• Jim Bryson Finds Piano At NAC •

Jim Bryson & Chris Page - Live On The NAC 4th Stage, Ottawa

The Fourth Stage at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, once a bookstore, is now a small venue which hosts music and theatre. Painted completely black, with black curtains around the perimeter, the room is semi-circular with the low stage against the straight side of the semi-circle. The stage is surrounded by cafe tables and chairs, allowing 180 degrees of view and maximizing the usable space. Both Jim Bryson and Chris Page are more accustomed to bar/pub shows but both made the leap to the staid NAC surroundings with ease.

Chris Page started out the comparatively early evening at about 8:15 with a set of originals drawn from his long musical background as front-man for Stand GT, his alter-ego project The Glen Nevous Retraction and his own material. Although he was selling Glen Nevous Retraction CD's at the show, he chose to appear simply as Chris Page, an unassuming identity for the simple surroundings of the room. Page mixed up slower numbers with rockers which tested his vocal range, occasionally reminiscent of Billy Bragg as he accompanied himself exclusively on electric guitar with the "Rat Distortion" pedal he proudly referred to on some songs. The banter between songs was minimal as his set time was limited but Page did amuse the crowd with a few anecdotes including an homage to Jerry Jerry who apparently was playing the Holiday Inn in Canmore the same night. Overall Page's set was polished and well-accepted by the attentively polite crowd. Bryson also accompanied Page for one song, creating a little anticipation as the crowd got a taste of Bryson's skills on the piano. Any doubts about his piano-playing abilities were also somewhat assuaged by a conversation with Bryson before the show, where he revealed that he has actually been playing piano since he was 10, although he hasn't played much in the last 10 years and doesn't own a piano.

After a short break (during which the bar was open again) Bryson took the stage. Bryson's set as usual was a casual affair. Although he did have a set list prepared, more often than not he let the crowd choose songs (or at least asked what they wanted to hear before playing something else). He switched easily from acoustic guitar to electric to piano depending on his mood and that of the songs. The crowd seemed to be familiar with his material from his debut CD "The Occasionals" and he played new material from his upcoming album, which is recorded but as yet unreleased. The tension of the staid surroundings and the folk-festival crowd was broken by the taunting of local huckster/photographer Andrew Geddes who taunted Bryson with such comments as "this is the folk festival, not the jazz festival" after one particularly meandering ending on the piano. The repartee between Geddes in the audience and Bryson on stage helped break down the barrier between audience and performer and seemed to allow Bryson to loosen up, while adding a little humour to the evening. Overall the crowd seemed satisfied once "One Cigarette" came up in the encore and left with even greater anticipation of Bryson's upcoming sophomore CD release.

Photos ©2003 Donnelly/TuneVault.com, All Rights Reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

•Steve Donnelly Email WWW

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Artist: Jim Bryson

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