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upcoming events:

WEEDS CAFE (1903 20th AVE NW), 8-10pm, PAY WHAT YOU CAN

  • JULY 28:
    • Protagonist/Antagonist is Larry McDowell's solo project, always smart and thoughtful.
    • Mark Fleischhaker is a vocalist and drummer, whose intense, short bursts of work have peppered Calgary's improv and metal scenes for the last decade or so. His vocal/electronic improvisations & will be paired with Chris Dadge's kitchen sink percussion. There will be... copies of their new trio CDR with Scott Munro, titled Daikons, for sale at the show.
  • AUGUST 11:
    • RAPHAEL ARSENAULT
    • SIMEON ABBOTT/CHRIS DADGE
  • AUGUST 28:
    • Beneath These Idle Tides
    • Chris Reimer
    • Blanket
    • separately and together

past events:

  • April 13, 2007 - HIDDEN FORTRESS + w/ Crocker/Laing duo, Scott Munro Solo, Chris Vail (w/ Dadge) @ Emmedia Gallery.
  • April 19, 2007 - DADGE/MEICHEL/MUNRO on CJSW 90.9 FM. Chris Dadge (drums, percussion, violin, clarinet, junk), Dan Meichel (saxes, clarinets, keyboards, voice, junk), and Scott Munro (basses, trombone, viola, electronics) kick off the CJSW/Bug Incision radio series.
  • May 10, 2007 - STREET OF CROCODILES + MALLEAGLE + AARON BOOTH @ Soda Lounge.
  • May 12, 2007 - CARSICK + TONY WILSON @ Emmedia. Bug Incision Presents: Carsick (JP Carter, trumpet + Dave Sikula, guitar) with Tony Wilson. Some of Vancouver's finest.
  • May 17, 2007 - FLEISCHHAKER + MUNRO on CJSW 90.9 FM. Mark Fleischhaker and Scott Munro will perform a vocal duet for the second installment of the CJSW/Bug Incision radio series.
  • June 21, 2007 - NO MORE SHAPES on CJSW 90.9 FM. Jay Crocker (guitar), Eric Hamelin (drums, percussion), and Edmonton's JC Jones (trombone) play tunes and improvisations for the third installment of the CJSW/Bug Incision radio series.
  • July 19, 2007 - MALLEAGLE on CJSW 90.9 FM. Brooker Buckingham (guitar, electronics) and Chris Dadge (drums, violin, electronics) make a big racket on the fourth installment of the CJSW/Bug Incision radio series.
  • August 9, 2007 - PETER EVANS + DADGE/WADHAM @ 1412 Gallery, Seattle, WA. Peter Evans solo + Dadge/Wadham duo.
  • August 11, 2007 - PETER EVANS + DADGE/WADHAM @ 1067, Vancouver, BC. Peter Evans solo + Dadge/Wadham duo.
  • August 14, 2007 - PETER EVANS + DADGE/KRAUSE @ The Landing Pad, Edmonton, AB. Peter Evans solo + Dadge/Krause duo + Thom Golub solo.
  • August 15, 2007 - TUNNEL @ MIDNIGHT. Peter Evans + Chris Dadge + Shane Krause + David Laing + Simeon Abbott.
  • August 16, 2007 - PETER EVANS + DADGE/KRAUSE @ EmQas. Peter Evans solo + Dadge/Krause duo.
  • August 29, 2007 - DAN GAUCHET IMPROV NIGHT @ SODA. Dan Gauchet is in from Vancouver, playing with everyone, including: Dan Meichel, Eric Hamelin, Brooker Buckingham, Mark Dicey, Lyle Pisio, Cody Oliver, Chris Dadge, Scott Munro, Bob Dawkins, Peter Moller, and some more people, as well.
  • September 21, 2007 - MUSK CUP + BENEATH THESE IDLE TIDES @ Theatre Junction Rehearsal Space @ The Grand. (Bug Incision/Theatre Junction Improvisation Series)
  • October 24, 2007 - CJSW + Bug Incision Funding Drive CD Release @ Cantos. CD Release for the CJSW/Bug co-release of the Best of Bug Incision Radio Series cd-r. The bill: Musk Cup, No More Shapes, Fleischhaker/Munro, Malleagle.
  • October 26, 2007 - No More Shapes + Brooker Buckingham @ Theatre Junction Rehearsal Space. (Bug Incision/Theatre Junction Improvisation Series)
  • November 1, 2007 - MALLEAGLE + MOLLER/OLIVER/PISIO @ Cantos (Bug Incision/Theatre Junction Improvisation Series)
  • December 6, 2007 - STREET OF CROCODILES + FLEICSHHAKER/MUNRO + CHRIS DADGE SOLO @ Cantos (Bug Incision/Theatre Junction Improvisation Series)
  • January 11 @ Bent Spoon Trio w/ Thom Golub + guests @ Theatre Junction Rehearsal Space @ The Grand. 9PM - 11PM. Cover by donation. Ship & Anchor bar service. Part of Bug Incision/Theatre Junction Improvisation series. 
  • February 1 - Peter Evans & Chris Dadge + Scott Munro @ Cantos Music Foundation. 134-11th Avenue SE. 9PM - 11PM. Cover by donation. Part of Bug Incision/Theatre Junction Improvisation series.
