Bop Shop EventsTHE BLUE SPIRIT BAND
BOP ARTS presents THE BLUE SPIRIT BANDSunday June 28 8pm
Bassist Adam Lane appeared to us seemingly out of nowhere back in 2002. Trumpeter Paul Smoker approached us and asked if we’d be interested in booking a young guy, a bassist who he thought was really good. When we asked him who was in the band he mentioned in addition to he and Lane, saxophonist John Tchicai and drummer Barry Altschul. We jumped at the chance to book this stellar lineup. It turned out to be one of our most memorable concerts and a second concert by the band followed when they released their CD. Since then Lane has fronted many memorable bands but we’ve never been able to co-ordinate our schedules. But happily, we’ve booked his most recent group, the Blue Spirit Band and we’re really looking forward to this one. The band ‘s focus is on spirituals and folk music from the United States mostly from the African- American spiritual tradition. The repertoire also includes Leadbelly and Elizibeth Cotton tunes but mainly the orientation is towards African-American spirituals and blues. Although Lane is as well known for his music based in free improvisation, he is also a skilled arranger as his compositional work can attest. And with this band, Lane has assembled a crack quartet. On trumpet will be Roy Campbell who has appeared at the Bop Shop several times. His trumpet bristles with the energy and spirit of jazz from its earliest practitioners right up to the present. Saxophonist Avram Fefer appeared here previously in Michael Bisio’s group. Fluent on a number of reeds his saxophone can project the warmth and melodic qualities of the classic jazz saxophonist (Webster, Hawkins) and brings a spiritual passion and intensity found in players like Coltrane and Shepp. Drummer Vijay Anderson has been a foil for Lane in several of his groups and the two have a great rapport in driving the soloists. The group hasn’t recorded yet but the day after this concert, they will be heading to the Spirit Room at CIMP to lay down some tracks. From the demo we’ve heard, this band should be making some powerful music in the atrium. Come and enjoy an evening of music, rooted in the tradition and looking to the future.
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