The excitement and exploration of 25 concerts is still pumping through my veins, brain, ears, heart and eyes as another amazing Victo fest has ended for this year, but the spirit remains for the 7000 (!) folks who traveled far and wide to attend!! What often seems interesting in advance, often turns out to be even better than we could imagine. Attendance was at an all-time high and festival passports (for all 25 sets) almost doubled over last year. Why? Two reasons - this modern music fest is diverse enough to attract a wider variety of adventurous listeners and there are more folks willing to take a chance with artists known and unknown. This was my 12th fest and it was also the largest crew (six of us) that I have traveled with. The weather was wonderful, the food in a select few eateries was fabulous (no matter what Zorn says) and the sound at all three halls was nearly perfect as well. One had to come with an open mind, since the only thread is that this is "music actuelle" or the music of right now. So each concert was very different. What is interesting is that everyone seemed to have a different opinion of each concert - what they did or didn't like about it. This made for some stimulating discussions in between sets. There were of course a half dozen sets which everyone felt were outstanding and only one set that almost no-one seemed to like.

The favorite set for everyone I spoke with was Four Walls who are an off-shoot of the late cellist Tom Cora's The Roof and feature Phil Minton on vocals, Veryan Weston on piano, Luc from the Ex on acoustic bass guitar and Michael Vatcher on drums. Totally unique. Phil is certainly one of the wackiest vocalists ever, but has streamlined his insanity a bit and is the most focused ever, as well as the most entertaining. Although each member of the quartet comes from a much different background - they consistently connect - from explosive to minimal to Kurt Weill-like melodies with Paul Haines' lyrics. All four members were animated throughout and we were all at the edge of our seats wondering what would happen next!?! Another truly incredible set was from the Jean Derome-Louis Sclavis Quartet who surprisingly played together for the first time in rehearsal earlier that week. It was an astonishing set which featured four master-musicians - Jean Derome on flutes and alto sax and Pierre Tanguay on drums (both from Montreal) and Louis Sclavis on clarinets & soprano sax and Bruno Chevillon on contrabass. There was so much going on, it is hard to know where to begin. Sclavis is perhaps the greatest and most adventurous clarinetist in Europe (from France) and Derome an equally incredible reeds hero and composer who has some dozen great cds on Ambiances Magnetiques. They were constantly pushing and surprising each other with their inventive spirit and solos. Jean played some of the most haunting and beautiful bass flute I have ever heard. Still, it was bassist Bruno who really knocked everyone out - plucking, bending notes, bowing, banging on the strings and even using some fuzz/distortion on one section which was a completely unexpected treat! The written sections were also superb throughout, Braxtonian in parts! There is a good chance that this set will be released on the Victo label, so we can call be blown away! The festival opened with the best first set in many years by Tibor Szemzo - a marvelous Hungarian composer who has some half dozen engrossing cds on the Leo label. His superb quintet played lush, haunting and cinematic passages in front of equally haunting scenes from Budapest (Tibor's home) in the sixties. Tibor narrated in English and also played bass flute, his ensemble enchanting and evocative throughout. We had the good fortune to have dinner with Tibor the next day and learned much about his history and that of Hungary.

Another surprise was an outstanding set from the duo Erosonic who include David Mott on baritone sax and Joseph Petric on accordion. I knew of Mr. Mott through a duo set I saw him perform many years back with pianist David Lopato, but had never heard of the astonishing accordionist. Considering that a third of the concerts at Victo this year featured electronics, it was wonderful to hear a mostly acoustic duo on a stage with perfect sound. Together their sound was rich and deeply sonorous, their opening piece was quite lovely. I dug the contrast with "A Logical Conclusion" which shifted through fast and slow sections, extremely skewered and filled with surprising twists and turns. "Mystery Theatre" dealt with slowly shifting drones and was very eerie. "Tarantell" had the duo interacting with a pre-recorded electronic tape and everything was in constant motion - cascading in waves. Finally "Circles, Spirals & Spins" featured Mott's bari blasting and Petric's accordion swirls also washing us in waves. I hope this set makes its way to cd as well.

It seems that no one is indifferent to the mysterious man in black - Haino Keiji, folks either love 'em or hate 'em. The last time he played at Victo with his power trio Fushitsusha - the jazz critics ran for the exits with their ear-shredding opening salvo. This year Haino played a duet with fellow noise/guitar explorer Thurston Moore and although it was a bit too long, many of us were blown away! Haino began the set playing drums (?!?) in his ritualistic/questionable way, just banging while Thurston began to build the noise from sparse to splintered to spastic spurts. Haino soon strapped on his electric guitar and both players began build into a brutal, explosive, tortured beast of screaming, howling feedback and controlled chaos! Eventually things quieted down as the ghosts of murmuring and hazy psych sounds drift in a mist. The duo went through this pattern of quiet, spacy sections followed by violent, intense explosions - each time escalating to even higher extremes! Twenty minutes shorter and it would have been an amazing and focused set, but still it blew away those who gave in to the extremes..