  • March 28 - Aaron Leaney 3 + Meichel VS Moller @ Cantos Music Foundation. 134-11th Avenue SE. 9PM � 11PM. Cover by donation. Part of Bug Incision/Theatre Junction Improvisation series.
  • April 25 - No More Shapes + Moller/Oliver/Pisio @ Theatre Junction Rehearsal Space @ The Grand. 9PM - 11PM. Cover by donation.
  • July 5 - Musk Cup + Cousin Brothers + David Laing @ Emmedia, Sets at 9, 10, 11, $7 cover
  • August 8, 2008:
    Aural Portraits @ Plaza Theatre in Kensington
    The audible drawings of Kiarra Albina, Eric Hamelin, and Sam Walrod will be accompanied by the music of Jay Crocker, Chris Dadge, Scott Munro, and Cody Oliver.
    7:30pm-9:30pm
    part of the Summerwood Warren Choose Yer Own Festival
    www.summerwoodwarren.com
  • August 28 + 29, 2008:
    Bug Incision End of August Festival @ Emmedia
    Two nights of activity featuring the release of the debut Fleischhaker-Munro cd-r, Bent Spoon Trio with a choir + Thom Golub, Mike Wallace (drummer for Women + Azeda Booth) solo
    Doors at 8:30pm, music starts at 9:00pm
    $7 cover, lisenced, first 10 people each night receive limited release
    • AUG 28: Jazz Snob:Eat Shit, Elliott/Golub Duo, Bent Spoon Quartet with Whistleburn Choir.
    • AUG 29: Mike Wallace solo, Used Carl (Crocker, Hamelin, McGregor), Fleischhaker-Munro
  • September 4, 2008 @ Cantos
    • BENEATH THESE IDLE TIDES
      Myke Atkinson uses this moniker as his vehicle for dense, vibrating layers of guitar sound. In a live setting, you find yourself immersed in his world. His latest recording project is a set of discs made to played in any order and combination, suavely avoiding the synchronization problem as he goes. Not to be missed, as always.
      http://www.myspace.com/beneaththeseidletides
    • BENT SPOON DUO
      Chris Dadge and Scott Munro comprise two thirds of the Bent Spoo Trio. As a pair, they have created their own language, using a variety of instruments and approaches. They've shared the stage with Jay Crocker, Peter Evans, Rachael Wadham, and various others. They have released released two volumes of live recordings on Bug Incision.
      http://www.myspace.com/bentspoontrio
  • October 5, 2008 @ Cantos
    • CROCKER/DADGE DUO
      Since the release of their 2005 album Humming & Crackling, multi-instrumentalists Jay Crocker and Chris Dadge have mostly played together as Jay's solo project; as well as in the odd improv setting, they also play together in Ryan Bourne's brand new band. This is their improvised duo music, three years down the line.
      http://www.jaycrocker.com / http://www.geocities.com/chris_dadge
    • TOKYOSEXWHALE with FILMWORK BY BRENDAN FRENCH
      A collaboration between tokyosexwhale (Lyle Pisio, Dan Meichel, Mark Dicey, playing all manner of drums, saxes, and junk), one of Calgary's finest and longest-running free trios, and Calgary multi-media artist Brendan French. "As always, [we are] dealing much with chance, so we have no idea what you will see or hear. Always looking for surprises in our explorations."
  • January 14, 2009: Bug Incision Improv Nights At Soda (211 12th Ave SW)
    • Bent Spoon Duo (chris dadge + scott munro)
    • MOP Trio (Peter Moller, Cody Oliver, Lyle Pisio)
    • Matt Doherty Trio (w/ kevin sullivan + ben comau)
    • Doors at 8.00PM, sets at 8.30, 9.30, 10.30, $5 cover
  • January 29, 2009: Bug Radio on CJSW
    • Bug Incision Chamber Ensemble
      • Live recording and broadcast on CJSW 90.9FM in Calgary (www.cjsw.com)
      • Inlcudes: Jay Crocker (acoustic guitar, banjo), Cody Oliver (acoustic guitar), Dan Meichel (tenor & soprano saxes, alto flute, bass clarinet), Lyle Pisio (trumpet), Jeff McGregor (alto sax, clarinet), Chris Dadge (violin, trumpet), Eric Hamelin (cello)
  • Two Slices of Acoustic Car (Mats Gustafsson & Christian Munthe) with Raw Kites (Shane Krause & Chris Dadge)
    • Each duo plays alone (Raw Kites, then Two Slices) then together
    • Sunday, February 8th, 2009 at 8pm
      440 Pender Street W. (Vancouver)
      (backdoor entrance)
      byob
    • 1) Raw Kites is the improvising duo of Calgary-based percussionist Chris Dadge and Vancouverite Baritone Saxophonist/Clarinettist Shane Krause.

