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| Main Stage Sunday |
“If Dizzy Gillespie were still with us, he would love
CaneFire” Vancouver Sun
“CaneFire is sweeter than Caroni brown sugar and don’t
doubt me” Trinidad Guardian
Toronto-based Caribbean jazz powerhouse CaneFire is
NOT your grandfather’s jazz band. As one of the most
explosive and energetic jazz ensembles on the planet,
CaneFire delivers a rollicking, high-octane show
combining the white-hot energy of Cuban rhythm, the
blinding musicianship of modern jazz, and the unbridled
joy of the music of the Caribbean.
CaneFire’s signature sound revolves around its
unconventional use of the steelpan – the only petroleum
byproduct in the world that is actually good for you. Led
by Canadian pianist/composer Jeremy Ledbetter, CaneFire
also features steelpan virtuoso Mark Mosca, Alexis Baro
(trumpet), Braxton Hicks (saxophones), Chendy Leon
(drums), Yoser Rodriguez (bass), and Alberto Suarez
(percussion).
In recent years CaneFire has taken their unique brand of
Caribbean Latin Jazz from BC to Newfoundland, to South
America, and to the Caribbean, including three years in a
row at the Trinidad and Tobago Jazz Festival. CaneFire
celebrated their fifth birthday in 2010 with the release of
their sophomore album, Pandemonium. The long-awaited
follow-up to their 2005 debut, Kaiso Blue, Pandemonium
embodies all the sizzle and twice the sophistication of its
predecessor, and features guest performances by
Trinidadian calypso superstar David Rudder and Brazilian
jazz legend Hermeto Pascoal.
Pandemonium opens with “The Madman’s Jig”, an
outrageously energetic Latin jazz piece written in 27/4
time. But in terms of pure explosive energy, there is
hardly anything out there to rival “Baptism by Fire,”
CaneFire’s take on a hybrid Trinidadian church music
called “gospelypso”. The album includes some New York-
style latin jazz (“Nothing by Mouth”), a touch of reggae
(“Two Cousins”), and a meeting of calypso and be-bop on
“Donna Lee (Goes South)”. Three pieces are inspired by
the birth last spring of Ledbetter’s daughter Leila, to
whom Pandemonium is dedicated: “Welcome Home,” a
gentle ballad that combines Afro-Brazilian rhythm with
Trinidad steelband; the playful “Little Bell”; and the bonus
track, “If I Could Sing,” an astonishing singing debut by
then five-month-old Leila. A final song of note is the
distinctly CaneFire cover of “Trini to the Bone,” Trinidad’s
unofficial national anthem, voiced by none other than
David Rudder, the soca superstar behind the original.
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