Music to die for

Linsey Wellman's a busy fellow; if you've been following the blog you'll have seen him performing with Fet. Nat. and The Mashed Potato Mashers. He's performed with several other local acts, such as Adam Saikely and The Rakestar Orchestra, but on this night last week he was heading his own trio, the Linsey Wellman Funeral Band, accompanied by Mike Essoudrey (also a Potato Masher) and Keith Hartshorn-Walton on tuba. The sound mixes Balkan and free-jazz influences ... heres the whole lot!



Sax'n'drum action!



Clarinet action!



More Mike!



Tuba action!



And so on!



More clarinet!



A lively evening.

One down

After a quick bus ride Tuesday I ended up at the House of Targ. Aukofen, the first band on the bill had already started things up. They're a young combo who play the melodic metal popular with the youngsters nowadays. Since I'm ancient, it reminded me a bit of bands like Tool and Failure.

Here's bassist Martin Rocheleau and drummer Simon Joly.



And guitarists Marc-Antoine Joly and Matthieu Leroux.



More Martin!



Marc-Antoine shreds.



Singalong action!



Simon hits!



And so on!



More Simon!



Martin sings a bit!



They were followed by The Yips, who tore up the stage as usual.



Vocal action!



Kerri sings!



Bass and guitar action with Kurt and Jonny (the latter recently seen surfing it up with Casa Lagarto)!



Percussive action!



More guitar with Zach!



Extra Kerri and Kurt!



Fet. Nat. finished the evening with a killer set. They've had a lineup change since I saw them last: Bassist Daniel Boivin has departed and jazz improv guru Linsey Wellman has joined up - last time I saw him was back in 2011 with Mike Essoudry's Mash Potato Mashers.



Here, once again, is Olivier Fairfield. I just saw him on stage again with Her Harbour at the Elmdale Taven just a few hours ago.



Gripping action with JFNO!



Pierre-Luc frets!



Linsey conducts some audience vocals!



JFNO works the crowd!



More Pierre-Luc and Olivier!



A good end to the fest's first day.

One potato, two potato

 Mike Essoudry is a well-known drummer about town who also has a jazz octet which bears his name; in addition to his other work (scoring silent films and ear-training at Carleton, for example) he apparently decide he's like to combine a New Orleans parade band with a bunch of other stuff. Lo and behold, the Mash Potato Mashers were born. They had their debut about a year ago and have since gathered a great deal of acclaim for their party-hearty shows. At this gig they were opening for the Hi Lo Trons at Babylon.

First, a  little warmup near the washrooms.



And they're off, with Matthew Ouimet and Mike Essoudry on drums and Linsey Wellman on the saxophone.



Mike on the march.



Trumpet action with Craig Pedersen!



More Mike!



Ryan Purchase extends his range.



Flashy action with tuba wrangler (and one-time Silver Heart) Brian Saunderson.



Mike Schulz gets in some Trombone action.



Tyler Cyr is the only guy I haven't mentioned yet. Trumpeter Richard Ragno apparently couldn't make this show.



Walk this way ...



Warm headgear is apparently a must in this outfit.



Megaphonic action!



Matt hits!



The overhead view.



Tyler rocks the brass.



More Craig!



Lying down on the job ...



I guess I should be taking a picture of what Mike is gesturing at and not Mike, but oh well.



Wait, it's Brian!



More drumming!



Linsey takes a pre-end break.



The end!



They've got several gigs lined up, including a performance at the Ottawa International Jazz Fest; on February 14 they'll try to squeeze into the Manx and on April 9 they'll be performing at Irene's.

• Show reminder: The calendar at Zaphod Beeblebrox seems to be filling up - Eugene and The Eugenics, Noah Moses and Courtney Thorman are there tonight; Amanda LeBlanc joins River City Junction at the Avant-Garde Bar.