Thad Bailey-Mai Quartet & evolution of Chill X at month 1
What Thad's band played and how Chill X Studio in Mount Pleasant is evolving as a venue
Chill X Studio just hosted its second night of music in Mount Pleasant at 2270 Manitoba Street, Vancouver, presented by The Infidels. On Wednesday, September 27th, Thad Bailey-Mai led his quartet of Chris Fraser, Conrad Good, and Bernie Arai through two sets at the nascent venue.
Chill X had their first-ever Infidels show last month, immediately upon opening as a venue; we covered it here:
Will Chernoff
Thad's band played all originals, starting with three of his more complex and intense tunes called "Everybody's Different", "Too Fast", and "Duets"...
The only way for you to hear some of these tunes online right now is through this old SoundCloud playlist, though he may not remember that he still has it available to the world. I'm not 100% sure of the personnel on the SoundCloud, other than that the guitarist is definitely David Blake – it may still be Conrad and Bernie on bass and drums.
The pedaling "Too Fast" is one of them. On the gig, Thad's trumpet sounded higher-pitched and more forceful than his usual dark and moody trademark sound; this recording captures that to some extent:
The quartet also played "Wayfare", "WallFlower", and "Nidoto" from the SoundCloud.
Rounding out the setlist was a bouncing tune just called "Blues" though it wasn't a blues, his song "There's No Magic" that I've heard Thad perform with Kria Wall on vocals, a companion to "Too Fast" called "Too Slow" that he played with a mute in his trumpet, and the tune "Where's There" which got recorded on David Blake's album Fun House:
A lot of the show was a wonderful showcase of the trio of Chris, Conrad, and Bernie, with Chris using a clean but half-processed guitar tone while phrasing his lines in both delicate and ripping manners. He sounded well-prepared for the music in his own style and came up with much different ideas than what I've heard David Blake play over Thad's tunes.
Bernie had so much energy on the drums that he didn't need straight-up drum solo sections to generate the excitement from the kit, though he did have those on "Blues" and "Where's There". And I watched with two friends who played bass as Conrad showed his full dexterity with plenty of bass solos up and down the instrument, especially on the ballads "Wallflower" and "There's No Magic".
Last month, Chill X proved demand for their brand-new space by launching lean: a cash bar, minimal decor, a simple set of speakers. They have a Square reader now, so you don't need to bring cash for the bar's drinks and snacks. A sound person and photographer sat to the house-left of the stage.
The total number of people who attended the grand summer opening was a bit larger than this rainy Wednesday's edition, as anyone would expect. But it's clear that Chill X is bought-in to The Infidels partnership; it's a fun space, with wind in its sails, where artful music will be presented regularly to fans.
And now that this second show is in the books, the Wednesday night jazz series is going weekly, starting right away with next week's October 4 edition and the Mary Ancheta Quartet. John Korsrud has kindly lent a piano to the space, and we’re still waiting to hear it being played on the stage.
