Coastal Jazz & Blues Society announced the Imperial Series, performances taking place at The Imperial (319 Main Street) during the 2019 TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival, which runs this summer from Friday, June 21 to Monday, July 1.
The Comet Is Coming
June 21 • The Imperial @ 9pm • $28
Debuting music from their Impulse! Records release, The Comet is Coming is the soundtrack to an imagined apocalypse. In the aftermath of widespread sonic destruction, what sounds remain? Who will lead the survivors to new sound worlds? Who will chart the new frontier? In a London warehouse circa 2013, three musical cosmonauts built a vessel powerful enough to transport any party into outer space. It’s after the end of the world, the stage is a spacecraft, and the mic is an accelerator — brace yourself for The Comet is Coming, featuring King Shabaka saxophone, Danalogue keyboards, Betamax Ohm drums.
Jonathan Wilson (with guest Ben Rogers)
June 22 • The Imperial @ 9pm • $35
Jonathan Wilson has had a busy couple of years, producing Father John Misty's Grammynominated Pure Comedy, touring the globe as a guitarist and vocalist for Pink Floyd legend Roger Waters, and releasing his sublime new album, Rare Birds. It diverges from his 70s-Laurel Canyon-inflected work and takes cues from the high density 80s British production of early Peter Gabriel and midcareer Kate Bush. Regardless of what era his influences come from, Wilson’s richly detailed and sprawling music hits like an emotional tidal wave.
The Suffers
June 24 • The Imperial @ 9pm • $28
Eight-piece wonder-band The Suffers are a fired-up, contemporary version of the great R&B/funk bands of ‘70s and ‘80s like Earth, Wind & Fire, Rufus, and Kool & The Gang. Coming in hot out of Houston, Texas, The Suffers pack elements of reggae, jazz, salsa, rock, and hip hop into their trademark Gulf Coast soul.
Makaya McCraven (with guests Eli Davidovici’s Shapes)
June 26 • The Imperial @ 9pm • $28
Makaya McCraven is a beat scientist. The bleeding edge drummer, composer, producer, and sonic collagist is one of Chicago’s savviest cultural players and a multi-talented force whose inventive process and intuitive, cinematic style defies categorization. Blurring the boundaries of jazz and electronic music, his Universal Beings—featuring collaborations with Shabaka Hutchings, Tomeka Reid, Jeff Parker, and other greats—made “'Best Jazz Albums of 2018” lists in the New York Times, Billboard, NPR, The Guardian, Pitchfork, and more.
Thus Owls, Jo Passed, and Unnatural Ways featuring Ava Mendoza
June 27 • The Imperial @ 9pm • $25
Montreal’s ever-morphing, Polaris Prize-nominated Thus Owls’ sound finds Simon Angell’s charismatic guitar meeting the urgency of Erika Angell’s voice, stretching their already unusual indie-pop/avant-jazz compositions into new and surprising shapes. With Samuel Joly drums.
What would happen if Lennon and McCartney somehow got really into Sonic Youth, Neu!, and XTC? Vancouver’s Jo Passed have a pretty good idea. Ava Mendoza, the Brooklyn-based experimental guitarist/vocalist/composer has collaborated with Carla Bozulich, Nels Cline, Mike Watt, Matana Roberts, the Violent Femmes, and more.
Anteloper, Ilhan Ersahin’s Istanbul Sessions, and Gordon Grdina’s Haram
June 29 • The Imperial @ 9pm • $25
Anteloper is trumpeter Jaimie Branch (“Fly or Die”) and drummer Jason Nazary (Little Women), two musicians who have been collaborating with each other for years, both playing their chosen instrument plus synthesizer. With deep rhythmic passages, telepathic improvisations, and effortless melodic negotiations, Anteloper bounds freely over the grassy plains of jazz, electro, and free music.
New York-based Swedish/Turkish saxophonist, impresario and general scene-maker Ilhan Ersahin’s exploration of his Turkish roots began in the ‘90s and continues to this day with this Istanbul-based creative take on dance music. A phenomenal culture-mashing juggernaut led by JUNO Award winner Gordon Grdina on Iraqi oud, Haram pays homage to traditional Arabic music while mixing elements of noise, electronic soundscape, and western free improv into their explosively self-expressive sound.
Jacob Collier
June 30 • The Imperial @ 9pm • $42
Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, and k.d. lang are big fans of young phenom Jacob Collier, and once you hear his virtuosic, multilayered sound, you’ll be hooked too. An omnivorous sponge for inspiration, the multiple GRAMMY-winning Londoner combines elements of jazz, funk, folk, classical, Brazilian music, gospel, and soul (to name a few).
Tickets & more details at www.coastaljazz.ca
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