Concert
English saxophonist Iain Ballamy and Norwegian accordion player Stian Carstensen communicate on the highest musical level. Their waltzes, tangos, chansons and ballads are evocative of a hurdy-gurdy man’s nostalgic charm and occasionally they turn to ambient or minimal music. Iain Ballamy proved to be a lively musician with Django Bates, the Loose Tubes and Carla Bley’s band. Stian Carstensen is a celebrity of the European improvisation scene, with his band Farmers Market he jumps back and forth between Balkan folk music and jazz. Their joint album The Little Radio is full of emotion and trivia put on with a wink.
In between two Monday-gigs at the Orbit Room in Toronto: dreamy country-reveries, powerful blues and jazz-influenced rock improvisations - Kevin Breit and the Sisters Euclid attend to all of them. The Canadian guitar-genius is capable of playing several stringed instruments, as there is the guitar, the dobro, the banjo and the mandolin, but his talents also encompass more exotic instruments like guitorgan, mandocello or vibro-bass. His fame was built on supporting acts with vocalists like Cassandra Wilson, Norah Jones, Holly Cole and k.d.lang. In 2000 he has been recording Supergenerous with the Brazilian percussionist Cyro Baptista. There is no other project the introvert Canadian has pushed as far ahead as the Sisters Euclid –they have been playing together for the last eight years. The group will make their European debut at the Berlin Jazz Festival.
Iain Ballamy – tenor sax
Stian Carstensen – button accordion
Kevin Breit – guitar
Rob Gusevs – keyboards
Ian DeSouza – bass
Gary Taylor – drums