On the opposite side of the maximum noise explorations is the current trend in minimalist acoustic and electronic soundscapes. Three sets at Victo showed this side quite well and were a much needed relief/contrast to ear-numbing volume and density. Poire Z are an electronics improv quartet (Euro supergroup?) who feature Gunter Muller, Erik M and both Norbert Moslang & Andy Guhl from Voice Crack. They all sit at one large table with a wealth of electronics gadgets, radios and samplers. Their set started with hushed bubbling, squiggling electronic sounds which evolved slowly getting more dense and finally swirled into a cosmic storm Some complained that there was not enough variation in their sound, but I think more patience is required to hear below the surface. I felt their set with Otomo as a guest earlier that week at Tonic was even better. Speaking of Otomo and patience his 'Cathode' set at Victo also pushed the minimalist boundaries. His group included Sachiko M, Gunter Muller and Otomo all on subtle electronics and Ishikawa Ko on sho which is a bamboo pipes instrument. The show was the featured sound, yet only provides long, pure drones. Otomo also played a hollow body electric guitar on one piece but ever so gently. Sachiko's sine wave generator provides one high pitch at a time, which is quite unnerving and has a way of getting under one's skin. There is a great deal of silence and space which surround these fragments. Some found this set extremely boring, while others dug chilling glow of minimal stimulus. The third set of extremely minimal content was an all acoustic trio of John Butcher on saxes, Axel Dorner on trumpet and Xavier Charles on clarinet. I've heard and dug John Butcher on numerous occasions playing his distinctive circular sax, but here he played more restrained, much less notes. All three musicians played only fragments of notes, mostly breathing and wind sounds, tongue slapping and often just concentrating on one note/sound at a time. It often sounded like flutters and note-bending of electronics, yet it was all acoustic. This set also required an absence of expectation and a concentration on tiny sound fragments. Some smiled, some yawned.

Another set which seem to divide the camps was Dave Douglas' 'Witness', which I felt was wonderful and did confound people's expectations. There is no doubt that this is Dave's year with a number of prestigious awards and three fine cds in a row. 'Witness' is an all-star nine piece ensemble which deals with the dangers of political activism and features Dave's diverse and rich composing. Dave was a charming host and explained which activist/dissenter inspired each piece. Although this ensemble features a number of extraordinary soloists - Mark Feldman, Erik Friedlander & Chris Speed, it was the ensemble playing and composing which really shined throughout. Both Dave and Ikue Mori played electronics on the opening piece, giving it dreamy and disorienting effect. There were a number of subgroups (all three strings w/ Drew Gress on contrabass) which wove their goods in many ways, providing rich harmonies behind the soloists. Violinist Mark Feldman played an incredible and haunting solo on one of the early pieces, but it was Chris Speed's clarinet which was immensely lush and enchanting throughout. Dave waited until the later pieces to play some magnificent solos, so some complained that there wasn't enough of him - but that is not what this ensemble is about - check out Dave's quartet or the Tiny Bell Trio or even Masada for more horn. This work seems to evolve and change each time it is played and should be released in the fall. Time to let it sink in..

Another fascinating set which required some concentration and also had political undercurrents to consider was Francois Houle's "The Heart of the Matter". Francois is an amazing Quebec born clarinetist who now resides in Vancouver. He has many different and engaging projects and once played here at DMG in an acoustic trio with Scott Fields and Jason Rebke. Although the work he brought to Victo this time had to do with the dreaded "ice storm" which devastated Montreal in 1988, including some processed images of the storm used throughout, it was more of the mesmerizing and slowly evolving sounds of his wonderful electric quintet with selective electronics which impressed the audience. It was difficult to tell where the improv ended and where the compositions began - everything flowed so seamlessly. Guitarist Ron Samworth consistently knocks me out and like a number of the best sets at Victo this year, this music was between categories..

My good pal Len and myself are long-time fans of the ever charming Amy Denio - vocalist-bassist-saxist-accordionist who comes from the Pacific northwest, but spends much time in Europe. We have had the good fortune to check her out the Tonedogs, BTMSQ, with Curlew, doing solo sets, the EC Nudes and more recently with the Science Group (with Cutler & Frith). Amy did two very different sets at Victo this year. The first was a duo with sound manipulator Francisco Lopez in which the audience sat in circles around the performers blind-folded in the dark surrounded by a quadraphonic p.a. The two thirty minute works were similar although Amy was involved with just the first one. Being blindfolded allowed one to really concentrate on the electronic sounds which built some small quiet fragments - slowly becoming more dense until it became a wall of sound not unlike standing next to an oncoming train or jet. It was more than a bit unnerving and when the second piece abruptly ended, the silence which followed was a relief. Amy also played with the immensely charming world music quartet The Danubians - definitely one of the highlights of Victo 2001! The Danubians have a superb cd out on Cuneiform and include two members of the Hungarian unit Kampec Dolores who have a new cd out on ReR this week and also have Pavel Fajt on drums (also in a duo with Iva Bittova). Both Amy and Gabi shared vocal duties and both were wonderful. Csaba also played some quirky eastern Euro el. guitar and Pavel played engaging, romping acoustic and electronic drums/percussion. This was the only opportunity for folks to get down and dance at Victo, making the set even more memorable. My only complaint was that the sound person pushed the volume up way too loud for this set only, they are not a punk or metal band - knucklehead. We got a chance to speak with Amy at length at party later that night. She mentioned a new band she is in called Culture Shock, whose debut release will be out this summer called 'Fuck the I.N.S.' Be on the lookout, it might just get banned. Another fun set which was avoided like the plague by the jazz journalist contingent was by Mike Patton's punk-metal-prog-humor quartet The Fantomas. Patton used to sing with Faith No More and Mr. Bungle and has guested with Naked City and collaborated with Zorn in a number of different projects. His two previous sets at Victo pissed off many. The coliseum where this set took place had no chairs and was packed with mostly young followers of punk/metal, so one knew that some slam-dancing would take place. The band included Buzz Osborne from the Melvins on lead guitar, Trevor Dunn from Mr. Bungle and Dave Lombardo on drums from Slayer. The Fantomas were a hoot - tight, diverse, twisted, immensely entertaining and made fun of any serious attempt to figure out just what is sacred to the post-metal crowd. They even quoted some famous pop tune with a lyric that "Canada is not even a country"?!?

