Stephen Franke & NFTT with The Wassabi Collective

[keither]

STEPHEN FRANKE &

NOISES FROM THE TOOLSHED

with special guests

THE WASSABI COLLECTIVE

Friday November 26th

Arts Club Backstage Lounge

1585 Johnston St. - Granville Island

$10.00 advance tickets available now at Zulu Records,

Highlife World Music, Kits Hemp Co. & the Arts Club Backstage Lounge

Stephen Franke & Noises From the Toolshed (www.stephenfranke.ca)

It has been a long road for Stephen since leaving his birthplace of Oakville, Ontario. After years of traveling the globe, collecting influences from places such as Spain and Mexico, Stephen settled in Victoria, BC, finding like-minded people to share his musical pursuits with.

Stephen Franke, a former student of prominent Canadian jazz musicians Hugh Fraser and Pat Coleman, spent his formative guitar-playing years working with members of Luther Wright and the Wrongs, violinist Lorrina Belluz and Kinnie Starr. Before pursuing a solo career he toured across Canada and the US with Gnu and the Ragtime Millionaires and A Particular Wave, opening for Blue Rodeo and the Jazz Mandolin Project among many others.

Along the way, Franke’s bands were often paired with another Victoria touring act, Lift. When Lift disbanded, Stephen called upon his longtime friends to join him. Brent Norman (drums), Chris Van Sickle (keyboards) and Ryland Haggis (bass) are now on their way to becoming a Canadian treasure. As a rhythm section, they have been playing together since 1996 on various projects and festival stages across Canada. The timing was perfect as Stephen had just parted ways with the ‘three rabbits fast’ gypsy jazz band, The Ragtime Millionaires, along with its electric counterpart known only as Gnu.

In his solo project, Noises from the Toolshed, Stephen Franke has expanded his musical sensibilities as a classically trained pianist and seasoned jazz personality to include getting down with the dirty dog. This show is two thirds instrumental, and one third rambling and preaching about the state of the nation while singing songs of a conscious nature. Powered by the distinctive sound of Franke’s 1949 Gibson L4 archtop guitar amplified through a rotating Leslie organ speaker, Noises from the Toolshed play a unique blend of gypsy jazz and groove with strong Latin and Cuban influences.

The influences of Noises from the Toolshed are derived from other bands where the interplay between the soloist and rhythm section is central to the sound, including; Joe Pass, Charlie Hunter, Django Rheinhardt, Medeski Martin & Wood, Astor Piazzolla, Michel Camillo, Tom Waits, Bruce Cockburn, Spearhead, and Bela Fleck.

The band recently released their first full length cd, Songs for a Platinum Blonde Diner Waitress, recorded in the summer and fall of 2003, and have just received their first West Coast Music Award nomination for 'Best Instrumental Performance'. Although they have been a band for a relatively short while, Stephen Franke and Noises from the Toolshed have also released a live EP, resulting in invitations to the concert hall stages of the Edmonton and Calgary Jazz festivals where they played sold out opening performances for Little Feat and DJ Jazzy Jeff.

Now that they have experienced and enjoyed all types of venues, from pubs and clubs to concert halls and theatres, they have renewed their love affair with the live experience. Look for them to be visiting your town real soon...

The Wassabi Collective (www.wassabi.net)

In mankind's collective past, music was the fabric that gave a culture its identity. Meshed into every aspect of one's life, music has the power to create emotion, tell stories, heal, motivate and celebrate.

It is with this spirit that The Wassabi Collective have embarked on their musical journey.

Originally forming as a loose arts collective in the winter of 2000, jam sessions in a Penticton basement would sow the seeds for what has become one of Canada's best live independent bands today. Over the course of four years, the Wassabi Collective has enthralled audiences from coast to coast with a rotating cast of members and a positive message of environmental and social activism.

The latest incarnation of the band is its most potent yet. Longtime members Scott Milne (bass) and Melissa Meretsky (vocals and percussion) welcomed Brent "Gisto" Hongisto (vocals and guitar) to the fold in 2003. In the spring of 2004 the band relocated to Nelson B.C., where they found Jimmy Lewis (vocals and drums) and member #34, Brandon "Brando" Smith on keys and samples.

The new line up remains committed to building on a strong foundation of over 400 live shows played and strong sales of their first and second albums "The Masquerade Sessions" and "Blue". With a series of live shows for sale on their last Ontario tour, sales have been in excess of 6500 units. Within four national tours and numerous regional outings, Wassabi has appeared at the Victoria Folk Fest, Penticton Peach Fest, and Koots Roots Festival in the Kooteneys. In 2003 they recieved wide acclaim for their sets at the North Country Fair in Alberta, Come Together Festival in Ontario, and Evolve 4 Music and Awareness Festival in Nova Scotia. In addition to appearances on Breakfast Television, Global, and a half-hour feature "Inside Pandora's Box" (Chum Television), Wassabi headlined a nationally broadcast New Year's Eve show with Randy Bachman and Hot Hot Heat on the New VI Network.

The summer of 2004 was their fourth national tour, which futher elevated Wassabi's national reputation. In June they headlined The Om Festival followed by The Come Together Festival a week later, both in southern Ontario. After playing every major city on the way home, in July a coastal tour of the west had great success. August brought now -legendary headlining slots at the Shambhala Music Festival near Nelson and at Evolve 5 in Nova Scotia, where Wassabi played with Michael Franti and Spearhead and East Coast favorites The Jimmy Swift Band.

Momentum and excitement are building around The Wassabi Collective, and the band invites all to com and experience the spirited positive energy and message of their unequalled live shows on stages across Canada and the World in 2005.