NOW Orchestra Flaunts Flute with Windy City Woodwind

Posted by David
Filed in Music
April 9, 2008

Do you remember that scene in Anchorman where Ron Burgundy reveals his secret talent as a ripping jazz flutist? And you thought to yourself, it can't get more cool than that, right? That was some fine fluting, but I'm sorry. Burgundy's performance will have nothing on Chicago's Nicole Mitchell when she joins Vancouver's NOW Orchestra at Vancouver East Cultural Centre this Friday, April 11 for an evening of performance entitled Through the Eyes of a Child.

Mitchell, known as one of the world's top jazz flutists, flourishes in the windy city's fertile jazz and improv scenes. Vancouver is no slouch in that department either. The NOW Orchestra is a veritable who's who of local improv talent recently gaining kudos from a couple of big times: the Lisbon Jazz Festival & New York's Village Voice who said the "free ensemble are provincial enough to feel the need to keep the anarchy intact, even when their guest breaks out." Hopefully not by stomping tables while jamming, but who knows.

Led by composer and saxophonist Coat Cooke, the Orchestra currently features JP Carter on trumpet, Brad Muirhead on trombone, Chad MacQuarrie on electric guitar, Tommy Babin on basses, Chris Gestrin on keys and voice and Skye Brooks on drums. Been to a show at The Western Front or The Cellar lately? Chances are you've seen some of these guys do things with their instruments you've never heard before. No, to reference another silly movie, I'm not talking band camp here either.

This incarnation of the collaborative-driven ensemble also features spoken word artists Mercedes Baines and Kedrick James performing compositions with the musicians. Through the Eyes of a Child refers to the performance style these artists engage in: from voice to instrument, words to notes, this group embraces the unfamiliar and speaks out with an intuition you can only find with such a gifted collection of spontaneous music makers.

Tickets are available online or at the door with students getting in for the low price of only $5.00. Show starts at 8pm.

Top photo courtesy NOW Orchestra, Nicole Mitchell photo by Brad Walseth