John Zorn's Bar Kokhba Chamber Sextet played an absolutely perfect set to a packed and sold out crowd - "Triumphant" the Montreal headlines read! For this ensemble, Zorn just conducts or cues and prods the sextet. Zorn was at his most relaxed and charming on stage and the crowd loved every moment. Marc Ribot played with incredible restraint and haunting/beauty, letting the sparks fly when Zorn prodded him. Zorn referred to him as playing "Sephardic surf guitar from New Jersey". The Masada String Trio completely wowed all in attendance. For an encore, Zorn let the Sextet soloist really shine - there was an amazing percussion duo for Cyro Baptista and Joey Baron, an outstanding string duo for cellist Erik Friedlander and bassist Greg Cohen and to top it off an solo piece for master violinist Mark Feldman - which was phenomenal - another highlight of Victo 2001 and was rewarded with a standing ovation. The one set which no-one I spoke with liked was by Kim Gordon-Ikue Mori-DJ Olive-Jim O'Rourke. I don't think Kim is a strong improviser or front-person in this improv context, even though the other three strong players. It was interesting to see all who left during the set outside and the looks on their faces as they streamed out. The other thing I found disappointing were a few sets of mostly electronics by mainly Canadians who had good ideas but with less than engaging results - these sets included: Broken Record Chamber, Shalabi Effect and Eltractor. Another great set of post-minimal improv was by Sophie Agnel on piano innards, Axel Dorner on trumpet and subtle electronics and Erik M on turntable and sampler. I hadn't heard of Sophie Agnel before, but she really did get a wide variety of strange sounds from inside the piano. What started out quite minimally got thicker as time went on and more mysterious and engaging. This set also might be released on cd. The final and much anticipated set was by an all-star quartet featuring Fred Frith-John Zorn-Bill Laswell-Dave Lombardo. This was only their fourth appearance in two years (NY, Paris & London) and I felt it was pretty great, but not everyone I spoke with agreed. It was an all improvised set and definitely had some remarkable moments. It took some time for Laswell & Lombardo to really connect and Fred Frith also slowly found his way into massive storm - eventually shredding lines of prog/metal waves. Zorn blasted and spewed on top - tongue-slapping, circular-breathing fractured notes all over the thick bottom force. It was really great to hear Bill's fretless el bass sound locking in with Dave's massive drum onslaught - since Bill's live appearance's are so rare - he sounded even more throbbing and intense with Jah Wobble a week earlier at the Knit. My favorite part of this set was a completely unexpected quiet section with Fred doing lovely volume pedal swirls, Zorn being extremely lyrical and Bill on mesmerizing and somber fretless. Zorn tells that this was their second best set yet, the first the Paris show which the quartet is looking for a good sounding audience recording.

Overall, this was a mostly fabulous Victoriaville New Music Festival. I am pleased that the direction of the fest changes so much year to year. I would imagine that even more new listeners will turn up next year. Very special thanks to Michel Levasseur and his ever-helpful crew for all their hard work. Perhaps next year we can hear some much needed progressive bands and more (Euro?) avant-jazz. Here is my list of suggestions for future Victo festivals:

1.ELTON DEAN-HUGH HOPPER-KEITH TIPPETT-JOHN MARSHALL
2.TISZIJI MUNOZ/HENRY KAISER ENSEMBLE
3.THINKING PLAQUE
4.ART ZOYD
5.ALEX VON SCHLIPPENBACH/EVAN PARKER/PAUL LOVENS
6.COL. BRUCE HAMPTON
7."SOUP SONGS" JULIE TIPPETTS ALL-STARS ROBERT WYATT TRIBUTE
8.IRENE SCHWEIZER/JOELLE LEANDRE/SUSIE IBARRA
9.PRESENT
10.TIM BERNE's PARAPHRASE or HARD CELL