The first concert on Thursday was a new trio with Iva Bittova (violin & vocals), Evan Ziporyn (clarinets) and Gyan Riley (acoustic guitar) at the Cinema Laurier. Ms. Bittova has played at Victo just a couple times previously, 1989 (where she played in a duet with Pavel Fajt & sat in with Frith‘s Keep the Dog) and 1999 (played a duo with Vladimir Vaclavek). This was the first appearance of both of her collaborators: Evan Ziporyn (long associated with Bang-on-a-Can & a great composer) and Gyan Riley (son of Terry Riley with a few fine discs of his own). The concert began with Iva on voice & thumb piano by herself and it was a most enchanting opening. This is an all acoustic trio and the sound was superb. Iva often sings in a charming child-like voice that has a way of plucking our heartstrings. Although Mr. Ziporyn is a master clarinetist, his playing here was often stripped down making each note count. Sometimes he would provide the rhythmic pulse by tapping on the keys of his bass clarinet. Mr. Riley is also a virtuostic acoustic guitarist and each of his handful of solos were amazing. It seems that the songs were mostly skeletally written so that each member could add to the flow or structure and then embellish from there. The last piece, “Farewell” had lyrics written by Chris Cutler with a slightly twisted melody that left us all mesmerized. Ms. Bittova is originally from Czechoslovakia so that some of the melodies she used had a rich blend of Eastern European and/or a Klez-like flavor. This trio should have their debut disc out by the end of the year. I can hardly wait. A perfect Victo opener.
avantmusicnews.com 