Comedy Nest - Brian Lazanik, Joey Elias

Just came back from a show at the Comedy Nest and I must say it was really a great evening of laughter. It started out slow, with ok opening acts. Then, out of the blue, appeared Joey Elias, my personal favourite local comic (and probably in my world top 5). He dropped by for a short 10 minute improvised set about how he lost weight. He did lose weight, but he gained brio and wit in the process. I found him rejuvenated with a new style, contradictory (in a good way) to his previous nonchalant attitude. Anyway, it was funny as hell...

Then, Mr Headliner Brian Lazanik came in and started talking funny (kinda like a retard) to the mic. I though this was just a short gimmick but it lasted for an hour. If a comic can last an hour talking like some stupid idiot lunatic and not have me annoyed, he must be pretty amazing. And he was. His show consists of mostly witty one liners who remind me a lot of Larry David's humour in that they challenge the traditional way of looking at simple things and twist them in completely un-politically correct ways. I found around 75% of his act to be excellent, the rest just bubbling under in the good-to-great category.

A real fun evening!

Bruce Nauman at the Musee d'Art Contemporain de Montreal

The Musee d’Art Contemporain is having a retrospective on the work of Bruce Nauman, an influential American artist. The exhibit showcases his use of various media, from sound and video installation to neon and sculpture, to address an equally varied smorgasbord of themes, such as war, violence, apathy, language, and what the artist perceives as our frustrating inability to truly commune with each other (expressed through the Clown pieces.) The expo greets you with a series of his neon work. Plays on words (RUN FROM FEAR - FUN FROM REAR,) anagrams (WAR-RAW) as well as acoustic-visual poems (SILENCE-VIOLENCE-VIOLINS) make you smile, but also carry profound, striking messages of revolt against our apathy to the global state of things and what he describes as "the ability people have to ignore situations they do not like." After a gallery of video installations where redundant movements in a distorted visual field point out the fallacy of our perceptions (meh…) a sculpture-fountain of floating bronze fish with water jetting periodically from them contrasts silence and noise, and makes for a relaxing moment – be patient, wait until the water stops flowing, you will be rewarded. The next installation will blow you away. You enter a dark room with six large screens projection the rapidly rotating faces of men shouting feed me anthropology - eat me sociology. It is at once fascinating and terrifying.
The entrance to the exhibit is 8$, but note that a membership to the MAC is 10$ for students and residents of Montreal, which gives you free access to all exhibitions and access to evenings at the museum, the Nocturnes, with music and guided tours exclusively for members – the next nocturne is on August 3rd.

NEW MOVIES THIS WEEK (JULY 20-27)

This is a nicer movie week than last week, featuring eclectic releases that will please all. Still fresh from the Harry Potter craziness, many moviegoers will be stuck at home this week end reading the much anticipated final book of the series. For others, there are a couple of interesting movie outings you can check out.

First of all, LIBERO is my pick for the week end. review : It's a fabulous, down to earth and touching italian film about a family that has been deserted by a nymphomaniac (?) mother who keeps leaving home only to come back for brief periods. This leaves the family hanging and tense. But the movie isn't depressing at all, like you would expect from such a story. It's really all about a little boy's experience of this situation and how it affects his daily life and upbringing. The actors are all wonderful, the pace is perfect. Girls, the dad is pretty hot too !

Next up would be MON MEILLEUR AMI, an apparently innovative and funny French comedy from Patrice Leconte (who brought us gems like Ridicule and La fille sur le Pont). It features Daniel Auteil as a businessman who apparently doesn't have any "best friend" and has to prove that he does to avoid ridicule. He meets this taxi driver (Dany Boon) and an unusual releationships develops as they try to convince people that they are best friends.

Also out this week is the new Steve Buscemi movie (something I really look forward to), Interview. It stars Buscemi interviewing a big shot celebrity. Could only be delightful. The movie was made as a testament to murdered filmmaker Teo Van Gogh.