      Chris and Shane first played together in the trio Hidden Fortress with Edmonton-based Bassist Thom Golub and have toured supporting NY Trumpet Whiz Peter Evans.
      A new CDR release on Chris' Bug Incision Records entitled "I can see the light, I just can't feel it' will be available at the show featuring recordings from that tour.

      2) Two Slices of Acoustic Car is the Swedish improvising duo of Saxophonist Mats Gustafsson and Acoustic Guitarist Christian Munthe.

      Formed in 1986 as Two Slices of Electric Car, this duo has been around since the emergence of Free Improvisation in Sweden and were represented on the first document in the Swedish scene; the Blue Tower double LP "Sounds: contemporary Swedish improvised music.".  The group's name changed with Christian's change of focus to the Acoustic guitar.  Mats is a member of The Thing, The Peter Brotzmann Tentet, and Sonore and has played with everyone from Evan Parker to Sonic Youth and Merzbow.

      Christian has collaborated in concerts and recordings with, amongst others, Eugene Chadbourne, Gunter Christmann, Paul Lovens, Paul Lytton, Phil Minton, Sten Sandell, Raymond Strid, Roger Turner, and Phil Wachsmann.

      3) Quartet

      Two plus två equals four. (Four Slices of Acoustic Kite)

      http://www.matsgus.com
      http://www.myspace.com/christianmunthe

  • February 18, 2009: Bug Incision Improv Nights At Soda (211 12th Ave SW)
    • Spare Parts
      • Alan Briks (a new face in the Bug Incision yearbook, player of a variety of harmonicas) will join Chris Dadge (from Bent Spoon, Jay Crocker, etc) on percussion, violin, and other sundries, and Dan Meichel (from Musk Cup, Street of Crocodiles, etc) on reeds. Dadge & Meichel have clocked time together and worked extensively as a duo. Neither of them has played with Briks.
    • Jay Crocker
      • Crocker has spent the last year with a soldering iron. He's been bending and building his own pedals, and expoliting their effects alongside tape loops and abstracted guitar noise. Watch him in the company of his creations, including the Cock-a-ton, Skin Cream, and the Pink Dolphin.
    • Simeon Abbott
      • Simeon Abbott is a pianist/guitarist working primarily in the fields of jazz, free improv, and popular music. Currently, seperate duos with Aaron Leaney and Colin Fisher have provided the platform for him to develop prepared guitar techniques somewhat akin to the work of Fred Frith or Keith Rowe. The use of preparations (tape, clips, bows, skewers, knitting needles, electronics) and extended techniques on the instrument yields a high potential for manifold timbres. His impetus for exploring the prepared guitar was a fascination with the relationships between musical language (idiom), the instrument, and improvisation. In addition to the performance based duos, a new album of solo prepared guitar improvisations is set for release this spring.

  • February 26, 2008: Bug Radio on CJSW 90.9FM
    • dadge + oliver played together at the very first bug incision monthly series concert in july 2006. their sensibilities aligned quickly, both with a penchant for playing standard instruments in unusual ways, and also having a secret love for the improvising possibilities of the violin.

      oliver is a guitarist known for his recent work with Chinpira (a ferocious/ridiculous - a compliment, to sure - duo with dan meichel) and MOP (an anything-goes pan-improv trio with peter moller and lyle pisio). he has also released music under the House Leek Audio and Noise Miniatures imprints.

      dadge is a percussionist/multi-instrumentalist. based in calgary, he has worked extensively with scott munro (Bent Spoon Duo and Musk Cup), shane krause, dan meichel, and jay crocker, and has also played with peter evans, mats gustafsson, nels cline, chrisian munthe, jesse zubot, and others. he runs bug incision concerts and records.

