CaneFire brings steelpan to fest
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Updated: June 24, 2009 12:27 PM
Harrison’s Festival of the Arts brings different performing faces in every year. This year, their 31st, is no exception. Jeremy Ledbetter, bandleader of the highly anticipated group CaneFire, is excited about their first appearance in Harrison, first trip to B.C., and another opportunity to share their unique island sound.
“The music that CaneFire plays is all about travel, and putting music from different places together, so the opportunity to share our music with a new audience in a new city is always very exciting for us,” he says.
“CaneFire is made up of seven musicians hailing from Cuba, Trinidad, and Canada, who all now make Toronto their home,” says Ledbetter. They have been playing together for four years. Ledbetter is the group’s Canadian pianist and composer. Mark Mosca brings in the steelpan, Alexis Baro the trumpet, Braxton Hicks the saxophones, Yoser Rodriguez the bass, Alberto Suarez percussion, and Mex Senitt the drums. Of all the instruments, the most unexplored in Canada is the steelpan, a Trinidadian percussion instrument made from discarded oil barrels. The group is breaking through stereotypes with each performance.
“A big part of what CaneFire is all about is showing people what the steelpan is capable of, by showcasing the instrument in an unconventional context,” says Ledbetter. Though many people will recognize the steelpan’s sound – Ledbetter calls it “the iconic instrument of the Caribbean” – they have usually only heard it in a limited context. He explains the kind of thing he means – “[steelpan] on a beach playing “Yellow Bird” under a palm tree.” While, not knowing better, we might be satisfied with the feeling the steelpan usually evokes – a tropical vacation for the mind -- it is much more.
“It is actually a very serious, versatile instrument, one that in the right pair of hands can sound good playing a wide variety of music, and can rival the saxophone or the trumpet as the lead instrument in a jazz setting,” says Ledbetter. Festival audience members can look forward to a wider understanding of Caribbean music.
“That there’s a lot more to Caribbean music than “Hot Hot Hot” – but they’ll find that out at the show,” promises Ledbetter. CaneFire has a clear vision of what they want to get across in their music and respect other musicians who have the the same.
“Personally, I am inspired by any artist who is making their own path, and staying true to their own personal vision of what their music should be,” says Ledbetter.
After the festival, CaneFire will be on the road in Western Canada for another month and then back to Toronto where they will be in the studio to record their second album this fall.
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