A Night At The Improv

Somewhere There is a tiny studio on Sterling Road that provides a space for musicians playing improvised music (not in the Jazz sense). Sterling Road is small street between Lansdowne and Dundas St. W. south of Bloor Street. Despite recent condo developments in the area, it still retains an industrial feel because there are still small companies and lofts to be found in a number of dilapidated buildings.

Before attending the performance, I wandered around the run-down neighbourhood. There's quite a contrast between the shiny new buildings and the old cast-offs, still defying gentrification. Centre of Gravity circus school as well as Comic and Gaming Monthly can be found here. Most intriguingly, a place to practice axe throwing?

The evening started with Peggy Lee (cello) and Dylan Van der Schyff (drums) improvising and playing around with their instruments. It was a pleasure to listen to Van der Schuff. His skills as a jazz musician meant that there were percussive rhythms and techniques played that are absent from the indie shows I attend. He was also more successful with his experimentation. For no matter what he did, such as making a drum hum by running a wet finger along its skin, it was still an expression of the innate nature of his instrument.

Lee was less enjoyable. There were moments where her experiments with rhythm, sounds, and harmonics were intriguing. But most of the time, there was little that can be classified as melodic. Seems to be a waste of a good cello.

After a long intermission, Aiden Closs (piano) and Mary Margaret O'Hara (vocals) arrived. She was moving that day and the movers were lengthily delayed. I was hoping for some inspired, if unusual, singing from O'Hara, either singing from her repertoire or covers. No such luck. More caterwauling followed. She had always interjected odd phrasing into her songs. But given free range, it was all horse neighs, screeches, and sound effects. Closs occasionally sustained a thematic series of chord changes that would almost coalesce into a song-like arrangement only to be undone by fingernail-down-blackboard sonic assaults from Lee.

The studio's calendar list several concerts a week in musical improvisation. But unless it's of the Jazz variety (and not so much avant-garde Jazz), I won't be re-visiting this studio. That axe-throwing club, however ...