      tune in thursday, feb. 26, CJSW 90.9, at 9:00pm MST, or www.cjsw.com

  • March 18, 2009: Bug Incision Improv Nights At Soda
    • nR - Solo vehicle for Aaron Sereda of Cousin Brothers.
    • Dadge/McGregor Duo
      • Drumset and alto sax improvisations from a duo with a long playing history. The pair first debuted at the Owl's Nest in 2006, under trying circumstances. This one will not be so necessity-based.
    • Hamelin & Meichel play the music of Steve Lacy
      • The lovely Eric Hamelin (drummer, percussionist, cellist for acts such as Nomoreshapes and Chad VG) teams up with Danny "Maniel" Meichel (reedsman for outfits like the Musk Cup, Street of Crocodiles, JS:ES, Jay Crocker) to re-work the material of Steve Lacy, Coltrane, and whatever else
  • March 31 - MARDI SPAGHETTI - Dadge, Crocker, Munro & Jarvis Gordon Allen
    • Le Cagibi, 5490 St. Laurent, Montreal

  • April 5, 2009 - LAMBCHOPS with CHRIS DADGE

    • Lamp Chops is the Toronto-based free improv duo of Simeon Abbott (electric guitar). and Colin Fisher (guzheng). Their performances are inspired by a fascination with the relationships between musical language (idiom), the instrument, and improvisation. The use of preparations (tape, clips, bows, skewers, knitting needles, electronics) and extended techniques on the instruments yields a high potential for manifold timbres; sounds both strikingly similar (deemed “indistinguishable” by some audience members) and disparate.

      Percussionist Chris Dadge is a well known purveyor of improvised music events in Calgary and area. In addition to recording solo improvisations, collages, releasing records and overseeing Bug Incision Records activities, he finds time to play and record in a dizzying array of local bands and regional improv groups. Currently playing/played with: Bent Spoon Trio, The Musk Cup, solo, Peter Evans, Rachael Wadham, Jay Crocker, more; his music ranges from cerebral calm to dizzying density.

      This event will take place at 8pm sharp.
      $6
      directions:http://www.somewherethere.org/directions.php

      One set of music only, but come earlier (6pm) to catch Jeremy Strachan's residency at Somewhere There.

      http://www.reverbnation.com/simeonabbott

  • April 6, 2009 - ABBOTT/DADGE/PAYNE + SEGGER/SEGGER @ Tequila Bookworm (512 Queen W)
    • The ad hoc trio of Simeon Abbott (Toronto-based improvisor, composer, playing prepared guitar), Chris Dadge (from Calgary, of Bug Incision, percussion), and David Payne (Hamilton, of Fossils, many and various collabs, multi-instruments)
    • Mark Segger & Heather Segger is an improvising duo comprised of drums and trombone
  • April 15, 2009: Bug Incision Improv Nights At Soda (211 12th ave sw, 8:00 doors, 8:30-11:30pm, $5)
    • RDC: This is the working name for Peter Redecopp, who is one of the men behind the Discord scene, and a prolific solo artist. RDC is an open-form approach to playing noise, and its form is constantly shifting. Redecopp has embraced strains of music concrete, circuit-bending, and more recently, synths, masterfully showcased on the recent self-released cassette As It Was.
      http://www.myspace.com/ptrdc
    • Schuurman-Wilson Duo: Jzero Schuurman is a veritable man-about-town, playing in acts such as Lucid 44, Gutterawl, Jane Vain, and leading his own project, Psychic Pollution. His breadth is wide, but on this night he'll be performing improvisations with drummer Dan Wilson, who's recently resurfaced on in the Calgary scene.
      http://www.myspace.com/psychicpollution
    • The Midnighties: The duo of Chris Dadge (un/amplified percussion, etc) and Cody Oliver (guitar, etc), fresh from their recent radio performance.
      http://www.bugincision.com/chrisdadge
  • May 7 @ Cantos: Haynes/Driver/Martin with BSD + CVG
    • Justin Haynes, Jean Martin, and Ryan Driver are prominent figures of Toronto's experimental music scene. Their current trio project is am offshoot of the recently released Freedman album on which Haynes and Martin play the music of Toronto songsmith Myk Freedman whose music is normally performed by his St. Dirt Elementary School, an eight-piece jazz orchestra. Haynes and Martin, however, choose to interpret these quirky and haunting ditties on 2 decidely humble instruments: the ukelel and the suitcase. The interpretations are not strict readings, but rather loose improvisatory renderings filled with inventive interplay and delightfulness. This album has received much acclaim. To round out the bottom end of this trio for their current tour, they have added Ryan Driver to play a bristle from a street sweeper. The metal tine, one of many which can be found in many city streets by anyone who might care to glance down from time to time, acts as a fretless bass by being plucked on the edge of a table which is amplified by a contact microphone through a bass amplifier. www.barnyardrecords.com
    • BSD + CVG is the Bent Spoon Duo (Chris Dadge and Scott Munro) with guest Chad van Gaalen. Chad VG will bring some of his circuitbent junk and whatnot to add to the BSD's personalized mixture of strings, sampling keyboards, electronics, percussion, and vocals. BSD has a new tape coming out soon, also. myspace.com/bentspoontrio / flemisheye.com
  • June 6 - co-presentation with DISCORD @ Emmedia (351 - 11 Ave. SW. #203)
    TOTAL SEX TOUR:
    Totally     Ripped & Sex Negatives
    w/ The Midnighties and RDC
    • Totally Ripped and Sex Negatives are two great bands from Vancouver. TR features some of the folks behind not only Isolated Now Waves, an excellent limited odd-format label, but also Calgary favourites Shearing Pinx, but also the great Fake Jazz Wednesdays series at the Cobalt in Vancouver, which has hosted many great acts from Calgary on many occasions. The music is a tough one to describe, I suggest checking out the tracks on myspace, or listen to CJSW's Noise program this Thursday (June 4) at 9:00-10:30pm (90.9FM). Less is known about SN, but their music sounds suitably searing, as well. They'll be reaching the end of a rather lengthy tour, so they should be good to go. The evening will be rounded out by the excellent RDC (Pete Redecopp's nom de plume) and the Midnighties (Chris Dadge and Cody Oliver's scrape and zing).
      • http://www.myspace.com/miasmamiasma
      • http://www.myspace.com/sexnegatives
      • http://www.myspace.com/ptrdc
  • June 10 @ Weed's Cafe, back room (1903 20th ave nw)
    • Aaron Leaney solo (8pm)
    • Peter Moller/Robin Tufts duo (9pm)

