June 29: Youn Sun Nah

For her first North American tour, Korean vocalist Youn Sun Nah pared down the already spare personality of her 2009 ACT debut, Voyage, but she couldn't have made a better choice for an accompanist. Swedish guitarist Ulf Wakenius' résumé includes a decade with the late Oscar Peterson, to whom he dedicated one of his opening solo pieces at the beginning of Nah's set at the National Arts Centre's Fourth Stage. The recently released Signature Edition 2 (ACT, 2010) provides a terrific introduction and cross-sectional view of this highy talented and stylistically unfettered guitarist, but his last two releases for the label—2005's Notes from the Heart, a tribute to pianist Keith Jarrett, and 2008's Live is Real, an homage to the late Swedish pianist Esbjörn Svensson—have been singularly outstanding, demonstrating his profound interpretive skills.

Ulf Wakenius

Interpretive skills that were no less impressive at his Ottawa Improv Invitational series performance. Opening with two medleys—the first, a traditional Danish folk song for his fellow Peterson partner, the late Danish bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, followed by an original, "Blues for O"; the second, a Brazilian medley that touched in a number of important artists including guitarist/pianist Egberto Gismonti—Wakenius appeared onstage by himself, with only an acoustic guitar, and proceeded to wow the capacity audience with a combination of stunning virtuosity, rich dynamics, a surprisingly broad range of color from just a single steel-stringed acoustic guitar, and a hint of humor. Whether he was strumming furiously, sending out lightning-fast single note runs or creating delicate rhythms, in concert Wakenius surpassed his already impressive recorded work, but it wasn't just about strong technical ability; when Nah arrived on stage, it became clear that he's a player with his ears wide open—an ideal accompanist capable of everything from Gismonti's lithe classic, "Frevo," to Nat "King" Cole's comic "Calypso Blues," two early songs in Nah's set that captured the audience from the singer's first, delicate note to her later, more powerful delivery.

Starting the set with Voyage's title track, Wakenius replacing Norwegian trumpeter Mathias Eick's reverb-drenched a capella intro with one equally poignant. Rather than beginning her set with a bang, Nah sang so softly that it brought the entire audience to a hush, with such a fragile, vulnerable delivery that when she began singing with greater power, the slightest shift became dramatic, without ever approaching melodrama. Cole's "Calypso Blues" lightened things considerably, Nah's coy delivery engaging and Wakenius' imaginative adaptation of an arrangement that, on CD, was performed as a bass/vocal duo with fellow Swede, bassist Lars Danielsson.

Youn Sun Nah

Nah departed from her CD by singing a lovely version of Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Desafinado," but it was "Frevo," that followed, that was an early set highlight. Nah not only navigated Gismonti's challenging intervallic leaps, but entered into a call-and response with Wakenius that turned into an percussion duo, as the two musicians emulated a variety of percussion instruments. Judging from the enthusiastic audience response, this may be Nah's first appearance on this side of the Atlantic, but it's sure not to be her last.

June 29: Manu Katché

With the 2010 OIJF in its sixth day, it was time to get back to the new OLG tent for a 10:30PM show with veteran drummer Manu Katche, who brought a somewhat different lineup in support of his latest ECM release, Third Round (2010). While Norwegian saxophonist Tore Brunborg—who's particularly busy on ECM this year, having also participated on pianist Ketil Bjørnstad's Remembrance (2010) and pianist Tord Gustavsen's Restored, Returned (ECM), the latter coming to the OIJF with the saxophonist, drummer Jarle Vespestad and bassist Mats Eilertsen on July 2—was still in tow. But with bassist Pino Palladino rarely (if ever) touring and pianist Jason Rebello on the road this summer with guitarist Jeff Beck, Katché recruited two French friends—pianist Alfio Origlio and electric bassist Laurent Vernerey—to accompany him on 60 dates that will see the Peter Gabriel/Sting alum hitting cities across North America, Europe and the Middle East.

Manu Katché

Radiating sheer enjoyment throughout the show, Katché introduced the set by asking the audience to count in the first tune. Laughing when an audience member in the packed OLG tent shouted out "six-eight!," Katché replied, "no, just four-four," encouraging the crowd to snap its fingers in time as he jumped behind his kit and started a 100-minute set that emphasized material from Third Round, but also reached back to his earlier ECM discs, Neighbourhood (2006) and Playground (2007), but introducing material not found on any of the releases as well. He may not have wanted to ask the audience to snap in 6/8, but he had no problem playing in irregular meters, one new (and, sadly, unannounced) tune grooving hard in 5/4.

