If you’ve left Toronto for Western Canada and hit snow everywhere you go, including three feet in Saskatoon, then move on to the Bow Valley and its recent snowfall, you’re either a winter version of a stormchaser or you’re on the Third Worst Tour Ever.
When you’re the Worst Pop Band Ever, it’s pretty clear which scenario is in effect. WPBE plays the Rose & Crown Tuesday and Wednesday (April 23-24).
Cobbled together in 2005, WPBE is a collection of five musicians who, though their roots are in the jazz world, also dabble in improv, pop, rock, folk, hip-hop, you name it. All work on multiple projects, but all work to put the WPBE sound out there for audiences.
“It’s the only way to make a living these days,” said WPBE drummer Tim Shia, who is joined by Gordon Mowat (bass), Chris Gale (saxes), Leo37 (turntables) and Adrean Farrugia (keys).
The band is currently touring the West Coast in support of its 2012 release Sometimes Things Go Wrong (and other songs we shouldn’t play). Sometimes follows dost thou believeth in science? (2009) and Thanks For Coming Out (2006).
“The idea behind the band is jazz first for the average listener. There are so many great jazz albums, but you can’t sing along with them, because of long solos, different harmonies and rhythm.
“Canada’s an odd place to tour and we’re playing big jazz clubs, house concerts, traditional bars. We found out the Rose & Crown wanted us and we said ‘great.’”
Featuring two Juno award winners, members of WPBE have worked with a who’s who of Canadian and international musicians, including Feist, Blue Rodeo, Elizabeth Shepherd and the Shuffle Demons.
Songwriting is a collaborative effort, said Shia, “everyone is a songwriter and everyone leads other groups. Someone will have a song idea, we’ll destroy it, they’ll cry – but we do it to each other so it’s equal abuse for everyone.”
The name, you ask? “Celine Dion was already taken,” said Shia. “We all love jazz, but we also love pop and long improvisational solos. It’s tongue in cheek.
“We like to take pop covers, deconstruct them and add touches of our own. And with a name like ours, it keeps the bar low.”
WPBE plays mostly originals, “and our ultimate goal is to spread the gospel, spread the word, about jazz. People want to hear songs they know, though, so we throw in covers. Some are straight up, because they’re such good songs, and some we throw a little something extra into.”
WPBE gets airplay via CBC and CKUA, along with international jazz radio stations.
“Dost thou believeth hit 28th on Earshot (college radio) pop charts and we thought that was hilarious,” said Shia.
“This is the third time we’ve crossed Canada, so it’s our Third Worst Tour Ever. You have to have fun with these things, or you’d go crazy.
“And we’re working on a new album, so we’re also testing new material. Our set list is pretty varied and it changes depending on the audience. We never do the same thing, it’s never the same set twice.
Often compared to Medeski Martin Wood or the Bad Plus, the boys like to think of themselves as the ugly love child of Radiohead and Miles Davis.
WPBE has played festivals and clubs throughout North America including the TD Canada Trust Toronto Jazz Festival, NXNE, the Wreckhouse Jazz Festival (St. John’s, Nfld.), the Ottawa Jazz Festival on Canada Day, IAJE, as well as filling notable venues and clubs like the Rex (Toronto), Schuba’s (Chicago), Le Garage (Winnipeg), Yardbird Suite (Edmonton), Bassment (Saskatoon), the Beat Niq (Calgary), the NAC (Ottawa) and The Cellar (Vancouver).