  • Bug Incision and the Calgary Jazz Festival announce two nights with Toronto’s Eric Chenaux, on June 25 and 26 at Emmedia

    Guitarist and vocalist Eric Chenaux is a fixture in Toronto’s creative music community, playing warped jazz standards with the Reveries, ensemble-led jazz with Drumheller, cracked country with Michelle McAdorey, “fried improvised polyphony” with the Draperies, and running Rat-Drifting records, home to many of the finest releases to come out of the city in recent years.

    As a solo artist, Chenaux has released two marvelous albums on Montreal’s Constellation records, Dull Lights and Sloppy Ground, and, according to the label, “Chenaux’s songs begin as singular vocal lines and become thorny with his elastic and mouthy guitar playing.” Sloppy Ground was listed as one of The Wire magazine’s top 50 albums of 2008, and Tiny Mix Tapes said of Dull Lights, “Chenaux is just as comfortable turning twang into disjointed sounds as he is touching upon old tyme Scottish folk.”

    June 25 will see Eric Chenaux on guitar, sharing the stage with Calgary’s Bent Spoon Duo, comprised of Chris Dadge and Scott Munro. The three played together in Toronto in 2008, and are looking forward to another set of warped improvised music. Jay Crocker will open the evening.

    June 26 showcases Chenaux’s songs from the Constellation albums, peformed on guitar and vocals. This a rare treat from a great talent who does not get out west too often. The duo of Aaron Leaney and Chris Dadge will open the evening.

    Thursday, June 25 and Friday, June 26 - Doors at 8.30pm, show at 9.30pm.
    Emmedia Screening Room (#203, 351 11 Ave SW)
    Tickets $10 in advance from www.calgaryjazz.com or 403.802.4008, $12 at the door

    Contact: bugincision@hotmail.com

  • KATHRYN LADANO + chris dadge + rebecca bruton + scott munro - 9pm

    Kathryn Ladano is a bass clarinetist based in Waterloo, Ontario, where she is heavily involved in the improv and creative music scenes, having founded the Kitchener-Waterloo Improvisors Collective. She studied with Lori Freedman, and has performed with the cream of Canada's improv communities, including Leftover Daylight and NOW in Toronto, Nach Hause in Calgary (Bug Incision's father), and has done her thing in Holland, representing Canada in the 2005 bass clarinet convention. She's played in Calgary more recently with a group including Dadge, Munro, and Simeon Abbott.

    Chris Dadge plays percussion and is currently working with Jay Crocker, A Relative Distance, Thighs, Phil Withers, Raw Kites, and others. Rebecca Bruton is a violinist, originally from Calgary, currently playing and studying in Toronto; she's played with folks such as Matt Brubeck and Casey Sokol. Scott Munro is a multi-instrumentalist improvisor, based in Calgary, who plays with Chad van Gaalen, Gunther, Jay Crocker, Ghostkeeper, etc. Dadge and Munro also have played for many years as the Bent Spoon Duo or Trio, collaborating Eric Chenaux, Peter Evans, van Gaalen, Gordon Allen, and others.

