JAZZ FEST TRIBUTE
Label founder in spotlight
DRIP AUDIO NIGHT Part of 2018 TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival When: June 29, 9:30 p.m. Where: The Imperial, 319 Main St. Tickets and info: From $23, ticketfly.com, coastaljazz.ca
In 2003, violinist/mandolinist Jesse Zubot won his first Juno Award for the Roots and Traditional Album of the Year, playing in Zubot and Dawson.
Zubot has been stacking wins up ever since as a member of Great Uncles of the Revolution (2004), Fond of Tigers (2010), and playing with Tanya Tagaq (2015), among many others.
Zubot’s output as both musician and mogul is featured at the 2018 TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival. Drip Audio, the label he founded in 2005 and which has been critical to the development of creative music in Canada, has its own evening at the Imperial on June 29.
Label artists Fond of Tigers, Peregrine Falls (featuring guitarist Gordon Grdina and drummer Kenton Loewen, of Dan Mangan’s Blacksmith) and Sick Boss will all appear, and Zubot opens the show with one of those one-of-akind festival collaborations: a duet with Chicago saxophone heavy and MacArthur Foundation genius grant recipient Ken Vandermark.
Zubot says it’s amazing that all of these projects were available to perform. All are a stable of musicians who lead their own bands, tour and do session work and generally are significantly harder to round up in the same space at the same time.
“The jazz fest has always been really supportive of me, and has offered me quite a lot of opportunities in the past decade that I’ve had to turn down,” said Zubot.
“So it’s pretty cool, time-wise, that it worked out this year. I feel like it’s kind of a turning point, because after putting out 43 or more albums with Drip Audio of mostly other people’s music, I’m feeling inclined to focus a bit more on my own.”
Accolades have been bestowed on the Saskatchewan-born and raised artist for his work as a producer on numerous Drip Audio releases such as those by avant-garde throat-singing sensation Tagaq, brilliant guitarist and composer Tony Wilson, vocal artist Viviane Houle, and others.
As a session player, Zubot’s violin has graced recordings by everyone from Stars and Mother Mother to Raffi and Dan Mangan. He is a hard-working musician.
“I like that combination of a little bit here and a little bit there, because it keeps it interesting always,” said Zubot.
“But what’s happening is that I have tons and tons of stuff that keeps getting put on the back burner and it’s time to work on it. I have a lot of film soundtrack materials which haven’t been released, and I’m really enjoying working with them lately.”
Zubot admits his entire career approach has been to float around different scenes and sounds, pursuing what felt right. It may have given the impression that he was less inclined to undertake long, project-focused work. That’s not the case.
“I’m not sure it’s been the best approach, career-wise, but it felt good artistically, except it left the impression I float around,” he said.
“It’s what I need to be happy and satisfy my creative needs. But getting older, it’s nice to have longer periods of ‘at home’ productivity.”
The demands of balancing increased studio work takes its toll on the playing side. Not that Zubot isn’t an exceptional performer; his resume is loaded with work as session player, side man and band leader. It’s just that his learning curve the last few years has been more about production than playing.
“These last few years working with Tanya and producing her last two albums has generated a lot more work in that area,” he said.
“I’m really into that, and film scoring, because my experience in so many different scenes with so many different sounds has made me better at doing it.”
I feel like it’s kind of a turning point, because after putting out 43 or more albums with Drip Audio of mostly other people’s music, I’m feeling inclined to focus a bit more on my own.
Zubot’s soundtracks for 2014’s Hector and the Search for Happiness (with Dan Mangan), and 2016 documentary Koneline: Our Land Beautiful by Nettie Wild were Canadian Screen Awards nominees.
His score for director Stephen Campanelli’s adaptation of author Richard Wagamese’s Indian Horse was nominated for a 2018 Leo Award.
But the thrill of getting on stage and using the muscles and brain power that live improvisation brings never gets old.
“I’ve never played with Ken Vandermark before, which is really exciting as I haven’t done much fullon performing lately with really physical heavyweights like him and Matts Gustafsson,” Zubot said.
“And Fond of Tigers is the hardest project I’ve ever been in to try to keep together, but always a blast to play in when we can pull it off. Sick Boss and Peregrine Falls are both so good, and I still feel that Peregrine Falls album didn’t get the attention it deserves.”
This comment sounds straight from the Drip Audio marketing office, but it’s the nature of the kind of non-mainstream music that the label has concentrated on that titles can get missed.
Peregrine Falls was nominated in the Instrumental Album of the Year category at the 2018 Juno Awards, but it didn’t win.
Zubot is a winner who wants to see artists he believes in get their fair share of recognition and compensation. If he can have a hand in that happening, he very likely will.