Open Waters
This Friday and Saturday (January 9 and 10) two venues in Halifax will be hosting a series of concerts and collaborations representing various forms of new and improvised music. It is the Open Waters Festival, presented by the Upstream Music Association. Paul Cram, Upstream’s artistic director, talks about the festival’s recent and “roaring nineties" past, as well as his own roaring musical roots; he also shares some highlights for this festival weekend.
What are your own roots?
PC: When I was
7 years old I saw the Benny Goodman Movie, took up the clarinet and
joined the Kiwanis Community Band in Vancouver led by the man who played
the trumpet at Isy’s Nightclub. Live music was ingrained early on
because the laws allowed my Dad to take me to Isy’s where I heard
Cannonball Adderley 10 feet away from us.
This was repeated with more close up shows of The
Buddy Rich and Duke Ellington Big Bands, improvising artists like Rahsaan
Roland Kirk and Elvin Jones before discovering John Coltrane’s A Love
Supreme album much later in 1965 which led me to join an R and B
band, learning Blood Sweat and Tears and Chicago before hitting the
road after high school and hit the road [I did].
From there I played wall to wall burlesque
before the onset of disco in the late seventies. It was a good time to get a
historical education of classical and world music at UBC while discovering the
free jazz of the late seventies through studying and improvising with my
peers and travelling players…
In 1982 I studied at Banff with Karl Berger, and
played with Dave Holland and Sam Rivers who gave me permission to combine
themes and not look down.
How long have you been involved in the Upstream Music
Association, and in what capacity?
PC: I have
been involved in Upstream for 25 years. I came to Halifax with my young family
in 1990 from Toronto where I was immersed in building large
improvising orchestras like the NOW New Orchestra Workshop in 1977.
It was fortuitous upon arrival that there were several
excellent literate composer/improvising performers especially in
several different genres like classical, folk, jazz… As luck would have it the
impetus at the time came from the curator of the [St. Mary’s University Art]
Gallery, Layton Davis whose visionary concept harboured a house band in an Art
Gallery. They found the funding initially and we started a concert season
featuring brand new compositions by the players for audiences that
were keen to be there.
Upstream was incorporated thanks to Layton and his
staff and a triumvirate of Bob Bauer, Jeff Reilly and myself kept the
ball rolling. The aforementioned configuration lasted for the first 10 years
and as several members retired and I became Artistic Director
of what was Upstream Music Association.. During that time we hosted guest
musicians from Denmark, Germany and France and from across Canada.
What are the rewards?
PC: The
thrill of improvisation in the hands of veteran practitioners of
improvised music create the momentum that is critical to keeping
new artists and audiences of all ages on a move that spells a bright
future for “hitless" music. Rewards
slow you down. It’s corny but the joy of doing it is its own
reward.
What originally inspired the Open Waters Festival?
PC: The concept of
the original Open Waters Festival of new and improvised music
was born following an amazing concert in 1996 with the
first collaboration of The Upstream Ensemble and Symphony Nova Scotia. (OPEN
WATERS is the name of the Upstream's first CD Recording.)
The concert was conducted by American /Buddhist
conductor Peter Liebersen (now deceased) and featured the
compositions of the Upstream Ensemble composers who also played. This
collaboration was recorded and became the inspiration for the festival
for the next three years where the SNS/UPSTREAM collaboration were joined by
musicians David Mott (USA), Barry Guy (UK) ) and Array Music from Toronto
under the baton of Peter Wiegold (UK). The Festival ended in 1999.
Upstream soldiered on creating an Upstream Orchestra
of its own while collaborating with outstanding musician/composers from
abroad like Fred Frith, Lori Freedman, Barry Guy and Graham Collier.
How did the festival return?
PC: The Open Waters Festival
came back in 2011 with the need to show off Halifax to the Canadian New Music
Network. There were quite a number of musicians from Atlantic Canada and new
music fans coming to that year.
It was an exciting reminder of the roaring
nineties and we decided to open up the festival annually since then. In essence
we had found a broader community from Atlantic Canada with Newfoundland, New
Brunswick and Quebec players and professional writers and artistic directors
looking for new sound for their events.
The challenge is getting the right balance and
timing between sets so that they have an overall momentum that keeps the
excitement ball in the air.
What can audiences expect this year?
PC: Things you
might not have seen very often at music festivals. Some examples are Mack
Furlong and Chris Tonelli, Newfoundland musicians
taking their cues and material from a filmed score that leads
their live music. Or Les Mécaniques De Nuit, a unique mash up of stringed instruments , poetry and spoken word. Or Joe
McPhee, a truly great jazz improviser from south of the border, and guest performing with my group Free Delivery.
What’s next on your creative agenda?
PC: I have to write
a grant to the Canada Council to commission a new piece by
two well known Canadian composers for 2015/16. We are
also putting together our stable of ensembles, The Upstream Orchestra and the
Upstream Ensemble, and a newly reviving new project: Guerrilla Vacation.
What are some future plans for the festival?
PC: Reciprocity in
programming is a big motivator that encourages concerts abroad and new
collaborations with new music and musicians. The geography of
our festival means we bring artists from Atlantic Canada. We will
however make it a Canadian Festival in 2016 with trios from Vancouver,
Toronto and Montreal. Then we plan to do a huge orchestra with them and the
Atlantic musicians. We will keep bringing new energy to the festival to
inspire the next year’s crop of live new music .
Open
Waters Festival Of New and Improvised Music
January
9 & 10, 2015
Sir
James Dunn Theatre & Atlantica Hotel