The blockbuster releases of the week would be I now pronounce you Chuck and Larry (starring Adam Sandler as a pretend gay man, trying to get a good insurance deal) and Hairspray, which looks promising but could be a disaster.
Another potential big hit is the Quebec Comedy Ma Tante Aline, with Béatrice Picard, Sylvie Léonard and Rémi-Pierre Paquin.

Other movies worth checking out : Dans Paris (by controversial french director Christophe Honoré, with Louis Garrel and Romain Duris), This Filthy World, a John Waters documentary + Retrospective at cinema du parc (see next post)

CREACAMP

On se la coule douce pour cette édition Creacamp d'été.
Au menu :

• BYOB : Bring your own blanket! pour vous assoir, cela créera une superbe mosaique au sol!
• picnic : apportez qqchose à boire, et à grignoter pour le picnic
• échange de livres : apportez 1 ou 2 livres qui vous ont inspiré, et qu'il vous fera plaisir d'échanger
• blahblah : Si nous sommes plus de 20, de petits groupes seront formés pour discuter. Si nous sommes moins de 20, nous discuterons tous ensembles!
• marché : bijoux, vêtements, livres - apportez vos créations pour les faires voires!
• collages 6x6 : si vous désirez participer, préparez une enveloppe contenant quelques papiers colorés, une citation écrite qui vous représente, ainsi que votre nom écrit. Cette enveloppe pourra être échangée, et le matériel servira à créer un collage de 6" par 6" (voir projet 6x6 sur flickr).

Où :
Parc Lafontaine, 13h à 15h, le 22 juillet 2007.
Présentations :
laissez m-c savoir si vous désirez faire une courte présentation (10 minutes max, sans projecteur ou ordinateur, nous serons dans un parc!).
Inscriptions :
svp laissez votre nom dans les commentaires ICI pour nous laisser savoir qui sera présent!
En cas de pluie :
M-C postera une confirmation le Vendredi 20 juillet sur Creacamp.org.
En espérant vous y voir en grand nombre!!

GAD BLESS YOU

J'étais au show de Gad Elmaleh hier soir, dans le cadre du festival juste pour rire.

D'abord, je dois témoigner mon agacement face à l'organisation de l'évènement. On a du attendre en file, tickets numérotés en main, avant de nous laisser entrer dans la salle et commencer le show avec une heure de retard.
Ceci dit, à la seconde ou Gad est arrivé (sur les airs de Musicology de Prince), tout cet agacement s'est envolé et a laissé place a la bonne humeur.

Durant la soirée, la foule enchainait les rires (souvent forts, jamais de fou rires) et les bons sketchs se succédaient les uns après les autres; le tout saupoudré de petites interludes exquises sur les québécois, leur accent et l'orthophonie des mots (le "t" a la fin de "contac'", on va le mettre a la fin de "ici" et ca donnera "iciT")

Ce que j'ai apprécié le plus dans le show, c'était les petites improvisations auxquelles il se prêtait en plein milieu de ses sketchs. Exemple : A un moment, il interpelle des membres du public et leur demande ce qu'il font dans la vie. Vannes sarcastiques obligées. Plus tard, il intercale des commentaires sur leur métiers dans ses sketchs et va meme jusqu'à les y inclure en personnages....

Evidemment, on a eu droit à des parties musicales dont la version remixée du "petit oiseau" et une excellente ballade au piano en langue inconnue ("on veux vraiment le croire que c'est du français"). On se retrouve même à chanter les "backing vocals" pendant une hilarante chanson germanique de l'eurovision !

Gad a su bien mêler les sujets: des relations amoureuses désastreuses aux célébrations du nouvel an, en passant par un exquis sketch sur disneyland et sea world, on ne s'ennuie presque jamais. A part un peu à la fin, ou ca se ramollit un peu.... Mais Gad sait dompter son public et termine le show avec un grand compte à rebours pour nous souhaiter la bonne année (en juillet!)!

En résumé, ce nouveau spectacle (présenté en première mondiale) est largement réussi, mais moins drole que son précédent (L'autre c'est moi). Il se repete par moments et les thèmes ne sont pas si différents que ca... Mais le show reste tout de même de haut calibre!

