Thursday, Feb 16, 2012 The Prophouse Cafe 1636 Venables Ave @ Commercial 7pm- 12am Suggested Cost: $10
On Feb 16th Pandora's Collective will be hosting a 10th anniversary celebration/fundraiser for the long-running Twisted Poets Literary Salon and the Collective featuring iconic East Van troubadours C.R. Avery, Jess Hill and Geoff Berner.
As well as the musicians, Pandora’s Collective top word maven and one of the organization’s founders, Bonnie Nish, has asked a stellar line-up of writers to creatively pay tribute to an organization which has supported authors over the years with regular events like the Salon at the Prophouse and Word Whips at the Britannia Library - which now has sister events in White Rock & the North Shore. Pandora’s Collective also sends books and school supplies to Africa and even hosts a full-on literary festival every summer. Many of Pandora’s top writers will be on hand to toast the night and gorge on cake. The line up includes:Timothy Shay, Taslim Jaffer, James McCann, Daniela Elza, Rob Taylor, Suzy Malcolm, David Campbell, Chelsea Comeau, Stephen Karr, Ruth Kozak, Warren Dean Fulton, Christy Hill, Kyle Hawke, Fran Bourassa, Johnny Frem, Eva Waldorf, Dennis E. Bolen, Steve Duncan & Mary Duffy,
Co-hosted by Bonnie Nish, Sita Carboni, Daniela Elza and Timothy Shay There will also be door prizes and a 50/50 draw!
Read on for selected performer bios.
For more info, contact Bonnie Nish at blnish@pandorascollective.com Geoff Berner  “I want to make original klezmer music that’s drunk, dirty, political and passionate. As a Jew of eastern european descent, I feel I have a calling to make this music live, not just preserve it under glass like something in a museum.”
This approach has earned him rave reviews in publications in many countries.
“The Avenging Angel of klezmer” — Canada’s Globe and Mail
“Geoff Berner might be klezmer’s saviour.” — NOW Magazine
"5/6" — Oslo Dagvisen
"Cherish him, cherish him, for there really is no one like him. Fantastic." — Billy Bragg
His latest album, “Klemzer Mongrels” released October 24 on the 9pm label, is the ultimate expression of his aggressive kind of klezmer. It's a klezmer punk folk dance album about mixed-breeds of all kinds.
“Today there's a cultural battle going on between the boring forces of purity, fundamentalism and monoculture, and the fun forces of mixed-up, messed-up diversity. This album is a shot in favour of the mixed-up fun."
"I believe in this approach, because at the height of its powers, this music, the folk music of Eastern European Jews, was a constantly changing brew of Turkish music, sacred Jewish music, Tango, jazz, and the music of whatever country the Jews were living in at the time."
Berner's message is evident in songs like "Half German Girlfriend", "Luck in Exile", and the ironic "Authentic Klezmer Wedding Band". The music and lyrics are a raw assault on purity that will make listeners, laugh, bang their heads, cry, and feel absurd, all at the same time.
After numerous international tours, festival appearances, airplay on national radio in 7 countries, and slots on tour with artists such as Billy Bragg, Kaizers Orchestra, Balkan Beat Box and the Be Good Tanyas (who covered his song "Light Enough to Travel", selling over 100,000 copies), he's garnered critical acclaim and a cult following for his sharp songwriting and cabaret performance style.
Berner bolstered his klezmer knowledge with a research trip: In 2004, the trio of Berner, Diona Davies (violin) and Wayne Adams (percussion) travelled to rural Romania to investigate the roots of klezmer with their guide and klezmer guru, Bob Cohen, leader of Budapest band Di Naye Kapelye. They returned with a deeper understanding of the music, and quite a few stories to tell.
It would be tempting to paint Berner as some kind of klezmer rebel, but he maintains that he is working firmly in the tradition. “When we went to Romania, we found musicians who are masterful, but can also play so passionately that pitch and meter are thrown to the wind. And the words in the songs are full of drinking, politics and sex. That’s my kind of tradition.
CR Avery
Whether performing to thousands at the Royal Albert Hall or the lucky few who made it inside the packed past capacity speakeasy, C.R. Avery is a unique, raw and dynamic performer. His genius lies in many genres - blues, hip-hop, spoken word and rock & roll. He is a one-man band, but one for this generation; with the rare ability to sing poetic verse while beatboxing simultaneously while pounding the piano and adding harmonica like a plot twist. A multi-talented front man for his Legal Tender String Quartet; a crazed lead singer/harp player for his rock & roll band The Special Interest Group; a lyrical dynamo & the musical backbone of the spoken word trio Tons of Fun University.
From musical beginnings in his late teens, C.R. Avery has recorded over fifteen albums as well as writing & directing six hip-hop operas, which were mounted and performed from New York’s Bowery to L.A.’s South Central. He has toured throughout Canada (including almost every major folk festival) the USA and Europe (headlining or opening for Billy Bragg, Buck 65, and Sage Francis) and garnered the attention of music peers the likes of Tom Waits (“...he’s blowin’ my mind”); blues harp trail blazer Charlie Musselwhite (“...no one plays harmonica like him… no one…”); and folk legend Utah Phillips (“...raw talent”).
His incredible live performances have been described as Bob Dylan in the body of Iggy Pop; colliding with Little Walter, the Beastie Boys and Allen Ginsberg. Every show is all or nothing and his fearless approach to all genres of music both on stage and in the studio proves the longevity of this talented, astonishing creator has so much more to come.
For more information – http://www.cravery.com/ C.R. Avery’s book “38 Bar Blues” available now for $15.00 from Write Bloody Publishing. Download a free pdf sample of this great book. Check out this Behind The Page video by Write Bloody President Derrick Brown.
Jess Hill is a unique singer-songwriter risen from the talented denizens of East Vancouver. She is a storyteller whose delicately constructed lyrical worlds captivate, standing firmly with her blues-draped compositions. Her music will smash your heart, pinch you in your sweetest nerves, give pause to the present and sing you to sleep all in one gently fierce moment. Jess invites the audience into her realm, engaging them with a voice like the sound of a well-rosined bow across your heartstrings, telling tales over her skillfully crafted guitar playing. She can pull a room of strangers into her palm, crushing them with stinging emotions and releasing them reborn into the night. Since releasing her debut album Road in 2006, Jess Hill has been featured on CBC radio, performed at The Vancouver Folk Festival, Vancouver International Jazz Festival, Artswells, and numerous other festivals in BC, as well as becoming a much loved staple in the arenas of the western Canadian music scene. She was a top 20 finalist in the Peak Performance Project in 2010, Vancouver’s indie music showcase and contest put on by The Peak 100.5FM. Her second full length album Orchard, recorded and produced by the multi-talented Aaron Joyce, pushes away from the dock of her folk roots, and onto the frontiers of new creative fires, delivering arrangements sometimes slightly more electric in nature. The new album showcases Hill’s signature sound but also shows her artistic growth by casting a more ethereal and fantasy-tuned mood over the entirety of the recording. |
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Pandora’s Collective Celebrates Letting Loose Literary Chaos For 10 Years!posted Feb 2, 2012 4:09 PM by Steve Duncan |