The quartet’s conservatory-trained members aren’t too hifalutin to enjoy a bit of lowbrow humour
Judging by the lumbering melodies and delicate instrumentation on Brasstronaut’s one would expect the Vancouver jazz quartet to engage the Straight in a sophisticated conversation about the classical tradition—or something equally as hifalutin—when we gather on the upscale patio of the Vancouver Art Gallery’s caf. The fact that the group’s vocalist and pianist, Edo Van Breemen, whips out a hilarious impersonation of Sloth, the lovable man-ogre from the ’80s teen cult hit The Goonies, puts a different spin on things entirely.
So how does one naturally transition from Chester Copperpot and the gruesome Fratelli gang to an in-depth conversation about “crumbling cities, ancient forests, and stormy fjords”—the imagery that inspired Old World Lies? Awkwardly.
But the abrupt change of topic doesn’t seem to faze the accomplished group of formally trained musicians. Van Breemen and his bandmates—Bryan Davies on trumpet, Brennan Saul on drums, and John Walsh on bass—are far more low-key and down-to-earth than you’d expect of guys who were trained at prestigious conservatories in Canada and abroad.
“We’re not going for a specific image or going after a certain angle—we’re just being ourselves and going with the flow,” Van Breemen explains, offering a gentle hint to listeners—and to a certain writer, for that matter—to avoid making assumptions about the ensemble based on the sombre tone of its elegant music. “You can’t really delineate it [the band’s sound] as one sort of thing—‘Okay, Brasstronaut is this.’
Judging by the lumbering melodies and delicate instrumentation on Brasstronaut’s one would expect the Vancouver jazz quartet to engage the Straight in a sophisticated conversation about the classical tradition—or something equally as hifalutin—when we gather on the upscale patio of the Vancouver Art Gallery’s caf. The fact that the group’s vocalist and pianist, Edo Van Breemen, whips out a hilarious impersonation of Sloth, the lovable man-ogre from the ’80s teen cult hit The Goonies, puts a different spin on things entirely.
So how does one naturally transition from Chester Copperpot and the gruesome Fratelli gang to an in-depth conversation about “crumbling cities, ancient forests, and stormy fjords”—the imagery that inspired Old World Lies? Awkwardly.
But the abrupt change of topic doesn’t seem to faze the accomplished group of formally trained musicians. Van Breemen and his bandmates—Bryan Davies on trumpet, Brennan Saul on drums, and John Walsh on bass—are far more low-key and down-to-earth than you’d expect of guys who were trained at prestigious conservatories in Canada and abroad.
“We’re not going for a specific image or going after a certain angle—we’re just being ourselves and going with the flow,” Van Breemen explains, offering a gentle hint to listeners—and to a certain writer, for that matter—to avoid making assumptions about the ensemble based on the sombre tone of its elegant music. “You can’t really delineate it [the band’s sound] as one sort of thing—‘Okay, Brasstronaut is this.’
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