Une chose est certaines, la relation Gad-public fonctionne beaucoup mieux que ses relations amoureuses qu'il décrit et nous, contrairement à son ex ("c'est un sketch"), on en veut encore du Gad !

NEW MOVIES THIS WEEK (JUL 13-20)

Well it's safe to say that this week will be Harry potter week at the movies. I just saw the film and really thought it was a great ride. The series has reach a good maturity and they have learned how to balance action and character development. In this particular one, character development takes over as the actors improve their skills, the writing gets less cheesy and the directing uses a new realistic style....

other releases worth mentioning this week are:

Adam's Apple, a funny, weird comedy about a priest with strict and irrevocable faith who reforms prisoners in his small town church.

Lars Von Trier's The Director. I've seen the film back when it was playing at the New Cinema Festival and it's really a departure from his recent work and a return to the type of movies he made in his dogma era (the idots etc...). This film is cute, original but overall doesn't leave you with much more than a cute story with amusing characters. It's like The Office goes on the big screen, with a little less catch phrases ;)

Scenes of a sexual nature is also out and features everything but sex! I've seen bits and pieces of the film and it's really a long bore with endless discussions. The acting however is fine and intelligent and the editing is interesting.

Another interesting title out this week is God grew tired of us, a story of 4 africans (from soudan) who aren't familiar with our civilization, and are brought to NYC for this documentary. An interesting look at our culture through the eyes of traditionalism. I foresee a nice reflexion on where we're coming from and where we're heading....


other releases : Captivity, Belle Toujours, Introducing the Dwights

all showtimes at cinemamontreal.com

SOY

J'ai enfin trouvé un bon restaurant asiatique pas cher et gastronomique!
Il s'agit du SOY, sur St-Laurent (entre fairmount et maguire).
Pourquoi gastronomique ? D'abord la viande (poulet, boeuf etc...) n'est pas un amas de conservateurs frits avec un tas de panure et une petite boule de viande au milieu. On a affaire ici a des ingrédients de qualité supérieure. Ensuite, les plats sont préparés avec un clair souci de saveur et raffinement. Ce ne sont pas les meilleurs mets asiatiques en ville, mais franchement, moi je trouve ca excellent.

A 15$, la table d'hôte du midi est un festin de saveurs, et je n'exagère pas.
Mes choix irrévocables : D'abord, le poulet general Tao (facon soy) qui réinvente le concept general Tao et le rend raffiné et frais. La sauce est un mélange intrigant d'épices et Ensuite, les crevettes croustillantes, un délice !
Mon conseil : partager a deux ces deux plats. Ils sont aussi bons l'un que l'autre.

SOY - 514-499-9399 ; 5258 St Laurent; 15-20$ par personne a déjeuner;
Heures: LUN Fermé, MAR-MER 11h30-22h, JEU-VEN 11h30-21h, SAM 17h-23h, DIM 17h-22h

LE MANGOUSTAN (RESTAURANT VIETNAMIEN)

En voila un restaurant viet intéressant !
J'y suis allé fêter mon anniversaire (apparemment une spécialité de l'établissement). Je n'ai pas eu la chance d'avoir la grande célébration avec chanson et gâteau à laquelle ont eu droit 4 autres tables (il était deja trop tard pour mettre de la musique et il ne restait plus que nous au restaurant). J'ai quand meme eu une rose bien rouge en guise de consolation ;)

Passons au sérieux maintenant ! D'abord, je tiens a mentionner l'accueil tres chaleureux du propriétaire : tres dynamique, énergétique et fier. Il nous montre ses poissons, de nouvelles espèces hybridées en Malaisie... (il faut dire qu'il avait une drôle de tête ce poisson!) D'autre part, notre serveur était assez désagréable et ne comprenait pas trop ce qu'on lui disait. Il a meme presque engueulé un de mes amis pour avoir parlé anglais!

