Mercury - 2010 by Freedman / Caloia

Mardi Spaghetti Series
Le Cagibi Montreal May 11 2010

If one is familiar with the musicians playing in a concert of freely improvised music, one will have some idea of their modus operandi and bag of tricks. From this knowledge one can form a rough idea as to what to expect. The pleasure then becomes one of both comfort in hearing what you already know the musicians can do, but also inevitably surprise, since even the musicians themselves cannot exactly know what is going to happen. Here we have two veterans of the Canadian improvising music scene. Clarinettist Lori Freedman ranges from avant-classical recitals to free jazz, capable of the widest range of utterings from her instrument and also occasionally from her voice. She is a long-standing member of bassist Nicolas Caloia’s large Ratchet Orchestra, the large grouping only one side of Caloia’s activites which also include smaller ensembles. This Cagibi show from May of 2010 largely focuses on the quieter side, providing a pensive and relaxed listen. I will leave listeners to discover in what ways they will be surprised.

Musique Rayonnante proposes an online audio collection which offers a sample of some of the open and abstract music coming out of Montreal in the early 21 century.

musiquerayonnante.org