Lift Me Higher

On Friday, I was at 918 Bathurst for the 14th X Avante music festival. It was my first time here and I was impressed that a non-descript stretch of Bathurst just north of the subway station had a venue this beautiful. Though the festival's aim is to showcase experimental works of, as the director rather snootily called "creative music" (whatever that means), tonight's performers had approachable and fun sets. It felt like an an evening with friends.

Okan played some toe-tapping afro-cuban jazz. Though they were a 4-piece tonight, the core of the group really is the dynamic duo of Elizabeth Rodriguez (violin) and Magdelys Savigne (percussion). The songs were upbeat and got cheers for various solo turns, they also had deep emotional resonance: a break-up song about Rodriguez's previous bad marriage; a love letter to Savigne, her current spouse and musical partner; and a cover of an old Cuban composer. The latter had significance because he was friends with Rodriguez's grandma, who was visiting and seeing her grand-daughter play for the first time. With the soaring cathedral ceiling of the venue and an appreciative crowd, nana Rodriguez couldn't have picked a better show.

I kept missing local performances by Lido Piementa until she became better known. When I finally saw her, it was a disappointing EDM-esque opening set at The Mod Club, though she won The Polaris Prize later that year for La Papessa. Tonight, I witnessed why Piementa is such a magnetic performer. She had a great voice, clean and clear, with power that was used judiciously.

This was a run-through of her next release Miss Colombia though the project has been worked on since before La Papessa. Her bemusement at the Colombian people's anger over Steve Harvey's gaffe in mistakenly name Miss Colombia as Miss Universe in 2015 made her question whether she was still "Colombian". That their vitriol devolved to racial slurs against Harvey and winner Miss Philippines made this a "cynical love letter" to her old country.

Since it was an all-horn arrangement, for tonight Pimienta had assembled an 8-member band to play with her. She also recruited Rodriguez and Savigne for harmony on several songs. With all songs in Spanish, Pimienta had explanations for each number. This played to her wicked sense of humour. Switching between her own voice, an exaggerated "latina" patter, and a "white Becky" drawl, she laid out the motivation of each song: prejudice against Afro-Colombians, "good hair", blue-eye Western beauty standards, or sending money home. The jokes made talking about touchy topics easier.

In the end, the songs stood on their own. Pimienta might self-deprecatingly refer to her "Youtube Tutorial Academy" credentials versus the other "real musicians", but her music was top-notched. The audience loved her set and for the encore, she teased with a song from Miss Colombia 2. That album is probably 2 years out given that the first one is still being mastered.