Ceci dit, on était plutôt tous satisfaits de notre repas. J'avais commande le poulet et crevette sur nouilles croustillantes et j'ai trouvé ca assez délicieux. Très bien épicé et portion généreuse. Autour de moi, j'ai entendu des éloges pour le poulet sauce arachide et le poulet au curry rouge. Aussi, le poulet à la flamme semblait particulièrement alléchant.
C'était bien clair que les ingrédients était très frais.
Coté desserts, les ananas et bananes frites étaient à la hauteur de mes attentes, mais rien d'extraordinaire.

A la fin du repas, le propriétaires nous montre la terrasse en arrière. On regrette tout de suite de ne pas avoir fait de réservation deux semaines plus tôt ! Elle est vraiment superbe....

Je recommande ce restaurant pour son ambiance particulière et pour son menu varié. En plus, c'est pas très cher.

Le Mangoustan - 5935, rue Saint-Hubert ; (514) 495-9031; 15-25$ par personnes; Apportez votre vin.

Montreal Restaurants

I've been visiting a new bar every two weeks with a group of friends in order to acquaint myself not only with new places but also new friends (we each invite new people to come out with us). I bought the book Montréal Resto À Go-Go by Sarah Musgrave a while ago, and have used it as a guide for our new bars. The core members of the group have decided that we should visit a new restaurant once a month as well. I realised that it is not very often that i try a new restaurant. It's very rare that i do eat out, so when i do i tend not to want to take my chances with a new restaurant.

This new group will definitely help expand the repertoire of restaurants. Using Sarah Musgrave's book and some suggestions by friends, here are some that i have chosen so far (please comment on the one's you may have been to):

La Maison Hantée (The Haunted House), 1037 Bleury: How could you not want to eat at a dinner theatre, a haunted one at that! They have some burlesque shows going on. Eat and watch burlesque? I'll take seconds! The menu is fixed per show, but they say that if you notify them of an approaching vegetarian within 10 days they can accommodate them.

La Couscoussière d'Ali Baba, 1460 Amherst: A Tunisian restaurant that not only has tonnes of couscous, but belly dancers on the weekends and shisha. The food is apparently not that great, but again - belly dancers and shisha.

Abiata, 3435 St. Denis: I've only heard good things about Ethiopian food, and this is apparently the place to go. The food is eaten with a sort of spongy bread called injera, no utensils.

Chez Gatsé, 317 Ontario East: This was the first Tibetan restaurant in Montreal. There is a limited choice of vegetarian fare ( a couple of dishes or so), which is strange because i always though Tibetan food was largely vegetarian.


If anyone has any other suggestions... by all means, let me know. And if you'd like to join us, we're always up for meeting new people.

This post was originally published on Chronicles of the 12th Floor

THE EXPERIENCE OF A LAUGHTIME

Do I even need to mention it ?
The Just for Laughs festival is back for its 25th edition, with shows around town, streets roaming with comedians and performers, a comedy film festival and more....
If only the rain would stop for a while and let us actually go out on the streets.... That's what's so great about this festival : streets.
Of course, you can catch a good show, but there's nothing like being pranked (or punk'd) randomly on the streets, or watch a street performer do his tricks and throw in a few jokes in the process.

As usual, the festival features a bunch of galas. Some of this year's hosts are no other than Howie Mendel, George Lopez, William Shatner and Arturo Brachetti. The 25th Anniversary gala promises to be big and features a bunch of TV and live personalities, including my favorite Susie Essman (most known for her hysterical housewife character on Curb your Enthusiasm).

Also on the menu is the Comedia film festival. It features some rather average american features. What I Think is most relevant in the festival is the series of shorts they present, including a best-of night hosted by Marlon Wayans (scary movie)

Some big shows are coming to town. To cite just a few :
- Russel Peters, Canada's new hit comic
- Family guy Live !!
- Gad Elmaleh, premiering his new show 6 months ahead of France.
- Kids in the Hall !! (yes, them !)

also watch out for Eddie Izzard, La Clique, Louis CK, Jimmy Carr and Billy Connelly.

PS: I shamefully stole the festival's tagline for the title of this post. But it's just too good !

