ALMOST UNPLUGGED with JESSE ZUBOT and ANDRÉA TYNIEC at Buddies In Bad Times Theatre (12 Alexander), Thursday, February 1, 8 pm. $20-$25. soundstreams.ca. See listing.
You can’t pin violinist and producer Jesse Zubot to one genre.
“I just love all kinds of music and I always have,” he says.
Zubot has been playing with Tanya Tagaq for over 10 years. Along with percussionist Jean Martin, Zubot’s musical explorations form a foundation for Tagaq’s throat singing. Fluttering tones and electronic transformations render his violin unrecognizable at times, as if it’s emanating some phantom voice.
Zubot produced Tagaq’s Polaris Prize-winning Animism and its 2016 shortlisted follow-up Retribution. His record label Drip Audio has released over 40 albums that range from ambient to heavy instrumental rock to jazz.
He’s won Junos as part of Zubot and Dawson, his folk project with Steve Dawson, and with his long-standing post-rock band Fond of Tigers. He’s played with Dan Mangan, Destroyer, Stars and many others. He’s been nominated for two Canadian Screen Awards and composed the score for the upcoming film Indian Horse (out April 13).
Somewhere in this busy schedule, Zubot finds release through improvisation. He describes it as “very rewarding and spiritually satisfying” and says that he achieves a “meditative state” while playing.
“I’ve been improvising for probably 10 or 15 years, and when you first start doing it, it involves a little more thinking and trying to figure out what you should do in the moment,” he explains. “As you get better at it and as time goes on, you’re not really thinking anymore. From my perspective, that’s how the best creations come.”
On Thursday, February 1, Zubot will play at Buddies In Bad Times Cabaret Space with Montreal contemporary classical violinist Andréa Tyniec. Part of Soundstreams’ Ear Candy series, Zubot and Tyniec will each play a set before coming together for a collaborative piece. Zubot’s improvisational set will showcase the bold, expressionistic aesthetic he has developed while playing with Tagaq, a sound that is filled with boundless curiosity.
For a preview, check out Zubot’s new piece Ceremony, streaming exclusively below.
A little ominous, the track (which Zubot says is best listened to on high-end headphones) features trippy reversed delays and is recorded live in one take through one microphone and one pickup, through electronics.
Zubot recently moved from Vancouver to Vancouver Island where he hopes to carve out time to work on a solo release. In the meantime, he relishes one-off scenarios like the Soundstreams collaboration.
“I’m constantly trying to challenge myself by never letting myself become too comfortable in any place,” he says. “I also enjoy meeting different types of people and I find you learn a lot when you’re working with different genres and figuring out how to pull off every scenario.
“It never really gets boring that way.”
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