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International Report
Edited by Evan Newman - newmando@hotmail.com

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North Versus South. The Jam Band Perspective

Since becoming a fan of improvisational music, I've heard many of discussions involving the comparisons between east and west musical styles. The west coast musical style tends to be more psychedelic and experimental in comparison to the east coast style which is deemed more aggressive and rock and roll oriented. This difference is most prominent between the two biggest jam bands to come out of these respective areas: Grateful Dead in the west and Phish in the east. These comparisons can be classified as more cultural than musical but nonetheless, distinct musical differences still hold true today. One of the most obvious examples would be of the Zen Tricksters, an east coast band who plays a west coast style of music. During a recent Tricksters performance in Vancouver, the common vibe expressed by fans was that this is how the dead would have sounded if they were from the east coast. I heard all the comparisons of east and west, but what about north and south? How does the Canadian music style differ from the American style? Is there a difference?

Through research and interviews, I have come to realize that there is a very noticeable difference between Canadian improv music and their contemporaries to the south, more or less in preference than substance. "Canadians in general, prefer simple melodic music, repetitive jams that are guitar heavy" says Jim Finkel music professor at Simon Fraser University, "It can be compared to sport, whereas Americas favourite pastime is baseball, Canada's is hockey, a much more simple game than baseball that relies on fast paced back and forth action". This is not saying that Canadians don't like to think but prefer to be entertained rather than to be challenged. The most successful jam band to come out of Canada is the Tragically Hip, they are not an improvisational band but a band that prolongs their songs with guitar driven music. Their music escalates upwards but never veers off the trail with improvisation. "It is testosterone rock, beer drinking jamming, says Sherri Nagle, a music columnist for a local paper. "It is something that your average male can relate to, hockey and guitar heavy right from between the legs". Although this may seem harsh, it tends to ring true. The Canadian musical style tends to have more of an anthemic quality than that of the U.S. One of the major factors can attributed to the fact that there has been no distinct Canadian jam style for present day bands to model themselves after. Whereas the U.S. had the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and other west coast dignitaries, Canada has produced acts like Neil Young, The Guess Who and Bachman Turner Overdrive that weren't heavy on improvisation. The improvisational scene was basically non existent, bands like Rush were doing instrumental songs that were structured and extremely complicated but lacked the spontanaeity that is crucial to jam band music. The Canadian improvisational bands of today have used their American counterparts as influence but have distinctly added their own Canadian style which varies within each band. Sometimes this uniqueness cannot be categorized but you can notice it there. Hopefully, the Canadian jam bands of today (Burt Neilsen, One Step Beyond, MIlky Way) will carve a niche for the next generation of music to have a fully distinct Canadian quality. Until then, Canadian music can be described as Americana with a dash of difference and this difference makes it all the better.

Editors Note: The persistence has paid off! Phish will play the Molson Amphitheater In Toronto on July 20. Over the years we have tried and tried, now that we have them let's show them what they've been missing. Be nice to the visitors and keep it cool, we want to see them back soon.

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The True Italy Music Scene

Italy isn't only a country of melodic songs. The country of Opera masterpieces and some of the most beautiful melodic singers (as the italo-americans Sinatra or Dean Martin) has also some cool new young bands around.

Bands like "Modena City Ramblers", "Bandabarḍ" and the multiethnical groove of "Kayama" are really a nice challenge against the usual musical scheme.

All these bands have a "freak" attitude with positive vibes and are always great at their shows. There are people dancing and the overall energy is very high. The main difference from the U.S. jamband scene is that lyrics of the songs are really important and sometimes overrides the musical aspect. That's true expecially for M.C.R and, in minor part, for Bandabarḍ. The lyrics talk about the political and social italian situation: stories of struggles and poor peoples and connections with the recent Italy story. They definitely don't seem to have the Phish lyrics attitude !

"Modena City Ramblers" are the most famous. They're an eclectic band with high irish music influences. They sing in italian language but they use irish traditionals instruments as accordeon, tin whistle, bouzouki and uillean pipes. Their live performances are great with the same energy of bands like Pogues or early Waterboys. Usually every show is a big and extensive irish gig with the eight musicians playing very hard. They play also some old italians traditionals songs in a new dress and they fill easily venues of 5000/10000 seats. Their last Cd ("Raccolti") is a sweet acoustic live performance. Really amazing. (www.ramblers.it)

"Bandabarḍ", or only La Banda, is, in my opinion, the only italian jamband. They're really a bunch of freaks guys with a great instrumental ability. They play an irresistible mix of acoustic music pretty similar with Leftover Salmon.

Seven players: Erriquez, Finaz and Orla at the guitars, Paolino at the percussions, Don Bachi at the upright-bass and Nuto at the drums. Their shows are really fun and they re-works their songs with some cool jams. They tour a lot and they are on their way to big success. Their music is a mix of originals and Italy/France traditionals songs. Their last mini-live-Cd "Barbaro Tour" is out now. (www.bandabardo.it)

One of the most originals italians band are "Kayama". "Kayama" is a local band from the italian region of Emilia-Romagna and it's almost unknowed in the rest of my country. They are formed by italian players as well as some Moroccoan ones, so their sound is an excellent blend of italians and africans/maghreb music.

So, there is a lot of percussive sound with great guitar harmonies. And the overall groove at their shows is unbelievable. Songs are sung with some italian and african language. A real and lucky multiethnical happening. For any more infos on this great band you can contact their guitarist, Corrado at corrado@racine.ra.it .

These are only an example of some of the best bands here, in my opinion. But, as for the incredible US jambands scene, I think pretty soon new and interesting bands will also appear in Italy. Long life to good music !

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Donna the Buffalo in Italy

March 1999 will be remembered for the first italian tour of one of the most original and enjoyable Us jambands: Donna The Buffalo.

They had a fast two-week-7-shows tour in my country and I've seen them in Chiari and in their last performance in Colere. And I had a blast !

The 6th of march they played in a small auditorium in Chiari and it was packed of about 300 people. The scene was pretty weird because everybody was sitting down and only clapping between every song. But, you know, that's the italian crowd style. Anyway, the band gave us more than 2 hours of their bright and irresistible music and everybody at the end was smiling. There was some new songs in the set list and a bunch of favourites as "Mr.King" (beautiful jam), "One You Love" and "America".

The only people dancing were the few americans in Italy with the band and that was, I repeat, a negative point for the Chiari show.

Anyway, they warmed up a snowy night !

The night in Colere (13th of march) was totally mind altering. The place is pretty famous in North of Italy. It's a little town lost on the mountains where every summer solstice about 30000 people from every European country gathering for the "Moon Feast", an incredible and spontaneous freak night. So, for their last show here, the Buffaloes has finally found a special venue. After they played in a disco the night before (bad choice, eh?) they finally played in front of 60-70 dancin peoples and with the right feeling around. Yeah, not so much people, but the night was been great.

After a funny pre-show talkin and joking with the musicians, the band start the dance at 10.00 pm and keep playing until 1.00 am. Three hours of great music ! From "Conscious Evolution" to an improvised instrumental song with Jeb and the band in an other dimension. There was been also a long, absolutely brilliant new song ("Arrows..") and a great version of "Me And Depression". After the show the party went on with free cakes and free red wine for everybody. So, everybody was talking with the kind musicians and with the rest of the crew. What a wonderful night.

I hope they'll come back soon to Italy because we need these kind of bands to spread around the real good music. Thank you guys ! Be funky !

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