Just for Laughs festival, July 8-29. More info at hahaha.com

Grazie Mille

Ces derniers temps, je passe mes déjeuners dans ce petit café italien sur Fairmount (coin Clarke). Les paninis y sont délicieux, et les portions plutôt généreuses.
La sélection est alléchante : les paninis ont tous l'air frais et sont soigneusement exposés derrière un comptoir vitré. Mes préférés ? Le Meditteraneen (brie, crème méditerranéenne, dinde, emmental, pate d'olives, champignons marinés), le Toscano (viande de grison, roquette, fromage de chèvre) et le Sicilia (tomates, champignons, fromage de chèvre).
Les espressos (illy) sont aussi particulièrement réussis.

L'ambiance est plutôt neutre et réservée mais le proprio a assez de type pour donner un caractère à son café : avec ses airs de macho italiens, ils discute avec ses clients avec beaucoup d'enthousiasme et une autorité intéressante.... Ce qui m'amuse surtout, c'est qu'il ressemble à un John Travolta macho italien.

Coté prix, c'est tres raisonnable. On s'en sort rassasiés à 8-10$ (panini+boisson+cafe).

Idéal pour les déjeuners au travail.

Caffe Grazie Mille, 58, rue Fairmount (angle Clark) Ouvert tous les jours de 8 h 30 à 18 h.

Le Festival International Nuits d'Afrique est de retour

Apprêtez-vous à accueillir la 21ème édition du Festival International Nuits d'Afrique à Montreal. L'événement se déroulera du 12 au 22 juillet. 20 concerts baliseront les planches du Spectrum, la Tulipe, le Kola Note et le Club Balattou. Tout comme les "free-shows" du Jazzfest, plusieurs concerts gratuits extérieurs seront tenus sur la Place Emilie Gamelin (coin de maisonneuve et berri, metro berri). Pour de plus amples informations vous pouvez visitez le site web de l'événement au: www.festivalnuitsdafrique.com .

Bon festival !!!

nad

TORTOISE...exquis

Tortoise is one of those bands I grew up listening to that taught me many things about music. I had never seen them live until yesterday at the Metropolis (part of the jazzfest), and what a concert it was...
The show started with a drums/electronica duo that consisted of Kieran Hebden, the man behind the highly acclaimed electronic music-oriented solo effort Four Tet, and "jazz drummer" Steve Reid. Although I've listened to a couple of Four Tet albums and I really like Hebden's work, I found that the set performed by the duo last night was poor, uncoordinated and extremely boring. This is mainly due to the terrible drumming of Steve Reid, hence the bracketed "jazz drummer". In the first tune I noticed that Reid was completely off, and I wondered whether it was on purpose or not. But then as the set progressed, I figured that the drummer was just having his own trip in his own world. At many instances I felt a lot of confusion and uncertainty in his drumming. He was reacting too late or too early to the music played by Hebden which made the entire sound really awkward. Aside from the bad time-keeping, I found that his drumming style was also pretty boring, he kept doing the same "drum phrases" over and over again and they were off time over and over again... This really threw me off and I couldn't really enjoy Hebden's electronic sounds. I frankly hope that Hebden will reconsider performing with Reid because I feel that he would sound so much better with a REAL drummer.