    http://www.kathrynladano.com
    http://www.myspace.com/bentspoontrio

    NOMORESHAPES - 8pm

    Jay Crocker and Eric Hamelin will comprise a duo version of NMS for this evening. Crocker has been busy for the last year, recording and producing records for Ghostkeeper, Ian Jarvis, Phil Withers, Ryan Bourne, as well as his finishing up his latest, Turned To Giants, which will be released by September of this year. He's also been developing a personlized approach to improvisation, using recordings of himself and banks of homemade electronics. This activity can be heard on his Bug Incision release Joachim on Eggshells, which is currently in its second, and probably last pressing. Hamelin is keeping busy, as always, holding down the drum chair for Chad van Gaalen, and taking his fine self all over Europe and Canada to do so.

    http://www.myspace.com/nomoreshapeserichamelin
  • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2009 @ WEEDS

    Simeon Abbott/Chris Dadge duo (9pm)
    Abbott and Dadge go way back. They've fallen alseep on the same floor, listening to Bob Brookmeyer recordings at eight o'clock in the morning. They've played together live with David Payne of Fossils, Mark and Heather Segger, Colin Fisher (in Abbott's group Lamp Chops), We & The Sea, and Jay Crocker.

    Simeon Abbott is a Toronto-based multi-instrumentlist musician, composer, and improvisor. In the past number of years, he's been exploring the sonic potential of the prepared electric guitar, following in the footpaths laid down by such heroes as Fred Frith, Keith Rowe, and Teutuzi Akiyama. He uses wooden dowels, knitting needles, scrap metal, clips, and the like to produce sounds that fall well outside the normally accepted limits of the guitar. Abbott has been exploring this notion in depth with his duo Lamp Chops (with Colin Fisher, debut cdr due out this summer on Bug Incision). He's also plays with Paul Linklater & His Murmerers, the Danielle Duval band, and Cat Fur Omelette, his song-based solo project. Says Glen Hall in Exclaim! of his recent solo album: "...keen awareness of dynamic variation and his inventive repetitive versus non-repetitive rhythmic motifs, which hold the listener's attention. Recommended." (www.reverbnation.com/simeonabbott)

    Chris Dadge is based in Calgary, and plays drums and percussion, as well as a smattering of other instruments, if need be. As an improvisor, Dadge's interests parallel those of Abbott; finding fresh sounds and approaches on traditional instruments has afforded a wealth of unique playing. Dadge plays with Bent Spoon Duo (with Scott Munro), Jay Crocker, A Relative Distance, Thighs, and writes for and plays in Phil Withers, a song-based band. He's also collaborated with Eric Chenaux, Peter Evans, Mats Gustafsson, Ava Mendoza, Christian Munthe, Snailhouse, and Chad van Gaalen. (www.bugincision.com/chrisdadge)

    Super Deluxe Gas Jockey (8pm)
    This is the latest formation of the intrepid musicians (each of whom also produces excellent results in other art forms) who have collectively made up the ranks of tokyosexwhale, scum de terre, Booklilydeadposie, tomato tomato, and Street of Crocodiles. These are people who have been contributing the local creative music for a long time.

    Mark Dicey plays a variety of official and unofficial percussion items, generally creating a wild, visceral array of sounds and gestures. Lyle Pisio is a multi-instrumental improvisor who has been seen playing the alto saxophone, trumpet, and upright bass, depending on how he feels. Janet Turner has a way of integrating her vocals into an improvised melange in so that you come out of the venue later that night with her cryptic, half-sung/half-moaned couplets swimming around your mind, even if you didn't notice it during the set.

    Wednesday, August 12, 2009
    Weeds - 1903 20th ave nw
    Sets at 8pm and 9pm SHARP
    Pay what you can
  • August 14 + 15 - Eugene Chadbourne 2 nights @ Emmedia - workshop & two shows
  • September 22 @ Weeds - 7:30pm

    Nilan Perera has been a consistent presence in the Canadian improvised music scene since 1983. He has performed and recorded with Evan Parker, John Butcher, William Parker, Jandek, David Toop, Mary Margaret O'Hara, Eddie Prevost, and Michael Ondaatje, among many others. He also has worked extensively with multi-disciplinary artist Susanna Hood, and writes for Exclaim! magazine.

