“Few can match my ancient nerd-dom”

Lots for you today!

1

Gordy Li led a set at the Painted Ship for Infidels Jazz's Social Music series on Tuesday. Billed as Gordy Li Smurf 4, he brought Feven Kidane on bass; Cole Schmidt on guitar and electronics, an odd musical partner for him in my opinion; and Mili Hong on drums, who shone with intense beats that an unaware passerby might think were electronic in their propulsive force. The music was continuous, unplanned, and unfiltered, much like the leader's Instagram Stories. It was fusion, I suppose, but genre-words don't mean much for anyone who played on Tuesday nor for most of us in the house. What was more important was the exuberance of self-expression, the fun jam.

As for Gordy himself, he played some soprano saxophone solos but also triggered samples and played synth riffs. And if that wasn't enough, he frequently grabbed the mic (it was amusing how quickly he could jump into action and do it) to make announcements, pronouncements, and declarations. I legitimately wondered if he'd drop a rap verse.

And it worked – it was basically what I came hoping to witness. The young staff at the Painted Ship were into it; the house was pretty full, a bit of a who's-who coming out to see Gordy, 25, one of our adventurers on this scene ever since he began making a name for himself in I'd say early 2022. He played a sample of John Coltrane's spoken voice and explained that it was Trane was to anyone in the audience who didn't get it: everyone had to be in. He wasn't afraid to drop the room's attention onto specific people in his emcee bits, whether it was his bandmate or my friend eating a burger across from me. The music churned onward.

By the way, Feven is a fun bass player: all riffs, no nonsense.

2

The quote in the title today is not from Gordy but from saxophonist and bass clarinetist Allison Burik, who played Infidels' New Thing at Zameen Art House last Friday. Burik performed solo music from the 2024 release Realm as well as new material.

This show was one of many that filled the band Bellbird's itinerary over the past week before they moved onward to Victoria and then back home to Montreal; the band found time to join Chris Fraser on the podcast and also all came down to hear Mili play with Gordy.

A lot of electronics came together to form the wash of sound; we even got a Colin Stetson cover as the first number. I'd spot Burik somewhere between Stetson and Wendy Eisenberg conceptually. The banter between songs, explaining Norwegian folk connections and Beowulf references, was fun and kept the set from being too ambient. Some of the samples had unexpected volumes, at least compared to their rehearsal and soundcheck, so Bellbird member Claire Devlin jumped in often to adjust the mixer.

3

Before Burik's set, I heard two more Bellbirds: Devlin played with Mili in an improvising duo. Wow! Mili remains one of my very favourite drummers whom I've had the opportunity to hear repeatedly live. The two weaved through loud and soft playing, deferential to each other and happy to let things play out instead of forcing them forward. They picked up again after concluding their first long improv instead of calling set break, and everyone was indeed happy to hear more. They don't have a record or anything as just the duo.

4

The duo of Noah Franche-Nolan and Nicholas Bracewell, who played at Roedde House last night alongside other recent gigs, have given their duo project a hip new name: DRMHS instead of Dream House. "The Liquefaction", their first single, is a frantic single featuring Bracewell's driving breakbeat and Franche-Nolan's electric keyboard. Streaming / Bandcamp. Much more about the project here on Noah's Substack in his (and Bracewell's) words.