Praise TORTOISE. Praise them over and over again for the WONDERFUL set they played last night. The Chicago quintet played tunes off their older albums (Millions Now Living Will Never Die, Tortoise) as well as their newer ones (Standards, It's All Around You). The tunes were very well picked and the order in which they were played made the set flow very nicely. I was impressed by the stellar musicianship of all five band members. Needless to say that everyone plays everyone else's instrument.
Oftentimes there were 2 drummers playing in the same time or 2 bassists playing in the same time which created a very interesting and unusual "soundscape". My favorite moments in the set were the double drum moments where the entire stage turned into a percussion festival with amazing Tortoise sounds in the background. Both drummers would be playing a fat beat together and then they would drift into syncopated rhythms that sounded so good together. One last note about the drumming during the show, I particularly enjoyed the drumming of John McEntire who played the drums until they reached the tune "Benway" in their set but I also really liked the drumming of John Herndon who was on vibes until this tune and switched to drums afterwards. I find that each of them had his unique style which is great for the overall band sound and I think that this shift in drum styles also opens up new territories for the rest of the band to explore. The other thing I've always loved about Tortoise is the vibes and vibe-like instruments they use on pretty much all their tunes. I feel that it makes their sound very warm/dreamy and percussive in the same time. I really like the fact that the vibes is a major instrument in the band and that it's not just used once or twice as a filling "layer" of sound.
I was also impressed by the fact that this band really has its OWN sound. It's impossible to imitate it. I believe that this is due to several factors such as the unusual instrumentation of the group but also the unique playing styles of each musician in the band. I think that "secret" behind the "Tortoise sound" lies in the unique guitar style of Jeff Parker (who was the only band member that stayed on his instrument for most of the show). I find his guitar playing one of a kind and I really love the perception he has of his instrument i.e. the way the guitar fits in the whole picture. I feel that his chord voicings and arpeggios feel so good and they sort of tie the rest of the sounds together. I also love the "sound" of his guitar , it reminded me of Scofield's sound that has a constant overdrive or crunch to it, it feels like its always a bit dirty. Hidden in the right corner in the back of the stage Jeff Parker's guitar playing provided the harmonic support for the rest of the sounds to be laid on last night.

You know that there are certain bands you respect so much more when you see them perform "live". To me, Tortoise is one of those bands.

nad

MOVIES THIS WEEK (JULY 6-13)

Well this week is the 4th-of-July/Harry-potter-Anticipation week and therefore all interesting releases are halted. We are left with a bunch of blockbusters to savor with butter and coke. However, there are many alternatives to this : foremost, the fantasia festival (see previous posts) is rockin in town. Also, the Cinema du Parc is offering interesting thematic groupings (also in previous posts) and there are a couple indie releases that could satisfy some....

I will go, however, to the dark side (which I love) and recommend my favorite blockbusters for the week.

Biggest release this week is the very long-anticipated Transformers Movie. Basically, any fan of the comics, cartoons or action figures should check this out. Reviews are generally ok, and action movie fans shouldn't be disappointed. To me, it seems more aimed at teenagers, considering the film's casting and the feel of the trailer. But everyone has a child - and a teenager- in him. So don't snob this ! (I will though because I just don't care enough hehe)

Next off is License to Wed, a comedy (!) featuring Robin Williams. It's been a while since one of these came out. Mr Williams got us accustomed to his dark side these last few years but he's back with full-fledged, exaggerated comedy. The premise of this film is rather amusing : Before getting married, a couple (Mandy Morre and John Krasinki from The Office) has to pass a priest's crash course (including abstinence and proving your love in objectionable ways hehe). This seems like a fun film, a light comedy for the weekend.

First off, the fourth Die Hard is here and breaking all the rules (as action movies should). So is Sicko, creating controversy all over, and generating a lot of "do we trust michael moore?" debates....

On a more independent side, two movies are making a premiere this week. You Kill Me, which features a serial killer gone morgue-worker... Could be funny. Philip Baker hall is in it so it can't be that bad ;)
Another indie release is the French Bled Number One where an Algerian prisoner in france gets released and sent back to his country. A story about finding yourself through your roots and making the balance with modernity. Could be interesting actually.

For crazy fans like me, don't forget that Harry Potter comes out Wednesday ! (not friday). So start lining up and brace yourself for a hogwarts craziness before the book release next week.... Keep note that for crazier potter fans, the film will play premiere on tuesday evening. Check the Scotia Bank Theatre for more info (god how I hate that new name!)



All showtimes at cinemamontreal.com

FANTASIA 2007

Here we go again ! Fantasia is back for another year, with more weirdness, more quirkiness and of course, more fantasy !
The festival launches today with a Japanese manga film, Tekkonkinkreet , made by none other than.... an american ! (Michael Arias). The festival goes on till July 23rd.

