Feven Kidane's Maiden Voyage
Feven goes from free jazz to powerful post-bop in 3 days.
Feven Kidane at the Tangent
Last night, Feven Kidane led a quartet at the Tangent Cafe with Julian Borkowski on piano, Dan Howard on bass, and Todd Stewart on drums.
A few days ago on Sunday, Feven was the featured artist for the New Thing at General Strike.
For General Strike, I had written more about the gig itself, because it was new. Free jazz was the order of the day.
But now, let’s focus on Feven and the post-bop music from last night. "Maiden Voyage" was one of the tunes that the band played, hence the title of this Update.
Of the tunes from the post-bop repertoire that made their setlist, these were my three favourites:
"All The More" (Kenny Wheeler)
"Katerina Ballerina" (Woody Shaw)
"Toyland" (Jackie McLean)
Feven also played originals, and the highlight was "Little Habesha Girl", which had intense soloing on an Afro-Cuban blues-like groove. Another original tune, "Cow Tipping", was a frantic and loud arrangement. I'll look forward to hearing those two tunes again.
Who will make a major investment in Feven?
Feven is a 24-year-old trumpeter who drew a robust audience last night. Although still a Cap student, she's already a major asset to the Vancouver jazz scene:
- She is a young talent who puts on other young talent: when I was in my early twenties, a band this young wasn't getting booked at the Tangent, but here we are
- She has a nice amount of deference to her bandmates; the trio behind her got plenty of time to stretch out and have fun, and she seems to enjoy letting her bandmates step into space within the arrangements
- Her playing across multiple genres sounds confident and intense
- She is known as an activist and a personality who stirs the pot in this community
This is a standout mix of traits, one that jazz labels and grants won't ignore for long.
I originally published this edition of the Rhythm Changes Update for subscribers-only and have since made it available for anyone on the web. Please enjoy browsing this website for more content.
