Show – John Oswald and Sandro Perri – Tranzac Club, Toronto
This city is pretty rad for live music and I’ve been thinking that I need to check out more shows. With that philosophy in mind I went to the Tranzac Club on Friday night and saw Sandro Perri and John Oswald. Sandro is famous around these parts for his Polmo Polpo project and Oswald is infamous for his ‘Plunderphonics’ sampling work. Both are pioneers and tend to the experimental or playful in their musical aesthetic.
As I entered the room, I noticed a grey-haired man playing saxophone with a younger guitar player. They were improvising. Sandro said ‘hi’, took my entrance fee, and said, “That’s not a warm-up, that’s their set.” I quickly got my hands on a beer and joined my friends. After the set, my pal Coyote asked me if I had ever seen ‘free jazz’ before and what I thought. He also explained that the guitarist was Eric Chenaux, who plays quite a bit of improv and is well-known in these musical circles. I said no, I hadn’t seen anything quite like this before, and gave it a moment to collect my answer. I told him I liked it. I appreciated the interplay between the musicians, their give and take, I could tell that the cohesion to pull it off was partly held in place by belief and commitment. Overall, I grooved to it. It was a nice warm up for hearing Perri.
Sandro surprised me by playing a kick-drum while strumming his guitar and singing gently into the mic. It was folk-house! Well, not really but, that steady beat through most songs, really added something to his tracks. He worked his magic and most seemed to enjoy his songs, which reminded me of Feist (with a caveat of perhaps more musicality, less vocal presence/range). He’s playing the Tranzac again twice in late April and I plan to attend. If you like sincere, soulful balladry with a folk-blues feel you should plan to be there too.
