From: owner-trajectory-digest@smoe.org (trajectory-digest) To: trajectory-digest@smoe.org Subject: trajectory-digest V3 #65 Reply-To: trajectory@smoe.org Sender: owner-trajectory-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-trajectory-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk trajectory-digest Thursday, July 29 1999 Volume 03 : Number 065 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Veda vs. Calgary Folk Festival [Brian Hohm ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 28 Jul 1999 13:40:06 -0600 From: Brian Hohm Subject: Veda vs. Calgary Folk Festival Well, as nobody has posted anything about Veda Hille at the Calgary Folk Festival, guess I'll tell you what I saw. Please bear in mind that after 4 days of heavy festivalling my memory starts doing bad things, like conflating Veda and Exene Cervenka (which normally would be impossible, if you've ever seen the two of them). She did a couple songs between the headliners on the Main Stage on Friday night. I was in the beer garden and couldn't follow it too closely, but I consoled myself with the certain knowledge that I'd see her side stage solo set Sat. afternoon. Sat. was a bad day for me and my '82 Chevette Scooter. I had to bike to the Festival and missed Veda's 10:30 AM workshop. I also missed her 3:30 side stage solo set. I don't expect any of you to understand or except any excuses from me so I wont even try to make any. The 4:15 pm: "Jazz 'Round Midday", with Karl Roth & John Hyde, Zubot and Dawson, and Gil Scott-Heron was dominated by Karl Roth's group, who are technically great players, but they insisted on doing the let's-solo-on-the-jazz-standards kind of stuff that I just don't get the point of. Veda did some great vocals on "I Don't Get Around Much Anymore" and persuaded the band to improvise behind her on "Well I Guess Not" (the Billie Holiday number). Sunday, 7/26, 12:30 pm: Hosting "The Writing On The Wall" workshop, with Exene Cervenka, Gil Scott-Heron, Conrad Molleson, and John Hyde... Veda did her things very well: "Instructions", "Belly Fish", and Emily Carr Meets "The Group of Seven." There were some clowns dressed as Roman soldiers riding around on foam horses beating on Calgary Police Officers with foam bats in a light rain shower. It was most surreal. 4:00 pm: Hosting "Inside The Outside" workshop with Steven Nikleva, also the Oliver Schroer trio, Brian Ritchie and Guy Hoffman (Violent Femmes), and Great Uncle Bull (plus a woman from the Green Fools in a beautiful wedding dress and voodoo skull bonnet playing saw and bull horn.)... Veda did the "Bird Call Song" and a truly ominous version of "Slumber Queen" after warning the rest of players that "It's in 4/4 when I'm singing and 5/4 when I'm not." This was the best workshop I'd see that day as everybody on stage was jamming on everybody else's stuff. For example, Ray Condo's guitarist (Steven Nikleva) put down his axe long enough to conduct an untitled atonal piece that featured everybody hitting the chord or note of their choice. An ensemble version "John the Revelator" will ever more be seared into my brain. It rained lots. And Veda's hair was still bright red. - -JB Hohm ------------------------------ End of trajectory-digest V3 #65 *******************************