With an emphasis on groove, sing-song melodies and accessible arrangements, Katché's ECM releases are as close as the German label has ever come to a contemporary jazz sound, but those calling it "smooth jazz" are missing the fundamental difference. Katché's may be exceptionally easy on the ears, but live and on disc these are playing bands, with the drummer's earlier albums featuring some of the cream of ECM's crop of European players—trumpeters {Tomasz Stanko}} (who will be in Ottawa on the final night of the festival with his Dark Eyes Quintet) and Mathias Eick, saxophonists Jan Garbarek and Trygve Seim, and two of Stanko's young collaborators, pianist Marcin Wasilewski and double-bassist Slawomir Kirkiewicz. Those who think that Katché's albums are out of context with the overall ECM aesthetic are also missing the delicacy, the subtlety, the understatement with which Katché's bands deliver the music.

From left: Alfio Origlio, Laurent Vernerey

Third Round may be potentially more accusable than the others because of its shift to shorter song form and even great pop sensibility (not that there's anything wrong with that), but in a 2010 interview with AAJ's Ian Patterson, Katché said it all: "I love melodies and I try to be as melodic as I can, even when I play drums, and I think when you listen to Third Round, you go for a little trip. When we play live, of course, we go a little bit more for the improvisation but not too far away, not going crazy. The audiences are pleased because maybe they are not used to that way of structuring in instrumental music, but they react very positively to it. It's in, and not so long after, it's out, and they appreciate that. I'm not a big fan on record of—which is different than on stage— having 150 bars of improvisation. I think that when you listen to a record you just go for a trip, and if the trip is too long you get bored, unless you are Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, John Coltrane or Miles Davis, which I'm not."

Katché may not be Williams or Jones, but there's no doubt that he's carved out a unique niche for himself that now transcends his work in the pop world—work that, in many ways, is just as innovative as the jazz icons to which he refers and defers. Certainly he has a distinctive voice—something that, for many, is hard to hear on drums. Effortlessly navigating a kit that, admittedly, looks more "rock" than "jazz," his enthusiasm was evident, as his playing ranged from delicate, bell-like cymbal work and rim shots all around the kit, to thundering fills so challenging in execution that he would lean back—his left foot lifting way up off the hi-hat, as his body leaned back before coming back down as he rolled into yet another staggeringly polyrhythmic beat, with the kind of independence of limbs that was obvious, even to those who weren't drummers—and there were clearly plenty of players in the audience.

It's difficult for Norwegian saxophonists to escape from under the shadow of the iconic Garbarek, and with a tone that certainly comes from the now-legendary saxophonist's dry, sharp tone—even playing a less common curved bell version of the soprano saxophone, as does Garbarek—Brunborg's roots are inescapable. That said, since emerging in the 1980s with Masqualero—a group led by early Garbarek co-conspirators, bassist Arild Andersen and drummer Jon Christensen—and with a series of his own albums including the exceptional trio record, Lucid Grey (DRAVLE, 2009), Brunborg's voice and warmer tone have unequivocally become his own. Capable of seemingly effortlessly lithe runs, he also demonstrated a similar attention to tone and space as his early influence, also incorporating some subtle electronics throughout the set, including a pitch harmonizer to broaden his sound.

Origlio is a classically trained pianist who has a particular penchant for flamenco music, though his recent Headhunters tribute album demonstrated an unmistakable link back to '70s-era Herbie Hancock. In performance, playing both grand piano and Fender Rhodes electric, Origlio's ability to move inside and outside Katché's deceptively straightforward harmonies took the music to a deeper place. His playing on Neighbourhood's opening track, "November 99," was as informed by Hancock's dreamy harmonies as was Wasilewski on record; but live, this trio piece (with Brunborg sitting out), became much more powerful, as Katché's soft but sustaining cymbals led to subdued but still astounding fills of staggering complexity, while never losing sight of the primary pulse. Originally played on double-bass, the song's melody came from Vernerey, whose warm electric tone and soft staccato attack gave it an entirely different complexion.

The biggest difference between the songs on record and in performance was, some stretching out aside; Katché pushed the music a lot harder. The albums groove in a very physical way, but live Katché and his quartet smoked them. With the sound in the OLG much improved over that first evening six nights ago—proving that it was really just a matter of becoming accustomed to a new (and slightly challenging) performance space—Katché, Brunborg, Origlio and Vernerey kicked serious butt, delivering a performance that not only gave the drummers in the crowd plenty to go home and think about, but the entire audience as well, clearly captivated by Katché's eminently appealing writing and his group's energetic and committed delivery.

Coming up on Days 7-8 of the 2010 TD Ottawa International Jazz Festival: Radio.String.Quartet.Vienna and Tord Gustavsen Ensemble.

Visit Kenny Garrett, John Scofield, Ralph Towner, Paolo Fresu, Medeski, Martin & Wood, John Geggie, Youn Sun Nah, Manu Katché and TD Ottawa International Jazz Festival on the web.

Photo Credits
Page 4, John Geggie and Friends Performance: John R. Fowler
Page 5, Tore Brunborg: John R. Fowler
All Other Photos: John Kelman

Days 1-3 | Days 4-6 | Days 7-9 | Days 10-11

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