Free Jazz Vancouver continues pumping out tune after tune.
A few weeks ago, I got a phone call from my friend Walter. He mentioned that the night of our “rehearsal” slash get-together, a special guest would be dropping by.
Steve Ranta...
I’ve known Steve for many years... way before I escaped Canada to teach English in Japan for nine years. I don’t remember much about Steve... all I remember was that big honkin’ smile on his face... and that he would be at the jam sessions in Maple Ridge (there used be jams at the “Office”, a sports bar type place with a stage).
Well, I got some charts out and went to Mission where Walter lives.
We went through a bunch of “normal” charts first... Killer Joe... Softly as in a Morning Sunrise... How Insensitive... I was just screwing around with these tunes knowing my chord reading skills were too weak to be able to make decent solos.
What I was really waiting for and much anticipating was the free jazz stuff!
Being worried about Steve not being “into” free jazz, I was pleasantly surprised because he was very much into it.
The first take was a long take... I started off with much force and then Steve started to control the music... I was surprised at how much he could experiment and all the unusual sounds that came out of his organ.
To hear this take click here.
This take took around 15 minutes... I don’t think Free Jazz Vancouver has pushed things this far and we have to thank veteran Steve Ranta for this. There’s a lot of neat stuff in this recording so enjoy.
We had a couple of more free jazz takes this night. In one Steve was really trying to create some very ear bending stuff... click here for that recording. I’m trying to offend at the beginning... using a previously used lick to create a funky mood which didn’t turn funky at all. Steve continued to ram out creepy morgue stuff... Walter was beating his drums in ways that only he can understand. Then I would use my usual triple note motive going down down down. After that Steve warps everything beyond belief while I lip slur things roughly... the ending ends in mystery.
The final free jazz recording is called Redneck Shuffle from Hell. I basically played the same dribble over and over with a wee bit of variation here and there. I think it works thanks to the drum work of Walter. Click here for that clip.
Well, it was another incredible experience creating music with Free Jazz Vancouver. Somehow I believe that we’re changing the ears of a select few in this big world...