    Based in Toronto, Perera leads the experimental blues sextet 'holyblueghost', improvising drum/acoustic guitar country duo 'faint praise', electric improvising freefunk octet ‘rEDwIREaRCHaNGEL’, electroacoustic duo ‘Smash and Teeny’, and also performs frequently as a soloist and collaborator. He is on the board of directors of the Association for Improvising Musicians of Toronto (AIMToronto). Here's what some folks have said:

    "A genuinely powerful new voice on electric guitar."
    - Keith Moline, The Wire

    "One of the most extraordinary CDs to cross my path is guitarist Nilan Perera's Harmless Love."
    - Rene van Peer, Musicworks

    "Perera is an extraordinary musician whose approach to working with sound is always fascinating and mesmerizing: he utilizes preparations of assorted paraphernalia such as swizzle sticks, paper clips, metal brushes and the like, as well as feedback and a variety of electronic effects."
    - Sarah Peebles, hybridmagazine.com

    The Bent Spoon Duo (that's Chris Dadge and Scott Munro) has spent the better part of the last decade refining their approach to free improvisation. Taking that genre at face value, they play a restless, vaguely psychedelic melange of instruments and homemade sounds, but as one reviewer put it, "Regardless of what is actually used to make these charmingly odd vignettes, it’s fantastic music." Their recent string of releases, on Bug Incision, Holy Cheever Church, and Middle James Co, have been summed up as "superb psychic mindmeld." New recordings with Eric Chenaux will see the light of day by late 2009.

    Aaron Leaney has been back and forth between Calgary and Toronto for the last five years or so. He's here currently, furthering his approach to jazz-based improvisation and composition with solo playing, duos with Chris Dadge and others, and the Aaron Leaney Three, a vehicle for his tunes and three-way communication. Signal To Noise magazine said "Leaney has a garrulous, sing-song delivery that calls to mind a relaxed, less possessed Fred Anderson. He's a natural, like a furry moth at your window."
  • @ weeds (1903 20th ave nw - back room) 8:00-10:00pm, pay what you can
    • Oct 21: Jay Crocker & Chris Dadge solos & duo
    • November 11:
      Nomoreshapes is the bastardized jazz of Jay Crocker (guitar, electronics), Eric Hamelin (drums, percussion), and sometimes Simon Fisk (cello, electronics).

      Beneath These Idles Tides is Myke Atkinson, conjuring thicks slabs of sound from his guitar and whatnot.

      Free Nude Celebs is Jordan from Azeda Booth's solo project. Twisted songs and instrumentals, sure to be a wildcard on this night.
  • December 8, 2009
    Bent Spoon Duo on WFMU (The Long Rally with Scott McDowell)
    6:00am-9:00am EST
    www.wfmu.org
  • @ weeds (1903 20th ave nw - back room) 8:00-10:00pm, pay what you can
    • Dec 9 - Dagde/Fleischhaker/Munro + Carlos Najar
  • Dec 23 - Simeon Abbott & Friends @ Weeds
    • feat. Jeff Mcgregor, Chris Dadge, Aaron Leaney, Karl Leung, Brigitte Dajczer, Lyle Pisio, Eric Hamelin
    • 1903 20th Ave NW / 8-10PM sharp / pay what you can
  • Jan 13 - Seizure Salad + Bent Spoon Duo w Chad VG
  • WEEDS CAFE (1903 20th AVE NW), 8-10pm, PAY WHAT YOU CAN

    TUESDAY APRIL 5, 2010

    all ages, food & drink

    ERIC NORMAND + BENT SPOON DUO

    The Bent Spoon Duo (Chris Dadge and Scott Munro) has spent the better part of the last decade refining their approach to free improvisation. Taking that genre at face value, they play a restless, vaguely psychedelic melange of instruments and homemade sounds, but as one reviewer put it, "Regardless of what is actually used to make these charmingly odd vignettes, it’s fantastic music." Their recent string of releases, on Bug Incision, Holy Cheever Church, and Middle James Co, have been summed up as "superb psychic mindmeld." New recordings with Eric Chenaux will see the light of day in 2010.

    Éric Normand is a composer, improviser, bassist, instrument designer, and record and concert producer, all in one. He defines himself as an epidisci plinary musician, a free electron driven by its yearning for meetings. In his book, composition cannot exist without exchange, since composition consists in setting up a territory that will facilitate improvisation. The interlocutors who have taken part to his numerous composition and production projects are sound engineers, radio producers, musicians, and sound artists. Living in a remote location (Rimouski), he ponders the concept of distance. He builds portable instruments and involves musicians in projects designed with very basic or high-tech communication tools. When he wanders around, he likes to improvises. His latest such meetings have featured Pierre-Yves Martel, Danielle Palardy Roger, Magali Babin and Anne-Françoise Jacques. His music has been programmed by or performed in several festivals in Canada (Festival de Musiques de Création, Jonquière — Reflux — Moncton, Productions SuperMusique — Montréal, Mois Multi — Québec, etc.) and Europe (Festival Rue du Nord — Switzerland, Festival des Musiques Insolentes — France, Les Rencontres à l’Échelle — France, etc). They have also been broadcasted by Radio-Canada, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, CBC, Radio-Grenouille, and several college radio stations.

