For almost two decades, The Ironworks on Alexander Street has been the home for musicians who zig when the rest of us zag, at least during the Vancouver International Jazz Festival.
This year’s Innovation Series is no different and leans into the venue’s reputation as the place where one can find challenging and invigorating music that doesn’t sound quite like anything else in the Jazz Festival line up.
Darius Jones is considered one of the great living alto saxophonists, and his connection to our Jazz Festival runs deep. During the decade that he’s been performing here he’s gotten to know many of our local talents, and some of them (Peggy Lee, Josh Zubot, Jesse Zubot, James Meger) will be joining him on June 24 at The Ironworks, alongside New York drummer Gerald Cleaver. He’ll also be performing with long time collaborators Julia Uleha and Amirtha Kidambi on July 3.
Every time trumpeter/composer Jaimie Branch comes to town it feels like a big deal. This year, she’s bringing two projects to The Ironworks. Her new C’est Trois trio (June 25) features two faces (Tcheser Holmes on drums and Luke Stewart on bass) familiar to The Ironworks audiences, and Anteloper (June 26) features Jaimie on trumpet and electronics, and Jason Nazarry on drums and synthesizers.
Lisa Cay Miller and NOW Society have been working to bring Douglas R. Ewart to Vancouver for several years, but COVID-19 had other ideas. Due to Lisa’s tenacity this is finally happening on June in the form of Canabrava Now, an ensemble featuring Ewart (composer/woodwinds/percussion), Mankwe Ndosi (voice), Lucy Strauss (viola), Matthew Ariaratnam (guitar), and Lisa Cay Miller (piano).
Members of Like The Mind share plenty of musical sensibilities, if not geographical ones. They’re represented by Canada (Meredith Bates on violin, Peggy Lee on cello, and Elisa Thorn on harp), and Sweden (Lisa Ullén on piano, Lisen Rylander Löve on saxophone, and Emma Augustsson on cello), and their upcoming performance on June 28 reminds me of the days when Scandinavian/Canadian collaborations were a yearly event at the Jazz Festival.
Due to Seattle’s proximity to Vancouver, Wayne Horvitz has been bringing a myriad of fascinating projects to Vancouver for decades. For his June 29 performance, he’ll be collaborating with two West Coast cornerstones (Peggy Lee on cello, Ayesha Brook on vocals), as well as Toronto’s Karen Ng on saxophone.
It’s been four years since Thumbscrew played The Ironworks, and it feels like the band has a lot more visibility among jazz audiences than it did back then. It’s a collective trio, featuring Mary Halvorson on guitar, Michael Formanek on bass, and Tomas Fujiwara on drums, with all three having independently played The Ironworks many times in recent years. They’ll be playing on June 30.
Free jazz heart and soul? Check.
Thundering metal and punk Influences? Check.
Avant-garde sensibilities? Check, check, and check. Now you’re ready for Fire!, featuring saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, bassist Johan Berthling, and drummer Andreas Werlin on July 2.
— by Tim Reinert
Listen along to The Infidels podcast for a taste of what each of these bands has in store at The Ironworks this year.