The festival offers an interesting documentary selection this year, under the label Documentaries from the Edge. Need I say more ?
Also featured are five film themes including tributes to Yves Montmayeur, Jean Rollin, Akio Jissoji and two thematic groupings (Hell is a city and Russian Fantastika)

I don't know much about the movies being presented, but I can guarantee you'll have a good time watching some of the shorts that are presented there.
I know I am !

I'll keep updating this posts as I go watch the films....

Fantasia Film Festival 2007 - July 5-23 ; tickets and show times here

JAZZ AND CINEMA !

relaying the info from Cinema du parc...

From July 6th to 12th

All films are at $7
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
NAKED LUNCH
MO' BETTER BLUES
A NIGHT IN HAVANA
CALLE 54
JAZZ ON A SUMMER'S DAY
SMOOTHIE
THE ILLINOIS JACQUET STORY
LAST OF THE BLUE DEVILS
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

For all jazz and cinema lovers, here’s a selection that’s tailor made for you! You’ll have the chance to see the first Spike Lee / Denzel Washington collaboration, interpreting Bleek Willams, a passionate trumpeter in Mo’Better Blues, and the moving performance by Peter Weller on Howard Shore’s music in Cronenberg’s Naked Lunch. You will also see Count Basie in Last of the Blue Devils, a documentary that brings together the great names of "The Oklahoma City Blue Devils" as well as the legendary performance of Dizzy Gillespie in A Night in Havana. In addition, our special program will feature Jazz on a Summer’s Day starring Thelonious Monk, Big Maybelle, Chuck Berry, Louis Armstrong and many others who got together at the 1958 Newport Festival, and Calle 54 which brings together the big names from Latin Jazz Latin, including Tito Puente. Also, witness the contagious passion of the veteran of jazz journalists, Maurice Cullaz nicknamed Smoothie by Louis Armstrong in the film of the same name. Finally, don’t miss the film The Illinois Jacquet Story, a documentary exploring the life and times of the popularly unknown jazz and R&B saxophone legend Illinois Jacquet. He has played with most of the greats and almost single-handedly developed a rompin'-stompin' saxophone sound which has been a feature of great R&B ever since.

Jazz & Cinema - Cinema du Parc (3575 Du parc) - 6-12 Juillet. For showtimes : cinemaduparc.com or cinemamontreal.com

Polska !

I went to Stash Cafe, a Polish restaurant and I thought I would share that experience with you. It's located in the magnificent St Paul street in the old city. As the owners delicately put it they are a family restaurant with a timeless menu faithful to the secrets of the Polish kitchen. The menu is indeed very ethnic and appetizing and I can guarantee you won't recognize any familiar dishes (unless you're a polish food connoisseur, that is). Being very uninformed about local polish customs and dishes, I chose to go for the DEBUTANT menu, where they feature a hint of everything, allowing the "ignorant" to try a wide selection of dishes. My favorites were the fried potato "galette" and a Cobb/sausage/veal dish....(sorry for not remembering the actual names of the dishes)
Also noteworthy is the excellent soups and the traditional vodka they serve.

The mood of the place is really warm, with a live pianist with a repertoire that spans from radiohead to Liszt but sometimes wonders into hotel territory (which I'm not a big fan of).
The waiters are all very nice (and cute) and service was very friendly. I even got into a discussion about facebook with one of them (we're all so addicted to it that we even discuss it with waiters now).

I definetly recommend this restaurant, for anyone who's curious about foreign cuisine and fed up with traditional restaurants in the city.

Stash Café: 200, Saint-Paul Ouest ; reservations: (514) 845-6611

Jazz fest concert reviews

I was fortunate enough to catch 2 full sets yesterday at the Jazz fest. Both concerts were free outdoor events.

