The spirit of iconic 1970s jazz fusion ensemble Mahavishnu Orchestra, led by guitarist John McLachlan, will be celebrated tonight in a concert given by Vancouver’s “Godzilla” big band, the Hard Rubber Orchestra.
You could say that the dharma of Mahavishnu will be reincarnated into the karma of Hard Rubber, but that might be overstating the Eastern influence. Or maybe not. Consider the sage advice Hard Rubber Orchestra leader and founder, John Korsrud, received in the band’s early days when the challenges of running an 18-piece, contemporary music ensemble weighed heavily on the young and ambitious Korsrud: “The energy you put into this now will come back at you in the future in ways that are unimaginable for you right now. So stick with it!”
As the karmic wheel made its slow turns for Hard Rubber over the years, those prophetic words did, indeed, come true, leading to European touring, multimedia ice shows, opera productions and even an Elvis-inspired CBC Television special called Cantata for the King. The orchestra’s calling card opened doors for Korsrud to compose music for venerable institutions, including the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and Carnegie Hall. Not bad for a bunch of (mostly) jazz musicians who love nothing better than to blow long and hard on fiendishly difficult charts that challenge and delight their diverse audiences.
I caught up with Korsrud for a few questions during a busy composer’s coffee break to discuss Hard Rubber’s latest and maybe most technically challenging project to date.
Q: What was the appeal for Hard Rubber Orchestra to try to do a show based on the repertoire of the Mahavishnu Orchestra?
A: It’s just very exciting and very ambitious music and I’ve always liked music that’s slightly over the top. They [Mahavishnu Orchestra] performed at insane rock ’n’ roll volumes and with incredible virtuosity. It was very up-tempo, with great soloists and very thrilling to listen to. They’re such a ferocious and exciting band who unfortunately aren’t well represented in video form online. The sound quality of the live performances is pretty poor but I have seen a bootleg from 1972 that is pretty exciting. Their first couple of commercial recordings are my favorites.
Q: How much does absolutely playing the stuffing out of your instrument matter on a gig like this? Can you do the show without people being super virtuosic?
A: No. That’s like asking to do Paganini without being a good violinist. No, it’s about virtuosity in this music and it’s one of the reasons I think this is going to be a good concert. We’ve got two great guitarists playing the role of John McLaughlin and his double neck guitar. Daryl Jahnke and Ron Samworth are both excellent players with contrasting styles, which I think will be a nice complement to each other. And then Chris Gestrin and Hugh Fraser are both going to be playing keys. Hugh will be playing some trombone as well. And then you’ll hear a really amazing drummer, Randall Stoll [k.d. lang, Tom Cochrane], who excels at playing odd time signatures. And he’s very virtuosic too.
Q: This is challenging music that is probably tricky to notate. How did the guys respond to being asked to write these arrangements?
A: They wanted to do it. For example, Fred Stride approached me. He was at one of our concerts and came up and said, “John, I want to be part of this.” So then it was a matter of dividing up the wish lists from the other arrangers and trying to get the right mix. Fred finished a couple charts, and then he’s like, “I want to do one more.” So he does a third one, then he gives me a call a couple days ago and goes, “I think I can do one more.” So he’s doing four now! I think it’s going to be an intense, high energy night. I always thought you’d have to be a 40-plus guitar god wannabe to really appreciate this but I’m hearing from a bunch of students in their 20s that “oh yeah this is going to be great and I can’t wait.”
Korsrud will lead a performance of the Hard Rubber Orchestra plays Mahavishnu Orchestra featuring arrangements by Korsrud, Stride, Fraser, Bill Runge and Colin Towns. If you’d like to witness this epic meeting of musical sensibilities, you’ll have one chance tonight, in Vancouver. After that it’s like Eric Dolphy said: “When you hear music, after it's over, it's gone, in the air. You can never capture it again.”
See the show Saturday, April 14, 8 p.m. at the Fei and Milton Wong Theatre at the SFU/ Woodwards Building on 149 W. Hastings St. Tickets available here.
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