MARATHON MUSIC MIX
T’Cha Dunlevy gathers some suggestions to help you wade through this Montreal music festival’s mix of free jazz, punk rock, world music and assorted underground sounds.
How to describe Suoni per il Popolo?
The question is daunting when one considers the festival’s wildly varied lineup, a mix of free jazz, punk rock, world music and assorted underground sounds.
For Suoni executive director Peter Burton, it’s just another day at the office.
“We’re a 21st-century, avant garde, experimental music festival,” Burton said of the nearly month-long event, the 17th edition of which runs June 1 to 24.
“We have really eclectic musical tastes, and we try to present diverse artists — we have the same number of female and male artists in the festival. We also have people from extremely diverse backgrounds, racially and in terms of sexual identities. The common thread is experimental music that is not accepted commercially.”
Founded by Mauro Pezzente, of Montreal post-rock collective Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and his partner Kiva Stimac, Suoni per il Popolo has come to embody the kind of programming you’ll find year-round at their Mile End venues Casa del Popolo, La Sala Rossa and Il Vitrola, landmarks of Montreal’s alternative music scene.
To help you navigate the more than 70 events on this year’s festival program, Burton offered his take on some shows worth the musical detour.
Paying tribute to Pauline Oliveros
(until Sunday, various venues)
Still Listening, a tribute to Pauline Oliveros is among several events dedicated to the artist, including conferences, performances and workshops at McGill University, continuing Saturday with the daylong Improvisation and Listening (9 a.m. at La Vitrola, free).
“This was originally going to be (Oliveros’s) birthday party, but she passed last fall,” Burton said, “so it turned into a celebration of her life. She’s one of the great, landmark American composers. Her electronic music from the ’60s still sounds contemporary. She was hip before anybody knew what it meant.”
Ellen Fullman & Greg Davis
(Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Phi Centre, sold out).
American composer Ellen Fullman will perform on her aptly named installation The Long String Instrument, which she began developing in 1981.
“It’s this 65-foot-long string instrument, weighed down with 800 kilograms of sandbags to maintain tension on the cables so she can walk along and play them with her fingertips,” Burton said.
“It’s her first time in Montreal.”
Elle Barbara and Twysted Mugler present War of the Elements
(Saturday at 9 p.m. at La Sala Rossa, $15/$20)
“Elle Barbara is a local performer who is organizing a vogue ball. Dancers are going to be competing for cash prizes. There will be all kinds of dancers from New York and Toronto, from the houses of Mugler, Monroe, Amazing, Constantine, Ebony and Lanvin. It should be really interesting.”
Princess Nokia, with Strange Froots and Debby Friday
(June 8 at 8:30 p.m. at La Sala Rossa, $14/$16)
Princess Nokia is a queer, indigenous, Nuyorican feminist rapper who has garnered attention for last year’s mixtape 1992.
“She’s sort of breaking out in a huge way,” Burton said.
“We’re quite excited to have her. I’m sure in the future she’ll be playing much bigger venues.”
Novarumori presents The Holy Presence of Joan of Arc,
by Julius Eastman, with Myriam Bleau and Nicole Lizée’s Sasktronica (June 13 at 8 p.m. at La Sala Rossa, $9/$12)
Montreal chamber orchestra performs a work by post-minimalist pioneer Eastman.
“He’s a famous African-American queer composer whose ideas were taken up by Steve Reich and Philip Glass,” Burton said. “But he was shunned by the new music establishment, developed drug issues, became homeless and died of a heart attack (in 1990). All his scores were thrown in the street by the New York Police Department. Now there’s a huge revival of interest in his recordings. People are transcribing his scores. Novarumori will be playing with a 10-piece cello section. It’s going to be intense.”
Anthony Braxton Sextet
(June 16 at 8:30 p.m. at La Sala Rossa, $30/$35)
Member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago whose six-decade career has consistently tested the outer limits of jazz, Braxton is making his first festival appearance.
“He’s an amazing soloist who plays with such fluidity of expression,” Butler said. “He’ll be playing with two harpists and a tuba. He’s a major figure of 20thcentury jazz.”
Severed Heads, with UN, Rhythm of Cruelty and RadioVoid
(June 14 at 9 p.m. at La Sala Rossa, $16/$20)
“They’re a legendary electro band,” Burton said of Severed Heads, which formed in Australia in 1978. “They were signed to (Canada’s) Nettwerk Records in the ’80s and were label mates with Skinny Puppy. They’ve kept the creativity going. They don’t use vintage gear anymore — they’re still exploring.”
Mary Margaret O’Hara with Peggy Lee, Allison Cameron, Marielle Groven and the Bozzini Quartet
(Monday at 8 p.m. at La Sala Rossa, $10/$13)
Canadian singer-songwriter O’Hara’s 1988 album Miss America has become a cult classic. She performs with Vancouver cellist Lee. Before that, Montreal experimental classical ensemble The Bozzini Quartet plays songs by Toronto composer Cameron and Montreal’s Groven, who will also team up with O’Hara and Lee. Expect sparks.
Les filles de Illighadad, with Marocouleurs
(June 19 at 8:30 p.m. at La Sala Rossa, $12/$15)
“Les filles de Illighadad are a Touareg group consisting of three women,” Burton said. “The guitarist is described as one of only two female guitarists in Niger. They’re a fantastic, rocking band.
“We organized a cross-Canada tour for them to make it affordable to bring them over.”