiere two new groups. The first set will reunite him with three of the musicians featured on the album: multi-instrumentalist Pepe Danza on percussion, shakuhachi etc., guitarist Ron Samworth, and trumpeter JP Carter. The second set will be Chris’s longtime trio (André Lachance and Dylan van der Schyff) with the addition of a special guest from New York, saxophonist Michael Blake. Also on display this evening will be the photo art of Melvin Yap. Yap's beautiful photography was used as the basis for the graphic design of 'After the City has Gone : Quiet'.
The record, which was released as a double SACD in November, has already received considerable praise. Alexander Varty in the Straight concluded: “For beautiful sounds beautifully recorded, this series of pensive meditations excels.” And Mark Saleksi, on blogcritics.org, wrote: “Gestrin’s ability to listen (and play!) is on full display…What's quite amazing is that a very wide range of styles and textures are presented, and yet it all hangs together in a fairly natural way. Is this jazz? A kind of world music? You'll have to decide for yourself…. It's inspiring to see an idea lofted into the air, only to be changed up in real time and taken in completely different directions. It strikes me that After The City Has Gone: Quiet might be one of those key recordings that'll turn someone on to the idea of improvised music.”
Michael Blake does not appear on After the City…, but Chris, Dylan and André are key members of Michael’s Vancouver sextet, which also has just had its first record, Amor de Cosmos, released on Songlines and is performing at Capilano College on January 19th. Michael, who of course is originally from Vancouver, put the group together a couple of years ago, and he and Chris perform two inspired duo improvs on that record.
Chris Gestrin is not only one of Canada’s most talented jazz musicians, but also one of its most distinctive and wide-ranging improvisers. As he writes in a brief artist’s statement about the record: “To me, improvised music is a form of meditation. It’s the only time my overactive mind is ever free from its ‘city’ of thoughts and in that moment I feel that somehow I am not responsible for the music being created. I am just there to facilitate the physical aspect of it. This is my music in its purest form.”
For more information and requests for review copies:
Chris Gestrin • www.chrisgestrin.com
Melvin Yap • Melvin Yap
Tony Reif/Songlines Recordings, (604) 737-1632 • treif@songlines.com • www.songlines.com (includes interview with Chris)
Thanks to the Canada Council for supporting the recording.