  • WEDNESDAY, APRIL 21, 2009
    (the acts are listed here last to first, schedule-wise)

    Larry McDowell aka Protagonist/Antagonist:

    Making music/noise under the alias Protagonist/Antagonist, Larry McDowell experiments with rhythmic and melodic atonal call and response to create a pitched psychedelia of droning horror and doom drawing on the concepts of space, time, chaos and cosmos. Using improvised jazz chords played on a moody electric guitar or ambient feedback from patch cables hissing through digital and analogue delay/echo effects, he produces subtle and eerie harmonically layered soundscapes.

    See also: http://soundcloud.com/larrymcdowell

    Matthew Waddell:

    MW is a musician from Montreal who is in Calgary for an extended visit while working on some other projects. A staple of the improvised/weirdo music scene in Montreal, Waddell plays in the excellent group Corse, and will be performing a solo laptop/field recordings/etc piece. More info:

    myspace.com/vortvort | myspace.com/corsesound | matthewwaddell.info

    Talewinds:

    Talewinds Trio culminates a string of chance encounters, sympathetic musical directions and a rare star alignment. This ensemble ignites the busy blues/ chromatic harmonicas and treasure box items of Alan Briks, the extraordinary soulful vocals and percussion of Jessie McMullan, in resonance with the lush, penetrating sounds of flutist Joan Cobb-Beaumont. Talewinds unwinds into soundscapes of improvisational story-making.

    JM: A student of Jazz Improvisation...engaging in the intuitively thoughtful creative exploration of ideas and emotions...Jatinder, (aka Jessy) is a singer who prefers to vocalize sounds, rhythmic and melodic thoughts that paint impressionistic soundscapes and images.  Although this will be her first walk into experimental music, she feels an excitement of having traveled far only to finally come home.  She has performed in various local and international venues as a Jazz singer, and looks forward to this debut with the talented stylings of her band mates in Talewinds.

    JCB: Having a passion for the flute that developed early in life’s adventure, Joan, has explored it in various venues from school ensembles, a youth orchestra & “pit” orchestras, to pairings with piano, voice(spoken & sung),  choir, organ, strings, horns, percussion. ... She is currently part of a 5 piece band called, “The Rhythm Methods”, performing cover tunes from a broad cross section of decades & genres.

    AB: Spontaneity, the intuitive, an adoration for process are common threads in Alan's endeavours as experimental musician, visual artist and art therapist. Having a jazz/ blues orientation on the harmonica Alan was thrust into experimental music ten years ago, and has since performed in various venues in Ontario and Alberta. ...“Throwing a variegated bunch of  sound-making artists together in a performance situation is an experiment in trust and telepathy, with the promise of an authentic creative process .. an exhilarating adventure”. 
  • MAY 12
    • ERIC HAMELIN - solo perc & electronics - chad vg/nomoreshapes' skinsman takes it on himself - nice!
    • AARON LEANEY - our town's finest sax testifier - solo horn on this night.
    • CHRIS REIMER - one of the guitar fiends from women, also NO HOMO, first seen here.
  • JUNE 16:
    CHRIS DADGE/ERIC HAMELIN DUO

    Eric Hamelin and Chris Dadge are two of Calgary's more prominent improvising percussionists, known largely for their work with Nomoreshapes and Bent Spoon Duo, respectively. They also share a secret fascination with guitars, and they will indulge themselves together on this night.

    myspace.com/nomoreshapeserichamelin
    bugincision.com/chrisdadge

    A V A

    A tornado wrestles a trailer park, a ship sinks beneath the silver mirror of the sea-top, temple gongs ring through an empty valley, industrial machinery sputters, heaves, lurches forward, stops, falls apart… These sound events may be the most acute musical referents of A V A, the solo project of R. Smith (Von Bingen, Shasta Cults, BCVCO). Using analog modular synthesizers, A V A pursues the true sound of the instrument, freed from the tyranny of emulation, no strings/woodwinds/piano presets. A V A ‘s compositions seek out unchartered territories where sustained drones may swell, build, or evaporate; where timbres collide, amplitudes fluctuate, sounds emerge, raw, primeval, new hybrids form from the collisions of electricity and frequency. There may be stretches of silence punctuated by bell-ish tones from futures unheard; a sequence of notes may verge upon melody before mutating into ugly moans, the sonic equivalent of funhouse mirrors. But the end result is far more than chance operation, sporadic sound fields, or indeterminate academic exercise. Instead, A V A brings us back to nature, back to the possibilities inherent in nature, to the truth of evolution, stitching both musical tones, and the sounds of 21st century living into a form which is as real, as imponderable, and as ungovernable as our own memories.

BENT SPOON DUO @ JAZZ FEST

BLANKET @ SLED ISLAND