Concert Review: VEJI 25th Anniversary Concert

Vancouver Ensemble of Jazz Improvisation
Vancouver East Cultural Centre
October 28 8:00pm

Hugh Fraser's ensemble of Vancouver's finest jazz musicians celebrated its silver anniversary in top form in the intimate space of the VECC. Freshly back from their lockout, the CBC crew was recording this outstanding concert for posterity. After 25 years, individually these players are at the top of their game, and as a group they are tight as a drum.

The first half of the show was a musical retrospective highlighting some of the group's finest works. Fraser got the crowd and musicians warmed up with the rollicking The Key of Love.

Fraser's inspiration for his compositions comes from diverse sources as the next piece Leda's Song is based on the classic Greek myth of Leda and the Swan. This one featured solos by Bill Runge on baritone saxophone as the swan and singer Christine Duncan as Leda.

I've never thought of a choral mass as music that really swings but Fraser's Mass in C minor does. We got a taste of the two final movements of the piece and I think I need to hear the full mass with chorus sometime.

Skreeab Bop got the joint bouncing again and ended the set. This diverse selection of music really showed off Fraser's wide ranging imagination and compositional skills as well as the band's talent in pulling off these tunes.

After the intermission, Hugh Fraser premiered his latest large scale composition. The one hour long Canadian Dedication Suite was the highlight of the evening. Written to let almost all the players show off their chops they were more than up to the task. Ross Taggart had a hard swinging tenor saxophone solo. Vince Mai's trumpet solo had him quick switching from one trumpet to another. Hugh Fraser's solo had him playing the grand piano in every way possible including from the inside. Christine Duncan's solo demonstrated the versatility of her voice--sounding like the blare of a trumpet one minute to the low raspy sound of a throat singer the next. The rhythm section showed of their talents with the incredibly tight interplay of percussion and drums by Jack Duncan and Dave Robbins respectively. The piece went to the edge with Brad Muirhead going wild on the bass trombone along with Rod Murray on trombone.

After a standing ovation for an amazing hour of blisteringly energetic music, the band closed with the cheeky Thank You Very Much. Fraser took up his trombone and turned over the piano to Ross Taggart, as Christine Duncan belted out the lyrics to send the happy crowd home.

Here's hoping for another 25 years of great music from 16 of the West Coast's finest musicians.