-The first one was Felix Stüssi's quintet performing at the Scène General Motors. The band played an hour long set showcasing tunes off their most recent album "Give me Five". This quintet consists of Felix Süssi on piano, Bruno Lamarche on tenor sax, Alex Côté on alto & soprano saxes, Clinton Ryder on double bass & Isaiah Ceccarelli on drums. They offered an extremely dynamic set of tunes. In each composition there is balance between expected jazz form (swing, progressions, blues etc.) and unexpected somewhat more experimental drifts to different feelings be it rock, funk or ambient sounds. Something I really like about this quintet is that both saxes often solo together creating some sort of "sax conversation" that builds up, intensifies and explodes in beautiful colors on most of the tunes. My favorite tunes were Zoé Félicia and Seven to Twelve (i'm not sure about the second tune's name). The former is a tune written by Félix Stüssi for his daughter who was born a few days after 9/11, it therefore blends in feelings of joy and happiness with feelings of fear and terror. The saxes joint solo was very intense and so was the unconventional piano comping throughout the entire tune. The latter featured the drummer Isaiah Ceccarelli. Despite the awkward time signature of this tune, it was really grooving. The tune started with a great fat bassline in 7/4 on top of which the drummer was improvising and moved on to saxes improv. I was blown away by the experimental structure of this tune and by the versatility of the drummer that could go in and out of time while maintain a head nodding feeling. Anyway, I think i'm gonna check out their album "Give me Five" which is on sale in all cd stores in Montreal.

-The second band is the Brandi Disterheft trio from BC. The group consists of Brandi Disterheft on Double bass, Chris Gale on tenor sax and Sly Juhas on drums. This modern jazz trio gave a fresh and energetic set last night consisting mostly of tunes free of rigid form where painful sax lines were laid on extremely dynamic basslines and versatile drum beats. Once again, I witnessed a band where the traditional jazz form was challenged which gave rise to a lot of space for improvisation both for the sax and the rhythm section. I particularly like Brandi's style of playing. Many of her basslines are based on one-note pedals that are sustained for a little while which gives a lot of harmonic freedom for the sax player to explore. This style of bass playing reminds me a bit of Dave Holland which is one of my favorite bassists of all time. Brandi also succeeded in making her compositions extremely dynamic just by altering her way of playing the bass in those tunes (from walking bass to pedals to rhythmic grooves). The drummer was extremely responsive to the changes in the basslines which made this trio's rythm section extremely tight.

Both those concerts were free outdoors events. If you like young modern jazz, keep an eye on the Club Jazz TD Canada Trust stage (parc Hydro-quebec)this is where the Brandi Disterheft trio was performing and that's where most young international talents will be performing throughout the festival.

Enjoy !!

nad

Movies this week (June 30- July 6) (updated)

Well, this week is certainly one to watch in movies. Two big productions worth checking out and a great foreign gem.

Starting off with Michael Moore's new film, Sicko. that takes a hit at the health system in the states. It is said to be controversial, not particularly democrat (as his previous movies where) and extremely funny. Seems to me like a typical Moore Movie and I'm in !

Also out is the new Pixar effort, Ratatouille. Featuring a talking mouse that gives cooking instructions to a french rookie chef, can anything really go wrong ? Plus, pixar hasn't released a bad movie EVER ! which is enough for me to check this one out. Just saw the movie and all I can say is that Pixar managed once again to top themselves and deliver a movie that is so visually stunning and whose story is so compelling that we wonder why we still watch live action films....

Lastly, on a more indie note, La Raison du plus faible, a Belgian film is out at the Ex-centris and is definetly worth checking out. I saw the film recently and I found it extremely realistic and well paced. The characters are so interesting and layered that you don't get bored for a second in the film. The tension builds naturally and leads to a very grandiose conclusion....

Other films out : Live free or Die Hard (aka die hard 4), Evening (star-studded indie drama), eagle vs. Shark, L'homme de Cuivre, Nitro (Quebec made action film)

All showtimes at cinemamontreal.com

JAZZ IT UP !

The Jazz fest is back for another exciting year.
I will leave it up to the Jazz collablogator to cover the individual events. On my side, I'd like to mention that you absolutely have to go hang out on the Place des Arts surroundings at some point this week-end. you don't need to like Jazz (I don't particularly) but the mood is so great there.... Just walk around, have a hot dog or even better, a good refreshing ice cream.... Just look around at all the people, all smiling... :) You can even listen to some music if you please, it won't kill you!

The Jazz festival runs June 28-July 8th. All info on this website