BAND ERU-ERA SET FOR RAW, SOULFUL SHOW
Trumpeter Ed Lister talks the funk septet’s live album recording this weekend at Irene’s Pub, the Ottawa fusion scene and their role models
Ottawa trumpeter Ed Lister is a dynamo when it comes to creating bands and original music for those bands. He belongs to a dozen groups, his website says, and he seems to be perpetually composing for the groups that he leads.
Lister’s priority this week is his seven-piece funk band Eru-Era, which plays Friday and Saturday at Irene’s Pub on Bank Street. Above and beyond a usual gig, the shows will be recorded, with the best music to be pressed on CDs for a planned fall release.
Lister, who is from London, England, and who also puts out music on his London Gentleman Records label, demystifies EruEra’s name and music below.
Q What’s the meaning of the band’s name?
A Eruera is my name in Māori. My mother is from New Zealand and is Māori. I just took my name and hyphenated it to become Eru-Era.
Q Tell me how the band got together.
A The band got together based off the standing Sunday soul residencies that have been happening at Irene’s Pub. I’d already done a bunch of these residencies with numerous other projects and wanted to do something that was strictly my compositions and arrangements. So, I began writing a bunch of charts that reflected all of my influences and sounds of the neo-soul/ fusion genre.
I worked a lot with Rich Page in the past and knew baritone sax was where he was comfortable, so that was an easy choice. Brady Leafloor has been in town forever, and I play with him in a Motown band called the Hornettes but didn’t really see him much outside of that, so I figured, “What better way to play with him more than to invite him into this new group?” The rhythm section I had played with a bunch, in all kinds of projects, apart from Ben DiMillo. I saw Ben playing in his old band Monday I Retire and thought he was the bee’s knees when it came to taste and note selection, so I immediately drafted him.
Q What’s your goal for EruEra?
A The goal for this band is to get on the festival circuit and tour!
Q Who are the role models or heroes for this project?
A D’Angelo, Chris Potter’s Underground, the RH Factor, Jill Scott, YES, Anderson .Paak, to name a few.
Q: What’s the most satisfying thing for you about this group?
A: The interaction and dynamics and very different approaches to improvising from every member. Also, seeing the compositions come to life. My compositions are very detailed, with every part having a key role somewhere in every tune. It’s nice to hear them live instead of the awful MIDI sounds of Sibelius 6!
Q How are you able to split your time between your bands EruEra, the Chocolate Hot Pockets and Prime Time Big Band?
A I find it easy to split my time between all of my projects because it’s literally all I do! I wake up in the morning or afternoon and go to my basement and start writing tunes. I never have a band in mind when I start composing. As the tunes progress, I put the tunes into the rep for the different groups. I must have about 400 fully charted compositions by now.
Q What do you think of the Ottawa electric jazz/funk scene and your role in it?
A I think the fusion funk/soul scene in Ottawa is starting to find its legs now. It’s easy to call a jazz standard at a jam and put a shoddy backbeat on it and call it fusion. But I have found that the new fusion bands in Ottawa are putting way more time and thought into original material and a show element.
When I moved to town, the first group I founded with Alex Moxon, Jamie Holmes and J.P. Lapensee was the Chocolate Hot Pockets. This group is still going strong, and we’ve put out three albums and an EP and a video series. When the Hot Pockets started six years ago, I felt like there wasn’t much of an electric fusion scene in Ottawa at all, and then over time it’s established itself quite nicely!
Q Why is Eru-Era recording live later this week, rather than going into a studio?
A Recording live captures the band at its rawest and most soulful. You get to capture every bit of interplay and conversation between the musicians and the overall vibe just feels great.
I chose Irene’s Pub because I have established a great relationship with them over the last few years and they are always supporting the local music scene and giving musicians a platform to deliver their music. My goal is to set up a live album series with other groups and start putting out high-quality albums regularly.